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304th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 304th Infantry Brigade was a formation of the British Army organised from surplus Royal Artillery (RA) personnel retrained as infantry towards the end of the Second World War. Origin By the end of 1944, 21st Army Group was suffering a severe manpower shortage, particularly among the infantry. At the same time the German ''Luftwaffe'' was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted. In January 1945 the War Office began to reorganise surplus anti-aircraft and coastal artillery regiments in the UK into infantry battalions, primarily for line of communication and occupation duties in North West Europe, thereby releasing trained infantry for frontline service. The 304th Brigade was one of seven brigades formed from these new units.Joslen, p. 400. Composition The 304th Infantry Brigade was formed on 22 January 1945 by conversion of the Headquarters of 38th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade within the 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flag Of The British Army
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging (such as the maritime environment, where semaphore is used). Many flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families. The study of flags is known as "vexillology" from the Latin , meaning "flag" or "banner". National flags are patriotic symbols with widely varied interpretations that often include strong military associations because of their original and ongoing use for that purpose. Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for decorative purposes. Some military units are called "flags" after their use of flags. A ''flag'' (Arabic: ) is equivalent to a brigade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
28th (Essex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery
The 28th (Essex) Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1935 until 1961, at first as part of the Royal Engineers, later in the Royal Artillery. During the Second World War it defended the approaches to London in The Blitz and Operation Diver before becoming a garrison unit in the liberation of Norway. Origin The regiment had its origins in a group of Independent Air Defence Companies of the Royal Engineers formed in Essex by the Territorial Army in during January 1925, organised as follows:Frederick, pp. 858, 864.Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 108, 112.Mobilisation Orbat in 29 AA Brigade War Diary 1939–40, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2250. Essex Group Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Companies: * HQ at Chestnut Grove, Brentwood * 309 (Essex) AA Company at Harlow, later Horns Road, Newbury Park, Ilford * 310 (Essex) AA Company at Epping * 311 (Essex) AA Company at Brentwood * 312 (Essex) AA Company at Hornchurch, later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lionel Ellis
Lionel Frederic Ellis CVO CBE DSO MC (13 May 1885 – 19 October 1970) was a British Army officer and military historian, author of three volumes of the official ''History of the Second World War''. Between the two World Wars, he was General Secretary of the National Council of Social Service (1919–1937) and then Secretary of the National Fitness Council (1937–1939). In the 1950s he was an Associate Warden of Toynbee Hall. Career Born in Nottingham, in 1916 Ellis was commissioned into the Welsh Guards from the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps and saw service in the First World War. Ellis was awarded a Military Cross "for conspicuous gallantry and resource" while leading an attack under machine-gun fire and rose to the rank of captain. In 1919 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for gallantry and devotion to duty, in the advance south of Bavai. He returned to civilian life and became the first General Secretary of the new National Council of Social Service ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Doomsday
In Operation Doomsday, the British 1st Airborne Division acted as a police and military force during the Allied occupation of Norway in May 1945, immediately after the victory in Europe during the Second World War. The division maintained law and order until the arrival of the remainder of Force 134, the occupation force. During its time in Norway, the division was tasked with supervising the surrender of the German forces in Norway, as well as preventing the sabotage of vital military and civilian facilities. The German Instrument of Surrender was delivered on 8 May to General Franz Böhme, the commander of all German forces stationed in Norway, and the 1st Airborne Division landed near Oslo and Stavanger between 9 May and 11 May. The majority of the transport aircraft carrying the division landed safely, but three planes crashed with a number of fatalities. The division encountered little of the expected German resistance. Operational duties included welcoming back King Haakon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency of Norway; it also lays claims to the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo. Norway has a total area of and had a population of 5,425,270 in January 2022. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden at a length of . It is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast and the Skagerrak strait to the south, on the other side of which are Denmark and the United Kingdom. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The maritime influence dominates Norway's climate, with mild lowland temperatures on the se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division
The 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army's Territorial Army (TA) that was formed in 1920 and existed through the Second World War, although it did not see combat. The division had originally been raised in 1908 as the West Lancashire Division, part of the British Army's Territorial Force (TF). It fought in the First World War, as the 55th (West Lancashire) Division, and demobilised following the fighting. In 1920, the 55th (West Lancashire) Division started to reform. It was stationed in the county of Lancashire throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and was under-funded and under-staffed. In the late 1930s, the division was reduced from three to two infantry brigades and gave up some artillery and other support units to become a motorised formation, the 55th (West Lancashire) Motor Division. This was part of a British Army doctrine change that was intended to increase battlefield mobility. Following the German occupation of Czechosl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
