The 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion: Destroyers of the Luftwaffe and Jim Crow

During the Second World War, the airplane became a true menace.Flying faster, higher, and capable of carrying a heavier payload, air forces of the warring nations formed a formidable threat to the forces on the ground. To counter this, special anti-aircraft artillery battalions were created by the US Army.Several of these battalions, including the 452nd Antiaircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalion, were staffed by Black American soldiers.The 452nd AAA deployed in England in November 1943 and went ashore in Normandy, France, in June 1944.Assigned to XII Corps, part of General Patton’s Third Army, the 452nd AAA was a valuable asset of the US Army.Armed with the deadly 40mm Bofor’s gun and the .50 cal M45 Quadmount, these Black soldiers protected bridges, field artillery battalions and other vital installations during the Second World War.Some of the white soldiers from the field artillery battalions the 452nd AAA was protecting, doubted their abilities, but quickly came to appreciate the accur