| Bofors L/60 40 millimeter (1.57 inch) automatic M1 anti-aircraft guns in storage, for the D-Day invasion. 16 anti-aircraft battalions landed on the American beaches. Each Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) auto-weapons battalion was authorized a total of 32 Bofors guns in its 4 firing batteries. These units also included other AA weapons. Allied planners considered the antiaircraft defense of important invasion embarkation ports. Concentration of the available antiaircraft guns was based on the relative importance of the port or installation area. To the more permanent static defenses operated by Britain’s Antiaircraft Command were added the mobile antiaircraft units of both 21st Army Group and the 1st United States Army Group until their departure for France. The important Portsmouth-Southampton and Portland-Weymouth areas were given top priority, followed by the Bristol Channel area, the Felixstowe and Newhaven areas and the region Dover-Deal-Ramsgate, the latter figuring prominently in connection with the strategic deception. All told, close to 1,500 heavy and light antiaircraft guns were allotted to the defense of embarkation ports and their surrounding areas. The heaviest concentration of 324 guns was in the Solent—Portsmouth-Southampton-Isle of Wight region. Plymouth was allotted 100 guns, Newport 84, Cardiff 56, and so on down the line to include every port of any significance. The coastal areas of Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Ipswich, Harwich, Deal, and Hastings had erected, besides, nearly a 100 dummy antiaircraft gun positions. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0404.jpg |
| Image Size | 674.78 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2936 x 2340 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 22, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-65592(28) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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