The 2nd Northumberland Rifle Volunteer Corps, also referred to as the Tynemouth Rifles, was an infantry unit of Britain's part-time force, the Territorial Army. The corps was raised during the expansion of the Volunteer movement in the 1850s and then served with the Territorial Force during the First World War. It converted to an anti-aircraft role just prior to Second World War, and continued to serve until it was amalgamated in 1950. Volunteer Force The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. One of these new corps was the 1st Northumberland RVC (also known as the Northumberland Rifles) formed in North Shields and Tynemouth on 16 August 1859 by coal-owner Edward Potter of Cramlington. It took some moral courage to appear in the street in Volunteer uniform: members of the 1st Northumberland RVC were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
638th (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Infantry Regiment, Royal Artillery
The 2nd Northumberland Rifle Volunteer Corps, also referred to as the Tynemouth Rifles, was an infantry unit of Britain's part-time force, the Territorial Army. The corps was raised during the expansion of the Volunteer movement in the 1850s and then served with the Territorial Force during the First World War. It converted to an anti-aircraft role just prior to Second World War, and continued to serve until it was amalgamated in 1950. Volunteer Force The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. One of these new corps was the 1st Northumberland RVC (also known as the Northumberland Rifles) formed in North Shields and Tynemouth on 16 August 1859 by coal-owner Edward Potter of Cramlington. It took some moral courage to appear in the street in Volunteer uniform: members of the 1st Northumberland RVC were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northamptonshire Regiment
The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire), which was amalgamated with the 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk), the 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the present Royal Anglian Regiment. History Formation The Northamptonshire Regiment was formed as part of the reorganisation of the infantry by the Childers Reforms when the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot (raised in 1741) and the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot (raised in 1755) were redesignated as the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Northamptonshire Regiment, with the regimental depot at Northampton. The regiment was initially based at Gibraltar Barracks in Northampton. As well as the two regular bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps
The 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteers were a unit of the British Army raised from 1859 onwards as a group of originally separate Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). They later became the 4th Volunteer Force (Great Britain), Volunteer Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment and saw action in the Gallipoli Campaign, Gallipoli and Sinai and Palestine Campaign, Palestine campaigns during the World War I, First World War. Converted into a searchlight unit between the wars, they served in the defence of the United Kingdom and as an infantry regiment in liberated Norway during the World War II, Second World War. Postwar they continued in the air defence role until 1961 when they reverted to infantry as part of the Royal Anglian Regiment. Early history An invasion scare in 1859 led to the creation of the Volunteer Force (Great Britain), Volunteer Force and huge enthusiasm throughout Great Britain for joining local RVCs. The War Office issued a Circular Letter on 12 May inviting volunteer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
637th (The Northamptonshire Regiment) Infantry Regiment, Royal Artillery
The 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteers were a unit of the British Army raised from 1859 onwards as a group of originally separate Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). They later became the 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment and saw action in the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns during the First World War. Converted into a searchlight unit between the wars, they served in the defence of the United Kingdom and as an infantry regiment in liberated Norway during the Second World War. Postwar they continued in the air defence role until 1961 when they reverted to infantry as part of the Royal Anglian Regiment. Early history An invasion scare in 1859 led to the creation of the Volunteer Force (Great Britain), Volunteer Force and huge enthusiasm throughout Great Britain for joining local RVCs. The War Office issued a Circular Letter on 12 May inviting volunteers, and within three days John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, Earl Spencer had offered to raise a company from his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
630th (Essex) Infantry Regiment, Royal Artillery
The 28th (Essex) Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1935 until 1961, at first as part of the Royal Engineers, later in the Royal Artillery. During the Second World War it defended the approaches to London in The Blitz and Operation Diver before becoming a garrison unit in the liberation of Norway. Origin The regiment had its origins in a group of Independent Air Defence Companies of the Royal Engineers formed in Essex by the Territorial Army in during January 1925, organised as follows:Frederick, pp. 858, 864.Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 108, 112.Mobilisation Orbat in 29 AA Brigade War Diary 1939–40, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2250. Essex Group Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Companies: * HQ at Chestnut Grove, Brentwood * 309 (Essex) AA Company at Harlow, later Horns Road, Newbury Park, Ilford * 310 (Essex) AA Company at Epping * 311 (Essex) AA Company at Brentwood * 312 (Essex) AA Company at Hornchurch, later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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