The 7th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the British Army during the early years of the Second World War.

The Divisional headquarters (HQ) was established at Newcastle upon Tyne on 16 September and the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) was Major-General T.G.G.

Luckily, the months of the Phoney War that followed mobilisation allowed AA Command to address its equipment shortages.

Vital Points (VPs) such as RAF Fighter Command airfields and factories began to receive a few Bofors guns.

When the War Office released the first intakes of Militiamen to the Command in early 1940, most were found to be in low physical categories and without training.

The 31st AA Brigade reported that out of 1000 recruits sent for duty, '50 had to be discharged immediately because of serious medical defects, another 20 were judged to be mentally deficient and a further 18 were unfit to do any manual labour such as lifting ammunition'.

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.

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.

[19] On 15 August, in the belief that the defences of NE England had been denuded, Luftflotte 5 attacked across the North Sea from Norway.

[36] There were also lone raiders, such as the Dornier bomber that hit Middlesbrough railway station on August Bank Holiday 1942.