The KOYLI’s Anti-Aircraft Gunners in the Second World War
Perhaps unsurprisingly when you think about its name, the vast majority of men who served in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry throughout its history took up light infantry duties, scouting ahead of larger forces, spreading out across the countryside and securing objectives for the armies they were attached to. However, the changes in how warfare was carried out meant that in some parts of the army, battalions were reassigned or reorganised to meet the needs of the time. This is why in 1938 the men of the 5th Battalion found themselves split off from their comrades and converted into an anti-aircraft regiment.
The 5th Battalion had its roots in two battalions of territorial soldiers formed in Wakefield and Doncaster before the First World War, who were then condensed into one. These men were part-time soldiers who were expected to take up full-time military roles in the outbreak of war. Over the First World War the 5th was broken into two battalions and then merged back into one again. When the war ended they returned to territorial status but, on the 23 November 1938, they were reorganised again. This time they became the ‘53rd (5th Bn King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery’. Incidentally, another anti-aircraft regiment would be formed from the KOYLI shortly, numbered as the 57th, but today we’re going to focus on the experiences of the 53rd.
The move over to the Royal Artillery wasn’t popular with the men of the time, and they tried hard to retain KOYLI regimental traditions. They continued to wear the KOYLI badge which set it apart from other anti-aircraft regiments. They were organised into three batteries (groups of 12 guns deployed together) that were referred to by the numbers 157, 158, and 159. The men were still territorial soldiers, and retained connections to their local areas. Battery 159, for instance, was based in Denaby Main. They drilled two nights per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, before going to the Salutation Hotel on South Parade for a brief drink (the Salutation is still there today!).
The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry’s distinctive badge, (NAM. 1970-12-212-1-4).
In September 1938, as relations with Nazi Germany soured, the 53rd took up their emergency positions, preparing for a declaration of war. This was despite them not having a cohort of men in the regiment yet, and not even having a full set of guns ready to use. War was avoided, however, and they eventually stood down. We know today of course that a year later Britain would declare war on Germany, and the 53rd were ready once again. When the declaration of war was made on the 3 September 1939, the 53rd had been mobilised and at their stations since the 31 August. Soon they would be sent abroad.
They spent most of the first year of the war training in France, before being deployed to Belgium. Here their new role as an anti-aircraft regiment began. Instead of sweeping ahead and around an advancing army, they were now being used to protect key locations like river crossings, bridged, road junctions, and HQ sites from German aerial attacks. They also kept their eyes open for scouting trips made by aircraft from the Luftwaffe, the German air force.
Early in the war, the British forces and their allies in France and Belgium were forced to retreat, eventually leading to the famous evacuation at Dunkirk. Though the 53rd weren’t evacuated from Dunkirk itself, they did take part in the retreat, constantly packing up, moving, unpacking and firing their guns over a three week period, trying to cover other Allied forces who were trying to reach a place of safety. The constant movement took its toll on the 53rd’s equipment, and they lost a third of their guns before reaching the French coast. What equipment they had left was disabled and left on the beaches before they sailed back to the UK.
Bofors anti-aircraft guns like this one were central to the 53rd’s duties throughout the war. (NAM. 1992-04-238-17).
The evacuations in 1940 marked a change in how the war was fought, and the 53rd spent the next two years retraining, receiving new, higher-quality equipment, and drilling and practicing with it. They were finally sent out for foreign deployment in July 1942, swapping the UK for Egypt. They’d remain on foreign deployment for the rest of the war.
A summer and autumn in Egypt made way for a move to Libya early in 1943, preparing for the upcoming Allied invasion of Italy. This began and, in the summer of 1943, the 53rd were transported across the Mediterranean to Sicily. They came under heavy attack while trying to disembark from their transport ship, and lost a large number of guns to the ocean in the process. Despite this rocky start, their duties took the 53rd through Sicily and up the boot of Italy. As the Allies slowly pushed north, the work of protecting key locations from aerial attacks was more important than ever. Eventually the war turned against Germany and its allies, however, and as the Luftwaffe faced more and more pressures on other fronts, attacks on Allied positions in Italy slowed down. The 53rd were shrunk as a result, with some men being folded into other units, and those who remained being given a variety of different support duties alongside their anti-aircraft work. By the spring of 1945 they were stationed near the city of Imola in north-central Italy, where they were when the war ended in Europe.
These men are from the 40th LAA Regiment, who carried out very similar work to the 53rd in Italy throughout the second half of the Second World War. (IWM (NA 13703))
One story from the 53rd’s time in Imola regards the visit to the regiment by Lieutenant-General Sir John Harding, who visited 158 Battery’s forward position. The men of the battery saw fit to treat such a senior officer with respect, and Sir John and the other visiting officers were treated to a lunchtime meal cooked by one of the soldiers, who had been a hotel chef before the war, and were waited on by another who had been a butler!
Once the war ended the 53rd were sent to Venice, where they formed part of the garrison occupying that city. In September 1946 they were placed into ‘suspended animation’, and slightly confusing military term used to refer to regiments that hadn’t been disbanded, but didn’t have any active servicemen. They wouldn’t be made use of until a decision was made to return men and officers to the regiment and reactivate them. This technically never happened for the 53rd however, as in 1947 the Territorial Army was reorganised. The 53rd was folded into a new unit, the ‘553rd (KOYLI) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment’. These in turn would be merged into the ‘323rd (West Riding) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment’ in 1955, ending the formal association with the KOYLI.
After the war, both the KOYLI Anti-Aircraft Regiments commissioned this register remembering their comrades who had died in the war. King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Regimental Collection, Heritage Doncaster.
The KOYLI’s links to the Royal Artillery largely ended there, but to this day we have books, letters, photographs, and souvenirs from men who served in the 53rd in the Danum Gallery, Library and Museum and in our KOYLI Collections and Research Centre. Both are open to the public, and host volunteers, researchers, public talks, and workshops regularly each month, for anyone wanting to learn more about the KOYLI, Doncaster’s military history, or anyone looking for help with your own family military history research.
Did you have a family member who served in the 53rd? We’d love to hear from you!
All images of objects from the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Collection are shared under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), credit to Heritage Doncaster.