The 202nd Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) was a short-lived Home Defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War.

Origin and Service

The 202nd Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) was formed for service in the United Kingdom on 20 October 1940 by No 2 Infantry Training Group in the Northumbrian Area (later Northumberland County Division) of Home Forces.Joslen, p. 365.Collier, Map 20. It was commanded by Brigadier H. Pawle (Brigadier G.F. Gough from 20 May 1941), and comprised four newly raised infantry battalions from Northern England. Home brigades had a purely static coast defence role. The brigade's units had been dispersed to other brigades (in the Northumberland County Division and outside it) or for conversion to other roles by the time the brigade ceased to function operationally on 1 December. The Brigade HQ was disbanded on 22 December 1941.

Order of battle

The composition of 202nd Brigade was as follows: * 11th Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool) – ''formed 4 July 1940 at Formby; joined 20 October 1940, left 18 November 1941; converted into 152nd Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps 1 January 1942''Frederick, p. 130. *

12th Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool) The 101st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (101st LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) in 1940, it transferred to the ...

– ''formed 4 July 1940; joined 20 October 1940; to

225th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

27 May 1941; converted later that year into

101st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery The 101st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (101st LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) in 1940, it transferred to the ...

''Frederick, pp. 836–7. * 11th Battalion, Green Howards – ''formed 4 July 1940 at Richmond, North Yorkshire; joined 20 October 1940, left 26 November 1941; later to 143rd Infantry Brigade''Frederick, p. 108. *

7th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment The 103rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (103rd LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment in 1940, it transferred to the Royal ...

– ''formed as 50th Holding Battalion, East Lancashires May 1940; became 7th Bn July 1940; joined 20 October 1940, left 26 November 1941; converted into

103rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery The 103rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (103rd LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment in 1940, it transferred to the Royal ...

1 December 1941'' *

9th (Garrison) Battalion, Green Howards The 108th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (108th LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the Green Howards in 1940, it transferred to the Royal Arti ...

– ''formed 23 March 1940 at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

; served in the

Shetlands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

garrison as part of

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and Shetland Defence Force (OSDEF); transferred from 216th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) 14 November 1941; left 30 November and converted into

108th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery The 108th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (108th LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the Green Howards in 1940, it transferred to the Royal Artiller ...

1 January 1942''Organization of the Field Force in the United Kingdom and Order of Battle, Part 12, Orkney and Shetland Defences, 3 March 1941, with amendments, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 212/115.

Notes

References

Basil Collier, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom''
London: HM Stationery Office, 1957/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, . * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, . * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, . * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1940 Infantry brigades of the British Army Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1941