| 116th Infantry Brigade Royal Marines | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | January to June 1945 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Type | Infantry brigade |
| Engagements | Second World War |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol | Neptune's trident, in yellow, upright on an inverted scarlet isosceles triangle with domed base. [1] |
The 116th Infantry Brigade Royal Marines was an infantry brigade formation of the Royal Marines created in the final stages of the Second World War.
The unit was one of two created to address the manpower shortage of 21st Army Group in early 1945. The brigade was created on 1 January 1945 from former members of the Royal Marines Division, which had been broken up in 1943 and the troops distributed to Marine Commandos, or retrained as landing craft crew. They were quickly re-mustered as regular infantry, organised as a standard Army brigade. [1]
The 116th Brigade was sent into action in February 1945, serving under the First Canadian Army in the crossing of the Maas, and in the advance across the Rhine into north-west Germany to the naval ports, with the 28th Battalion particularly distinguishing itself in the fighting around Oldenburg, [1] and 27th Battalion fighting with the 4th Canadian Armoured Division in their advance through Oldenburg towards Wilhelmshaven. [2]
The brigade remained in northern Germany after the surrender as part of XXX Corps, with their headquarters at Buxtehude, [3] but operating in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven, Emden, Brunsbüttel, and Cuxhaven, overseeing the capitulation of German naval ships and personnel, until returning to the UK at the end of June 1945 to be disbanded. [1]
British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) is the name given to two British Army formations of the same name. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, the first after the First World War and the other, active after the Second World War and during the Cold War, eventually becoming part of NATO's contribution to allied forces there. Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine.
I Corps was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the First World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-lived precursor during the Waterloo Campaign. It served as the operational component of the British Army of the Rhine during the Cold War, and was tasked with defending West Germany.
The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in London during July 1943, under the command of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), it was assigned to Operation Overlord, the Western Allied invasion of Europe, and was an important Allied force in the European Theatre. At various times during its existence, the 21st Army Group had additional British, Canadian, American and Polish field armies or corps attached to it. The 21st Army Group operated in Northern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany from June 1944 until August 1945, when it was renamed the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
The 2nd Canadian Division, an infantry division of the Canadian Army, was mobilized for war service on 1 September 1939 at the outset of World War II. Adopting the designation of the 2nd Canadian Division, it was initially composed of volunteers within brigades established along regional lines, though a halt in recruitment in the early months of the war caused a delay in the formation of brigade and divisional headquarters. With questions concerning overseas deployment resolved, the division's respective commands were formed in May and June 1940, and at British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's request, the division was deployed to the United Kingdom between 1 August and 25 December 1940, forming part of the Canadian Corps.
The Guards Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was created in the United Kingdom on 17 June 1941 during the Second World War from elements of the Guards units, the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, Welsh Guards, and the Household Cavalry.
VIII Corps was a British Army corps formation that existed during the First and Second World Wars. In the latter, it took part in the Normandy Campaign in 1944, where it was involved in Operation Epsom and Operation Goodwood. It would later play a supporting role in Operation Market Garden and finish the war by advancing from the Rhine to the Baltic Sea.
The 3rd Division, also known as The Iron Division, is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the Fighting 3rd under Sir Thomas Picton during the Napoleonic Wars. The division fought at the Battle of Waterloo, as well as during the Crimean War and the Second Boer War. As a result of bitter fighting in 1916, during the First World War, the division became referred to as the 3rd (Iron) Division, or the Iron Division or Ironsides. During the Second World War, the division fought in the Battle of France including a rearguard action during the Dunkirk Evacuation, and played a prominent role in the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. The division was to have been part of a proposed Commonwealth Corps, formed for a planned invasion of Japan in 1945–46, and later served in the British Mandate of Palestine. During the Second World War, the insignia became the "pattern of three" — a black triangle trisected by an inverted red triangle.
The 1st Division is an active division of the British Army that has been formed and disestablished numerous times between 1809 and the present. In its original incarnation as the 1st Division, it took part in the Peninsular War—part of the Coalition Wars of the Napoleonic Wars—and was disbanded in 1814 but was re-formed the following year for service in the War of the Seventh Coalition and fought at the Battle of Waterloo. It remained active as part of the British occupation of France until it was disbanded in 1818, when the British military withdrew. The division was then raised as needed; it served in the Crimean War, the Anglo-Zulu War, and the Second Boer War. In 1902, the British Army formed several permanent divisions, which included the 1st Division, which fought in the First World War, made various deployments during the interwar period, and took part in the Second World War when it known as the 1st Infantry Division.
The 2nd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army in the province of Quebec, Canada. The present command was created 2013 when Land Force Quebec Area was re-designated. The main unit housed in this division is the Royal 22nd Regiment based at CFB Valcartier near Quebec City, which is the biggest regiment in the Canadian Army.
The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as all units extending westwards from the city of Thunder Bay.
The 6th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army, created in September 1940 during the Second World War and re-formed in May 1951 in the UK.
The 10th Infantry Brigade was a Regular Army infantry brigade of the British Army formed during the Second Boer War in 5th Division, and during both World Wars the brigade was part of the 4th Infantry Division.
The 6th Infantry Brigade was a regular infantry brigade of the British Army that was in existence during the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War and later formed part of British Army of the Rhine.
Seebataillon, literally "sea battalion", is a German term for certain troops of naval infantry or marines. It was used by the Prussian Navy, the North German Federal Navy, the Imperial German Navy, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Kriegsmarine, and briefly in the Bundesmarine. In 2014, also the modern German Navy established a naval force protection unit called Seebataillon.
The siege of Dunkirk in World War II began in September 1944, when Allied units of the Second Canadian Division surrounded the fortified city and port of Dunkirk. The siege lasted until after the official end of the war in Europe. German units within the fortress withstood probing attacks and as the opening of the port of Antwerp was more important, the 21st Army Group commander, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, decided to contain but not capture Dunkirk with the 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade. The fortress, commanded by Admiral Friedrich Frisius, eventually surrendered unconditionally to Brigadier General Alois Liška, the commander of the Czechoslovak brigade group, on 9 May 1945, a day after the surrender of Nazi Germany took effect.
The 185th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army raised during the Second World War that participated in the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944, fighting in the Normandy Campaign and the subsequent campaign in North-West Europe with the 3rd British Infantry Division.
No. 47 Commando is a battalion size formation in the British Commandos, formed in August 1943 during the Second World War. The Commando was assigned to the 4th Special Service Brigade and served North West Europe and took part in the Normandy Landings, operations around Ostend, Antwerp and the Netherlands before being disbanded in January 1946. No. 47 Commando has recently been reformed and now takes back on its old role as an amphibious raider, replacing what was 1 Assault Group Royal Marines.
The 117th Infantry Brigade Royal Marines was an infantry brigade formation of the Royal Marines created in the final stages of the Second World War.
The 116th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was a Welsh mobile air defence unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery (RA) during World War II. It served with the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in the campaign in North West Europe.
