6th Anti-Aircraft Brigade (6 AA BDE) was an air defense formation of the British Army formed during the Second World War.

Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, and British and French forces launched a hastily planned and badly-executed operation to intervene.

A base was established on the island of Harstad just outside Narvikfjord, and an airstrip at Skånland on the opposite coast, with an anti-aircraft (AA) allocation of light (LAA) and heavy (HAA) guns of the Royal Artillery (RA).

On 14 May the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Lieutenant-General Claude Auchinleck, told London that he needed 104 x 3.7-inch guns and 96 x 40mm to hold Narvik and Tromsø, the latter having been added to the commitments.

[15] A Bofors Troop of 55th LAA Rgt re-embarked for Mo with 24 Guards Brigade and on landing moved to Stein to block the German forces coming from the south to relieve Narvik.

The guns of 2 Trp, 3 LAA Bty under French control played a major part in breaking up a strong German ground counter-attack, and then shot down an aircraft.

)[15][16] To cover the evacuation, AA units were ordered to maintain maximum activity and especially to prevent reconnaissance overflights.

However, 6 AA Bde was able to assemble from the outlying positions 22 Bofors and five HAA guns at Harstad, with a number of predictors and heightfinders.

[17] On return from Norway, 6 AA Bde HQ joined Anti-Aircraft Command, the predominantly TA force charged with air defence of the United Kingdom.

[18][25][26] The Luftwaffe began massed raids against RAF fighter airfields in August (the Battle of Britain), but these were mainly in South East England, outside 6 AA Bde's area of responsibility.

The cluster system was an attempt to improve the chances of picking up enemy bombers and keeping them illuminated for engagement by AA guns or night fighters.

[2] The reorganised brigade now formed part of the field force being trained for the Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord).

Defences had been planned against this new form of attack (Operation Diver), but it presented a severe problem for AA guns, and after two weeks' experience AA Command carried out a major reorganisation, stripping guns from the Midlands and repositioning them along the South Coast to target V-1s coming in over the English Channel.

In addition, the brigade's Mixed Signal Office Section comprised 1 officer, 5 male other ranks and 19 ATS, which was formally part of the Group signal unit [64] As the V-1 launching sites in Northern France were overrun by 21st Army Group, the Luftwaffe began air-launching V-1s from the North Sea, and further AA units had to be repositioned along the East Coast.

[59][60] During the winter of 1944–45, the Belgian cities of Brussels and Antwerp were bombarded with V-1s, and a number of Mixed HAA regiments were stripped from AA Command and sent to provide anti-Diver defences.

[63] At the end of 1944 the Luftwaffe was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks on the UK could be discounted.

At the same time 21st Army Group fighting in North West Europe was suffering a severe manpower shortage, particularly among the infantry.

[2] At the end of the Second World War, AA Command drew up a 10-year plan for the air defence of the UK.