The 120th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (120th LAA Rgt), was an air defence unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery during World War II.

It landed on D-Day and saw action throughout the campaign in North West Europe, defending the vital Scheldt Estuary until the end of the war.

[1][2][3] 86th S/L Regiment was formed on 23 January 1941 at Henderson Church Hall at Kilmarnock in Scotland during the height of the Luftwaffe's night Blitz on British cities.

The following night, Rudolf Hess landed by parachute some 200 yards from one of the regiment's sites and was apprehended by the local Home Guard unit.

In February it moved to Holywood in Northern Ireland to attend 237 LAA Training Regiment, returning to Stranraer in Scotland in mid-April.

[18] In June 1943 the regiment attended No 16 AA Practice Camp at Clacton-on-Sea before returning to Cheshire in July, with RHQ at Marbury Hall.

In October, the regiment was in Bournemouth for beach landing exercises in cooperation with 113th Heavy AA Rgt, under whose command it would operate on D-Day.

After visits to No 14 LAA Practice Camp at Nethertown, Cumberland, and Harlech Anti-Tank Range in Wales, the regiment returned to Bournemouth at the end of the year.

[15] At the beginning of 1944, 120th LAA Rgt moved to Southend-on-Sea, where in late March it received nine Crusader AA Mark I tracked self-propelled (SP) Bofors guns, which would have a special role in the assault landing on D-Day.

In addition, 76th AA Brigade assigned 1618 LAA Rgt Platoon of 323rd Company, Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), to the regiment to provide mobility.

In March the regiment moved back to Southampton for exercises, where it remained until May, when the units required for the assault phase of Overlord began to gather in southern England.

By the end of D-Day, 395 Bty had 9 Bofors and two 20 mm mountings ashore, covering the beach exits, where men of H Trp had helped the Royal Engineers to clear mines.

Enemy air activity over the beachhead remained slight in July, and the regiment only claimed two Cat I kills for the month.

373 LAA Bty returned to its parent unit in mid-August, and at the end of the month the unreliable Crusader SP guns were replaced by towed Mk I Bofors and the regiment reorganised so that each battery consisted of one Troop of SP Bofors on lorry chassis and two Troops of towed guns.

[20] Once 21st Army Group broke out of its beachhead, 76th AA Bde was relieved of its responsibilities on the coast on 1 September and was made available to support the advance.

[20][31] During the Leopold Canal battle, the regiment's guns had to make rapid deployments in flooded and heavily mined ground under intermittent shellfire.

[20][31] The port of Antwerp was vital to the Allied war effort, and large numbers of AA units were deployed to defend the approaches up the Scheldt.

Antwerp itself was heavily bombarded by V-1 flying bombs but there was little air activity over the estuary, although 394 Bty fired an emergency barrage on 10 December, destroying one enemy aircraft.

[36] Shortly afterwards the Allies crossed the Rhine and as the war came to an end many AA units were disbanded or converted to other roles.

In December the remaining original intake of the regiment (227 ORs) were demobilised, leaving the unit at roughly half strength.