45th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery


 * 45th Garrison Regiment, Royal Artillery and 603rd Infantry Regiment, Royal Artillery redirect here

45 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (45 LAA Regt), was a British Territorial Army unit of the Royal Artillery formed in July 1940.

Anti-Aircraft
During The Blitz, 45 LAA Regt served in 1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade of 11th AA Division, covering the industrial town of Crewe.

In November 1942, 45 LAA Regt landed in North Africa, attached to Allied Forces HQ for Operation Torch. In January 1943, as the Tunisian Campaign developed, it was assigned to British First Army.

For the subsequent Italian Campaign, 45 LAA served with British Eighth Army.

Infantry
By late 1944, the German Luftwaffe was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks could be discounted. 45 LAA Regt was therefore returned to Home Forces in the United Kingdom and converted into 45 Garrison Regiment RA.

In February, retrained as infantry and retitled 603 Infantry Regiment RA, the regiment returned to Eighth Army in Italy for line of communication and occupation duties.

External sources

 * The Royal Artillery 1939–45