royal horse artillery j battery 1930-1940

[Katie Hiscock]

stanmore

[Andy J2022]

I think that's the citation for his MBE. Just in case you are confusing his time in Malta with his later postwar posting to HQ Anti-Aircraft Command, the latter was located at Stanmore and that is where he was Camp Commandant. HQ AA Command was based in a large house named Glenthorn located in the grounds of Bentley Priory, just to the North of Stanmore town. RAF Bentley Priory was the HQ of the RAF's Fighter Command which was responsible for the air defence of the UK, and Glenthorn house was about 300 yards to the West of the Priory, because there obviously needed to be close co-ordination between the Army's Air Defence guns and the RAF. You can see the location of Glenthorn and Bentley Priory on this map from the 1940s:  https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.2&lat=51.62620&lon=-0.33777&layers=170&b=1&marker=51.62669,-0.334175  About half a mile in the opposite direction was the HQ of the RAF's Balloon Command, responsible for the barrage balloons which were deployed to interfere with enemy bombers.

A little bit about the role of HQ AA Command here: https://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/124/2019/04/Anti-Aircraft-Corps-History-Personnel.pdf
and the composition of the Headquarters in 1939: http://www.niehorster.org/017_britain/39_commands/aa_command__staff.htm

The duties of the Camp Commandant were to act as the quartermaster for the Army accommodation along with overseeing such things as the catering, guards, transport and general amenities. He would have had to liaise closely with his RAF opposite number as many facilities would probably have been shared as they were on the same site.

As for the Gazette entry for his MBE, you can find it here: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39863/supplement/2951. You will need to go back 3 pages (to page 2948) to see the wording at the start of the entry, namely "To be Additional Officers of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order [of the British Empire]"

[Katie Hiscock]

I think that's the citation for his MBE. Just in case you are confusing his time in Malta with his later postwar posting to HQ Anti-Aircraft Command, the latter was located at Stanmore and that is where he was Camp Commandant. HQ AA Command was based in a large house named Glenthorn located in the grounds of Bentley Priory, just to the North of Stanmore town. RAF Bentley Priory was the HQ of the RAF's Fighter Command which was responsible for the air defence of the UK, and Glenthorn house was about 300 yards to the West of the Priory, because there obviously needed to be close co-ordination between the Army's Air Defence guns and the RAF. You can see the location of Glenthorn and Bentley Priory on this map from the 1940s:  https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.2&lat=51.62620&lon=-0.33777&layers=170&b=1&marker=51.62669,-0.334175  About half a mile in the opposite direction was the HQ of the RAF's Balloon Command, responsible for the barrage balloons which were deployed to interfere with enemy bombers. thank you i will adding this info to my folder for ernest

A little bit about the role of HQ AA Command here: https://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/124/2019/04/Anti-Aircraft-Corps-History-Personnel.pdf
and the composition of the Headquarters in 1939: http://www.niehorster.org/017_britain/39_commands/aa_command__staff.htm this is a bit complicated for me to understand im only 29

The duties of the Camp Commandant were to act as the quartermaster for the Army accommodation along with overseeing such things as the catering, guards, transport and general amenities. He would have had to liaise closely with his RAF opposite number as many facilities would probably have been shared as they were on the same site. thank you that was very helpful

As for the Gazette entry for his MBE, you can find it here: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39863/supplement/2951. You will need to go back 3 pages (to page 2948) to see the wording at the start of the entry, namely "To be Additional Officers of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order [of the British Empire]"

yes i see that thank you it is now printed.

[Katie Hiscock]

ill be back for more shortly thanks again andy x

[Andy J2022]

A little bit about the role of HQ AA Command here: https://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/124/2019/04/Anti-Aircraft-Corps-History-Personnel.pdf
and the composition of the Headquarters in 1939: http://www.niehorster.org/017_britain/39_commands/aa_command__staff.htm this is a bit complicated for me to understand im only 29

Hi Katie

I'm not sure you were looking for a response to your comment, but in case you were, I only included these two references as background. Since Ernest wasn't with the HQ until three years after the end of the war, they are irrelevant to his time there. Indeed the size of the Command, and thus the size of the Headquarters, reduced significantly after the war, although rather surprisingly it still had a Lieutenant General in command until the Command was disbanded in early 1955.

[Andy J2022]

Katie,
In my previous but one posting I mentioned that the HQ Army AA Command was based in Glenthorn House, adjacent to Bentley Priory. Thanks to a helpful collections manager at the Bentley Priory Museum, below is a picture of what Glenthorn looked like. I will email you the better quality image I received.
Andy

[Katie Hiscock]

apointments and movement

i though posting this bit would help determin his movement and bits and peices i can read most of them

[Andy J2022]

Hi Katie,

Thanks for that extract, it adds to what we know from the Gazette entries. For what it's worth, I don't know what LSA stands for. The only meaning I know is Land Service Ammunition, but it isn't that here