| 70th Brigade 70th Infantry Brigade 70th Independent Infantry Brigade | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1914–1919 1939–1944 1950–? |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Brigade |
| Nickname(s) | "The Polar Bears" (divisional nickname) |
| Engagements | First World War Second World War |
The 70th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw service during both the First and Second World War and postwar.
The 70th Brigade was first raised in September 1914, shortly after the beginning of the First World War, as part of the 23rd Division. Consisting of men volunteering for Kitchener's Army, the brigade, after initially experiencing severe difficulties in training the men, due to a shortage of weapons and equipment, was sent to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in August 1915, later fighting, most notably, in the battles of the Somme, Messines and Passchendaele. The brigade remained there until late 1917 when it was sent to the Italian Front, remaining there until the end of the war. In June 1918 the brigade was awarded its only Victoria Cross (VC), belonging to Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Hudson of the Sherwood Foresters.
The 70th Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: [1]
The brigade, disbanded in March 1919, was reformed in 1939 in the Territorial Army (or TA, the British Army's part-time reserve component) as the 70th Infantry Brigade just before the end of the interwar period, originally as part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, [3] when the TA was ordered to be doubled in size, due to the increasing likelihood of another war in Europe, most likely with Germany. The brigade was formed as a second-line duplicate of the 151st Infantry Brigade and was composed of the 10th, 11th and 12th Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI), containing many former members of those battalions. The brigade, commanded by Brigadier P. Kirkup, who had commanded the 8th Battalion, DLI during the Great War, was transferred to the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division, the second-line duplicate of the 50th Division, on 2 October 1939, just under a month after the start of the Second World War. [4] The 23rd Division was commanded by Major-General William Herbert and the 70th Brigade, together with the 69th Infantry Brigade, constituted the division.
The brigade, serving with the 23rd Division in Northern Command, was, despite being very poorly trained and equipped, ordered to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), then serving on the border between France and Belgium, as lines of communication (LoC) troops under GHQ BEF. The brigade (now with the 1st Battalion, Tyneside Scottish in place of the 12th DLI, which was redesignated on 1 January 1940) arrived in France on 25 April 1940. [4] Together with the rest of the BEF, the brigade was, under a month after its arrival in France, involved in the Battle of France in May 1940 and the retreat to Dunkirk from where it took part in the Dunkirk evacuation. [5]
After escaping from Dunkirk, the brigade, which had sustained some of the highest losses in the BEF (with each battalion totalling roughly 200 men), was serving in South East England under Southern Command, [4] when the 23rd Division was disbanded in late June 1940 due to the heavy casualties it had suffered, with the 70th Brigade becoming an independent formation, with the title of 70th Independent Infantry Brigade, on 27 June 1940 and the 187th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) under command. [4] The brigade, reformed as a standard infantry brigade on 16 September, was sent to Iceland in October 1940 on garrison duties. [4] The brigade remained there before being sent, in December 1941, to Scotland [4] shortly after the United States entered the war. After serving in South Wales District and Western Command, the 70th Brigade was, on 18 May 1942, assigned to the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division. [4] The 49th Division, another TA formation, and composed of the 146th and 147th Infantry Brigades and supporting divisional troops, had also been serving in Iceland, where they gained the nickname of "The Polar Bears". The division's General Officer Commanding (GOC) was Major-General Henry Curtis, but on 30 April 1943 he was replaced by Major-General Evelyn Barker, a distinguished veteran of the Great War. [6]
The brigade, now commanded by Brigadier Percy Paulet King, [4] together with the rest of the 49th Division, spent the remaining two years in the United Kingdom, training for offensive action. In January 1944 Brigadier E. C. Cooke-Collis, who had commanded the 69th Brigade (which, along with the 70th, had constituted the old 23rd Division and upon the 23rd's disbandment was sent to the 50th Division) previously, took command. The brigade landed in Normandy on 14 June, [4] eight days after D-Day on 6 June, as part of Battle of Normandy (codenamed Operation Overlord) six days later. [7]
During Operation Martlet, the preparatory attack for Operation Epsom that took place on 25 June 1944, the brigade was heavily engaged around the village of Rauray with elements from the 12th SS Panzer and 26th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiments of the 12th SS Panzer Division. [8] The 70th Brigade then fought a bloody battle around Rauray as Kampfgruppe Weidinger of 2nd SS Panzer Division counterattacked between 29 June and 1 July. [9] For this it was given the battle honour of 'The Odon' [10]
Thereafter it fought south of Tilly-sur-Seulles, before following the 49th Division's initial drive during I Corps' drive to the River Seine in late August. On 19 August, however, the brigade was withdrawn from the front line and the following day all officers and warrant officers in the brigade was informed personally by Major-General "Bubbles" Barker, the division's GOC, that the 70th Brigade was to be disbanded to fill the increasing gap in available infantry replacements. General Sir Bernard Montgomery, commanding the 21st Army Group, arrived the day after, saying much the same. [11] At this stage of the war, the British Army was suffering from a severe lack of available manpower, having used up nearly all of its manpower reserves. [12] Most of the men were posted to battalions of the 50th (Northumbrian) and the 51st (Highland) Infantry Divisions. [12] By 19 October 1944, the brigade officially ceased to exist. [13] Its place in the 49th Division was taken by the 56th Infantry Brigade, previously an independent formation.
