82nd (Essex) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1938 until 1955.

During World War II it served in the Norwegian Campaign, defended Gibraltar and the D-Day invasion ports, and took part in Operation Diver against the V-1 flying bombs.

The regiment was formed in Essex 1 October 1938 as part of the expansion of Britain's anti-aircraft (AA) defences in the period of tension before World War II.

[4] Its Essex subtitle was added in July 1939[1] In February 1939 the existing AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command.

[8][10][12][13][14][15] For the main attack on Narvik, AA guns were landed at Harstad, an island base just outside Narvikfjord with an anchorage, and an airstrip at Skånland on the opposite coast.

[16][17] When the rest of 82nd AA Rgt arrived on 10 May, Brigade HQ allocated one battery to Bardufoss and another to Tromsø and Sorreisa.

[16] Bardufoss Airfield opened on 21 May and the final assault on Narvik by French, Polish and Norwegian troops began on 27 May.

To cover the evacuation, AA units were ordered to maintain maximum activity and especially to prevent reconnaissance overflights.

[14][16][19] AA units returning from France and Norway were rapidly reinforced, re-equipped where possible, and redeployed for future integration into existing defence plans.

Apart from occasional shots fired at unidentified aircraft penetrating Gibraltar's airspace, there were no attacks on the fortress during the 'Phoney war' period.

A searchlight battery arrived, and an AA Operations Room (AAOR) was established to control all the gunsites and to coordinate with AA-equipped ships in the harbour.

[22] The first serious air raid on Gibraltar came at 02.00 on 18 July, when two unidentified aircraft bombed the slopes of the Rock, causing some fatalities.

The revised layout could bring the fire of 20 HAA guns to bear on a target approaching at a speed of 240 mph from any direction at a typical height of 12,000 feet.

Throughout 1942, raiding was spasmodic and in small strength, most enemy sorties being confined to high level reconnaissance overflights, including German Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 aircraft from March 1942.

This was a headquarters that had been moved from Scotland to the South Coast to take responsibility for the build-up of AA defences in the Solent–Portsmouth area covering embarkation ports for the Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord).

Shipping at Portsmouth was bombed on four successive nights (25–28 April) during the 'Baby Blitz' of early 1944, and there were sporadic attacks in May, but these failed to disrupt the 'Overlord' preparations.

[35][37][38] As 21st Army Group overran the main launch sites in the Pas-de-Calais, the Luftwaffe shifted its focus to air-launching V-1s over the North Sea during the autumn.

[42] This regiment and its batteries were placed in suspended animation at Shoeburyness on 2 June 1955 and officially disbanded on 1 January 1962, except 91 Bty, which later served in 72 LAA Rgt.

The new regiment subsequently underwent a series of further mergers with East London units in the 1960s, and the Essex lineage was discontinued.