93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
8th Loyals
### 8th Loyals

The 8th Bn Loyals was formed on 4 July 1940 at [Ashton\-under\-Lyne](/wiki/Ashton-under-Lyne "Ashton-under-Lyne"), [Lancashire](/wiki/Lancashire "Lancashire"), as a new unit. (A previous 8th Loyals had been a '[Kitchener's Army](/wiki/Kitchener%27s_Army "Kitchener's Army")' battalion during [World War I](/wiki/World_War_I "World War I")). The majority of the recruits were from Lancashire, particularly [Liverpool](/wiki/Liverpool "Liverpool"), the officers from regiments in [North West England](/wiki/North_West_England "North West England") (the commanding officer was Lieutenant\-Colonel J. O'Sullivan of the Loyals), and the [cadre](/wiki/Cadre_%28military%29 "Cadre (military)") of experienced non\-commissioned officers and men was drawn from the [Manchester Regiment](/wiki/Manchester_Regiment "Manchester Regiment")'s Machine Gun Training Centre at Ladysmith Barracks, Ashton\-under\-Lyne (who had to be re\-trained in infantry work).Frederick, p. 192\.8 Loyals War Diary, 1940, [The National Archives (TNA), Kew](/wiki/The_National_Archives_%28United_Kingdom%29 "The National Archives (United Kingdom)") file WO 166/4446\.

The battalion assembled in camp at [Caernarfon](/wiki/Caernarfon "Caernarfon"), joining the newly raised 7th and 9th Battalions of the Loyals which (together with 12th Battalion [Royal Welch Fusiliers](/wiki/Royal_Welch_Fusiliers "Royal Welch Fusiliers")) constituted No 15 Infantry Training Group. In October 1940 the 15th ITG became [215th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home)](/wiki/215th_Brigade_%28United_Kingdom%29 "215th Brigade (United Kingdom)"), a home defence formation.Joslen, p. 378\. Training was hampered by the shortage of rifles and equipment, and the tented camp became uninhabitable during winter gales. In January 1941 the 8th Battalion relocated to billets in disused mills at [Biddulph](/wiki/Biddulph "Biddulph"), with B Company at [Huyton](/wiki/Huyton "Huyton").

In February the brigade transferred to the [Durham and North Riding County Division](/wiki/Durham_and_North_Riding_County_Division "Durham and North Riding County Division") in [North East England](/wiki/North_East_England "North East England"), where it took up an operational role in beach defence. The 8th Battalion's headquarters (HQ) was at [Saltburn\-by\-the\-Sea](/wiki/Saltburn-by-the-Sea "Saltburn-by-the-Sea") and it took over the defences from [Redcar Pier](/wiki/Redcar_Pier "Redcar Pier") to [Staithes](/wiki/Staithes "Staithes"). These included concrete [pillboxes](/wiki/Pillbox_%28military%29 "Pillbox (military)") equipped with [Vickers guns](/wiki/Vickers_gun "Vickers gun"), for which the previous training of the battalion's original cadre was useful. The battalion moved to [Shildon](/wiki/Shildon "Shildon") in [County Durham](/wiki/County_Durham "County Durham") in June and carried out exercises with 215 Bde along the River Tweed against [Scottish Command](/wiki/Scottish_Command "Scottish Command") before returning to Saltburn.


What defences did the 8th Battalion take over from Redcar Pier to Staithes?