The 70th Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: [4]
During the period 27 June to 17 October 1940 the following additional unit was under command: [4]
The following officers commanded the 70th Brigade during the war: [4]
During the Mau Mau uprising, East Africa Command controlled 39th Infantry Brigade, 49th Infantry Brigade, and 70th (East African) Infantry Brigade, 70 Brigade controlling the King's African Rifles battalions. [14] Brigade headquarters was at Nyeri where the Brigade Signals Troop was also located. May have operated from 1953 onwards. [15]
On independence over the December 1963-January 1964 period the brigade was disestablished by becoming the basis of 1 Brigade, Kenya Army. [16]
Operation Epsom, also known as the First Battle of the Odon, was a British offensive in the Second World War between 26 and 30 June 1944, during the Battle of Normandy. The offensive was intended to outflank and seize the German-occupied city of Caen from the west, an important Allied objective, in the early stages of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of north-west Europe.
The 49th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the division fought in the Norwegian Campaign and in North-western Europe. After the Second World War, it was disbanded in 1946, then reformed in 1947. It remained with Northern Command until finally disbanded in 1967.
The 8th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was active in both the First and Second World Wars. The division was first formed in October 1914 during the First World War, initially consisting mainly of soldiers of the Regular Army and served on the Western Front throughout the war, sustaining many casualties, before disbandment in 1919. The division was reactivated in Palestine, under the command of Major-General Bernard Montgomery, in the late 1930s in the years running up to the Second World War before being disbanded in late February 1940. It was briefly reformed in Syria in an administrative role during 1942-3.
The 11th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army which was created in March 1941 during the Second World War. The division was formed in response to the unanticipated success of the German panzer divisions. The 11th Armoured was responsible for several major victories in the Battle of Normandy from in the summer of 1944, shortly after the Normandy landings, and it participated in the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine, the Rhine crossing in March 1945. It was disbanded in January 1946 and reformed towards the end of 1950. In 1956, it was converted into the 4th Infantry Division.
The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot and the 106th Regiment of Foot along with the Militia and Volunteers of County Durham.
The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw distinguished service in the Second World War. Pre-war, the division was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and the two Ts in the divisional insignia represent the two main rivers of its recruitment area, namely the rivers Tyne, and Tees. The division served in almost all of the major engagements of the European War from 1940 until late 1944 and also served with distinction in North Africa, the Mediterranean and Middle East from mid-1941 to 1943. The 50th Division was one of two British divisions to land in Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, where it landed on Gold Beach. Four men of the division were awarded the Victoria Cross during the war, more than any other division of the British Army during the Second World War.
The 151st Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service during the Second World War in Belgium and France in 1940, and later in North Africa, Tunisia and Sicily, and later in Normandy in mid-1944 and North-western Europe. The brigade was part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, and for most of its wartime existence consisted of three battalions of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) the 6th, 8th and 9th.
The 23rd (Northumbrian) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which fought briefly in the Battle of France during the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a European power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions within the Territorial Army by duplicating existing units. The 23rd (Northumbrian) Division was formed in October 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Division. It was made up of two brigades, unlike regular infantry divisions that were composed of three, with battalions hailing from the north of England.
The 25th Infantry Brigade was a war-formed infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service during both the First and the Second World Wars.
Operation Perch was a British offensive of the Second World War which took place from 7 to 14 June 1944, during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy. The operation was intended to encircle and seize the German occupied city of Caen, which was a D-Day objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division in the early phases of Operation Overlord. Operation Perch was to begin immediately after the British beach landings with an advance to the south-east of Caen by XXX Corps. Three days after the invasion the city was still in German hands and the operation was amended. The operation was expanded to include I Corps for a pincer attack on Caen.
The 159th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Army (TA), the brigade was assigned to the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division and served with the division in the early stages of the Second World War until May 1942 when it was transferred to be the motorised infantry element of the 11th Armoured Division. The brigade would serve with the 11th Armoured in North-west Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.
The 214th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army raised during the Second World War that saw active service on the North West Europe.
Operation Martlet was part of a series of British attacks to capture the French town of Caen and its environs from German forces during the Battle of Normandy of World War II begun by the Allies. It was a preliminary operation undertaken on 25 June 1944 by XXX Corps of the British Second Army, to capture Rauray and the area around Noyers. The attack was to protect the right flank of VIII Corps as it began Operation Epsom, an offensive into the Odon Valley west of Caen, on 26 June. The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and the 49th Infantry Division were to capture Juvigny-sur-Seulles, Vendes and Rauray, to prevent German counter-attacks against VIII Corps from the area of the Rauray Spur and then extend the attack towards Noyers and Aunay-sur-Odon. It was the first time in Normandy that the 49th Division operated as a division.
The Second Battle of the Odon comprised operations fought by the British Second Army during the Second World War. Attacks took place in mid-July 1944 against Panzergruppe West, as part of the Battle of Normandy. Operations Greenline and Pomegranate were intended to draw German attention away from Operation Goodwood, an attack from the Orne bridgehead on 18 July.
The Beauman Division was an improvised formation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the Second World War, which fought in France against the German 4th Army in June 1940, during Fall Rot, the final German offensive of the Battle of France.
The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which fought briefly in the Battle of France during the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a European power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions within the Territorial Army by duplicating existing units. The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division was formed in October 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 44th Infantry Division.
The 190th Brigade was a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation of the British Army during World War I. Formed from battalions of the Durham Light Infantry, it served in home defence without ever going overseas as a complete formation.
The 144th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in the First World War and again in the early stages of the Second World War before being reduced to a reserve brigade and remained in the United Kingdom for the rest of the war. In both world wars the brigade served with 48th Division.
The Battle of the Nijmegen salient or the Defence of the Nijmegen bridgehead was a series of engagements that took place in the Netherlands during World War II between 30 September and 8 October 1944. The battle occurred in the aftermath of Operation Market Garden, a failed attempt by the Allies to cut off German forces in the Netherlands and end the war quickly.