Symphony in B-Flak

ENGLAND (Part 4a)

The 184th A.A.A. at Lippitts Hill

[Note: The material on this page is not part of the original book Symphony in B Flak.]

The 184th A.A.A. Gun Battalion was responsible for the position at Lippitts Hill to which Battery "B" was sent on March 14, 1944. Battery "B" relieved the 184th's Battery "A" in order to allow a Battery from the 184th to participate in Mobility Training. The material on this page has kindly been provided by David J. Anderson, whose father, Capt. David B. Anderson, commanded the 184th's Battery "A".

Below: Illustration of a 90mm gun of the 184th AAA in action at Lippitts Hill. From the Illustrated London News, Feb 12, 1944.

(click on the image above for a higher resolution image)

Caption: MEN OF A U.S. ARTILLERY BATTERY FORMED IN 1808, LIT BY THE FLASH OF THEIR 1944 ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN, JOIN IN LONDON'S BATTLE AGAINST THE GERMAN BOMBERS. References have recently been made to a new note in the thunder of London's A.-A. barrage which meets the German bombers. Our artist's drawing shows one of the guns responsible for that note: a 90-mm. weapon manned by a U.S. gun crew. It is one of a number comprising an American mobile A.-A. gun battery now defending London -- a battery descended from a light artillery unit first formed in 1808. It took over a gun site on London's outskirts at the beginning of this year, and has already been in action pretty heavily on a number of occasions. It is linked for operational purposes to a British mixed heavy A.-A. battery of 3.7-in. guns in the neighbourhood, which in turn is directed from the London H.Q. Gun Control Room illustrated elsewhere in this issue. The American 90-mm. guns have a lighter look than the British 3.7s, and the shell weighs some pounds less, but the gunners claim a slightly quicker rate of fire with the same "ceiling."