man selected gun positions. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised at its war stations. The 63rd (Northumbrian) AA Rgt was still with the 30th AA Brigade tasked with defending Tyneside, but it was now in the 7th AA Division. Immediately after mobilisation, equipment was critically short. In August 1939, the 7th AA Division had no modern Heavy AA (HAA) guns, and only a few of the old 3-inch guns that were intended for the Light LAA role. Luckily, the months of the Phoney War that followed mobilisation allowed AA Command to address its equipment shortages. Gun Defence Areas (GDAs) with 3-inch, 3.7-inch or 4.5-inch HAA guns were established around northern cities including Newcastle and Tyneside. By 11 July, the 7th AA Division had 54 HAA guns in the Tyne GDA, manned by the 63rd and 64th (Northumbrian) HAA Rgts. On 1 June 1940, along with other AA units equipped with 3-inch or larger guns, the 63rd was designated a Heavy AA Regiment. Battle of Britain and Blitz Tyneside, Wearside, and Teesside were important strategic targets because of their high concentrations of heavy industry and ports. During the early part of the Battle of Britain, German day and night air raids and mine laying began along the East Coast of England, intensifying through June 1940. The first major raid on Newcastle came on 2 July. Thereafter the Luftwaffe concentrated on Royal Air Force sites in the South of England, with occasional raids on the North East, such as the period 12–15 August. On 15 August, in the belief that the defences of NE England had been denuded, 65 Heinkel He 111 bombers of Kampfgeschwader 26, escorted by 35 Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters of Zerstörergeschwader 76, attacked Tyneside from bases in Norway. The bombers were picked up on radar and ambushed by fighters of No. 13 Group RAF before they reached the coast. Those bombers that succeeded in breaking through then split into two groups, one being engaged by the guns of the Tyne GDA the other by the Tees GDA. Bombs were widely scattered and only at Sunderland was any major damage inflicted. kg 26 lost 8 bombers and 7 fighters for no loss to the RAF, in 'one of the most successful air actions of the war'. The Battle of Britain was followed by the Luftwaffes night Blitz on London and other