55th Australian Composite Anti Aircraft Regiment

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Brief History

'1st Medium Brigade RAA was raised in Paddington, NSW in 1925 and re-organised in February 1941 as 1st Australian Medium Regiment. The unit was then mobilised in December 1941 at Glenfield before moving to Ingleburn in March 1942. In early July 1942 the regiment was at Narellan before moving to . While a detachment moved to Portland Roads, the rest of the unit left for Maribyrnong in July 1943. in August. In November they moved to Neurum, and then to Helidon in February.

It was here theta the unit trained for an anti aircraft role and was reconstructed as the 55th Australian Composite Anti Aircraft Regiment in September 1943. In November they moved to Long airfield, 195 kilometers south of Darwin. In June they moved o Batchelor, and the unit at this time comprised 136th Heavy AA Battery, 232rd Light AA Battery, and 69th Mobile Searchlight Battery which joined the unit from Fremantle. In August they accepted responsibility for both the Batchelor and Hughes area.

By November 1944 the reduced air threat to Darwin and its airfields led to the run down of air defences in the area. HQ 55th Composite Anti Aircraft Regiment moved to Bagot road in Darwin, taking over sole responsibility for the area in July before they also left for Helidon in Queensland where they were disbanded in August 1945.

Unit Personnel

• Harold George Bell 28 Sep - ?? Nov 1944

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 3 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, pages 3.096 and 3.097 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018