228th Brigade (228 Bde) was a formation of the
British Army in both the
First and
Second World Wars.
First World War
228th Brigade was created on 26 February 1917 as a formation of Army Troops within the
British Salonika Army under Brigadier General W. C. Ross
Order of battle
The following units served in the brigade:
[
* 2nd Garrison Battalion The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (from 28 August 1917)
* 2/5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry (from 1 March 1917)
* 1st Garrison Battalion ]Seaforth Highlanders
The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...
(from 1 March 1917)
* 2nd Garrison Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers
The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot in ...
(March–August 1917)
* 22nd (Wessex and Welsh) Battalion Rifle Brigade
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...
[''The Rifle Brigade Chronicle'', 1929, p. 179.]Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
(formed 15 March 1917)
* 143rd Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
(formed 19 March 1917)
Service
Although an independent formation, 228 Bde was always associated with 28th Division.[ It was formed of garrison battalions, which were not normally expected to serve in the front line due to the men's age or low medical category. One staff officer wrote: 'Physically the brigade was in a terrible state. They were splendid crocks ... Some were almost blind, some almost deaf, and the 22nd Rifle Brigade ... had more than sixty men over sixty years old'. Because of its slow rate of marching, the 228th became known as the 'Too Too Late Brigade'.][Wakefield & Moody, pp. 136–7.]
On 30 September 1918, during the final Allied offensive on the Salonika front, 228 Bde came under the command of the Greek Crete Division. 228 Bde was broken up on 4 October 1918.[
]
Second World War
The Second World War brigade was formed (as 228th Independent Infantry Brigade) in the Shetland Islands
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 no ...
on 12 February 1942, by the redesignation of Headquarters Shetland Defences. Its commander was Brigadier the Hon William Fraser.[Joslen, p. 391]
Composition
The following units served in the brigade:[
* 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots (until 17 November 1942)
* 7th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers (until 14 July 1943)
* 10th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry (until 2 December 1942)
* 4th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders (18 November – 19 December 1942)
* 7th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment (3 December 1942 – 28 July 1943)
* 2nd Battalion, Cameron Highlanders (20 December 1943 – 15 September 1943)
]
Service
228 Bde served under OSDEF (Orkney & Shetland Defences) until 16 September 1943, when the brigade was disbanded.[
]
Notes
References
* Cyril Falls & Archibald Frank Becke, ''Military Operations: Macedonia'', Volume 2, London: HM Stationery Office,
*
* Graham Nicol, ''Uncle George: Field Marshal Lord Milne of Salonika and Rubislaw'', Reedminster, 1976, .
* Alan Wakefield & Simon Moody, ''Under the Devil's Eye: Britain's Forgotten Army at Salonika 1915–1918,'' Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2004, .
The Long, Long Trail
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Military units and formations established in 1917
Military units and formations disestablished in 1918
Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I
Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II
Military units and formations established in 1942
Military units and formations disestablished in 1943