In 1921 the eighth AntiAircraft Battery of Royal Artillery was first stationed in India. However it was only after two decades that the threat from the Japanese expansionism made India to finally realise how illprepared its antiaircraft defences were. Starting from a Battery raised at Colaba Indian AntiAircraft Artillery soon expanded to over thirty four regiments for India to have the second largest concentration of AntiAircraft defences outside the Great Britain. At one time India had more AntiAircraft Regiments than that of field artillery. Numbers aside Indian AntiAircraft gunners served in varied battlefields with honour both during defeat and victory. If they were at Singapore as the fortress fell they kept the Japanese Air Force at bay when Allied forces retreated from Burma and later formed part of the vanguard when the Allies returned to Burma in triumph. Indian AntiAircraft Regiments served in Singapore Malaya Burma Maldives Aden and Iraq. They were truly representative as all regiments comprised of varied races and castes. It had a separate training centre for women and was one of the first to enlist women when the WAC(I) manned its operation rooms and drove lorries. They defended key installations protected cities served with field formations participated in amphibious operations served at remote locations facing odds and administrative apathies. About the Author Col Mandeep Singh was commissioned in Air Defence Artillery in 1982 and commanded an Air Defence Group. Singh writes regularly for defence journals on air defence and aerospace matters. He has authored four books on air defence and this book is his first research project with the USI New Delhi.
