Redruth, later at Killiow, and when the last of the Troops arrived from Hampshire in late August the battery occupied a full establishment of 24 S/L sites. In August 1940, all army searchlight units, whether Royal Artillery (RA), Royal Engineers (RE), or still forming parts of infantry regiments, were brought under the RA. The Blitz In November 1940, during The Blitz, 474th Battery moved again, to Sherborne in Dorset, where 76th S/L Rgt came under 64th AA Bde in 8th AA Division, both being new formations created in the rapidly expanding Anti-Aircraft Command. The brigade's prime responsibility was airfield defence. In January 1941 the battery moved to Alderbury in Wiltshire, but its role was unchanged. It began to receive GL Mark I E/F gun-laying radar equipped with elevation-finding equipment. It was also engaged in experiments at RAF Boscombe Down to see how searchlights combined with AA guns could deal with low-flying attacks. By the spring the battery manned clusters of three searchlights at Boscombe Down and RAF Middle Wallop. Mobile role After the Blitz ended in May 1941, the battery continued its home defence role in AA Command until the beginning of 1943. In February 1943 it moved to Thurstaston and deployed its detachments to 24 AA and anti-minelaying sites on the Mersey and round Barrow-in-Furness and Walney Island. From 20 February, 474 Bty ceased to be part of 76th S/L Rgt and became an independent unit, though coming under the operational command of HQ 39th (Lancashire Fusiliers) S/L Rgt, which had no other batteries under its command. In April the battery handed over its sites to 356th (Ind) S/L Bty and moved to Kinross in Scotland to train in mobile operations. 474th (Ind) S/L Bty was formally mobilised for active service in June 1943 and in August was joined by its own Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) workshop, which had formed at Bestwood Camp, Nottingham in May as 'M' S/L Battery Workshop. After attending various training camps and field exercises, the battery moved to Silverstone in Northamptonshire and joined 100 AA Bde, one of the formations preparing for Operation Overlord, the planned Allied invasion of Normandy. In February 1944, Battery HQ moved to Caterham in Surrey, where it came under the command of 80 AA Bde, one of the Overlord assault formations, though Troops of 8 lights were detached until April, providing 'Canopy' cover for RAF Colerne and