The 116th Infantry Brigade Royal Marines was an infantry brigade formation of the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

created in the final stages of the Second World War.

Unit history

The unit was one of two created to address the manpower shortage of

21st Army Group 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 ...

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 Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

crew. They were quickly re-mustered as regular infantry, organised as a standard Army brigade. The 116th Brigade was sent into action in February 1945, serving under the

First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...

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, and 27th Battalion fighting with the

4th Canadian Armoured Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in their advance through Oldenburg towards Wilhelmshaven. The brigade remained in northern Germany after

the surrender ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

as part of XXX Corps, with their headquarters at Buxtehude, but operating in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven,

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

Brunsbüttel Brunsbüttel () is a town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany that lies at the mouth of the Elbe river, near the North Sea. It is the location of the western entrance to the Kiel Canal. History The earliest re ...

, 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.

References

{{British infantry brigades of the Second World War Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945

Unit history

See also

References