infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
Br ...
of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
that saw active service in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and home service during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
First World War
The 33rd Brigade was formed in the Great War in August 1914 as part of Kitchener's Army, initially made up of volunteer service battalions from a variety of different infantry
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
s. For the duration of the war, the brigade was in the 11th (Northern) Division. Between February and September 1917 it was under the command of Brigadier-General Arthur Daly.Becke, pp. 19–25.11th (N) Division at Long, Long Trail. /ref> From September 1917 to the end of the war it was commanded by Brigadier-General
Frederick Spring
Brigadier-General Frederick Gordon Spring, (25 July 1878 – 24 September 1963) was a senior British Army officer.
Early life
Spring was born in 1878 in Bombay, India, the son of Colonel Frederick William Spring, a Royal Artillery officer. ...
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and on the Western Front, and comprised the following units:
Order of battle
The brigade was composed as follows:
* 6th (Service) Battalion,
Lincolnshire Regiment
The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...
* 6th (Service) Battalion,
Border Regiment
The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot.
After service i ...
''(disbanded 9 February 1918)''
* 7th (Service) Battalion,
South Staffordshire Regiment
The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot an ...
* 9th (Service) Battalion,
Sherwood Foresters
The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to ...
* 33rd Machine Gun Company,
Machine Gun Corps
The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks ...
''(formed March 1916, moved into 11th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 28 February 1918)''
* 33rd Trench Mortar Battery ''(joined July 1917)''
Actions
The brigade took part in the following actions:Gallipoli campaign
1915
*Battle of Suvla
**
Landing at Suvla Bay
The landing at Suvla Bay was an amphibious landing made at Suvla on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part of the August Offensive, the final British attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Gallipol ...
, 6–15 August
**
Battle of Scimitar Hill
The Battle of Scimitar Hill ( Turkish: Yusufçuk Tepe Muharebesi, literally: ''Battle of the Dragonfly Hill'') was the last offensive mounted by the British at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I. It was also the largest single-d ...
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
**
Battle of Flers–Courcelette
The Battle of Flers–Courcelette (, 15 to 22 September 1916) was fought during the Battle of the Somme in France, by the French Sixth Army and the British Fourth Army and Reserve Army, against the German 1st Army, during the First World War. ...
Aisne
Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Battle of Messines, 9–14 June
*
Third Battle of Ypres
The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...
** Battle of Langemarck, 16–18 August
** Fighting around St Julien, 19, 22 & 27 August
**
Battle of Polygon Wood
The Battle of Polygon Wood took place from 26 September to 3 October 1917, during the second phase of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War. The battle was fought near Ypres in Belgium, in the area from the Menin road to Polygon Woo ...
, 26 September–3 October
**
Battle of Broodseinde
The Battle of Broodseinde was fought on 4 October 1917 near Ypres in Belgium, at the east end of the Gheluvelt plateau, by the British Second and Fifth armies against the German 4th Army. The battle was the most successful Allied attack of t ...
Second Battle of Arras
The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British Empire, British offensive on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German Empi ...
Hindenburg Line
The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 1916 ...
**
Battle of the Canal du Nord
The Battle of Canal du Nord was part of the Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War by the Allies against German positions on the Western Front. The battle took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, along an incomplete portion of ...
, 27 September–1 October
** Battle of Cambrai, 8–9 September
** Pursuit to the Selle, 9–12 October
* The Final Advance in
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France.
Hi ...
** Battle of the Sambre, 4 November
** Passage of the Grande Honnelle, 5–7 November
Second World War
The brigade was reformed on 24 October 1941 during the Second World War as 33rd Infantry Brigade. On 10 November 1942 it was redesignated the 33rd Independent Infantry Brigade (Guards), as an all-arms brigade group under the command of
Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
London District
London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''.
History
In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in ...
. The brigade was intended for home defence in the event of a
German invasion German invasion may refer to:
Pre-1900s
* German invasion of Hungary (1063)
World War I
* German invasion of Belgium (1914)
* German invasion of Luxembourg (1914)
World War II
* Invasion of Poland
* German invasion of Belgium (1940)
* G ...
The following units constituted the brigade:
* 6th Battalion,
Coldstream Guards
The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...
''(from 30 October 1941 to 30 September 1943)''
* 3rd Battalion,
''(from 30 October to 4 September 1943)''
* 3rd Battalion,
Welsh Guards
The Welsh Guards (WG; cy, Gwarchodlu Cymreig), part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. ...
''(from 30 October 1941 to 4 February 1942)''
* 11th Battalion,
Worcestershire Regiment
The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment f ...
''(from 5 to 31 December 1942; redesignated 1st Bn to replace battalion captured at the Fall of Tobruk)''
* 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment ''(from 1 January to 4 October 1943)''
* 9th Battalion,
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the First and Second World W ...
''(from 1 January to 4 October 1943)''
* 177th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery ''(from 10 November 1942 to 4 October 1943)''
* 220th Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery ''(from 10 November 1942 to 30 September 1943)''
* 80th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery ''(from 7 December 1942 to 12 September 1943)''
* 26th Field Company,
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 ...
''(from 10 November 1942 to 27 September 1943)''
* 24th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron,
Reconnaissance Corps
The Reconnaissance Corps, or simply Recce Corps, was a corps of the British Army, formed during the Second World War whose units provided reconnaissance for infantry divisions. It was formed from infantry brigade reconnaissance groups on 14 Janu ...
''(from 10 November 1942 to 9 February 1943)''
* 33rd Independent Bde Gp (Gds) Company,
Royal Army Service Corps
The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...
:
** 339 Company RASC ''(from 10 November 1942 to 24 April 1943)''
** 538 Company RASC ''(from 12 June to 4 October 1943)''
* 33rd Independent Bde Gp (Gds) Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers ''(from 25 January to 30 September 1943)''
* 33rd Independent Bde Gp (Gds) Provost Section Corps of Military Police ''(from 7 December 1942 to 4 October 1943)''
Notes
References
* A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3a: New Army Divisions (9–26)'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1938/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-41-X.
* J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-007-3.
*
* F. G. Spring, ''The History of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment'', Poacher Books, 2008.
* A. Turner, ''Messines 1917: The Zenith of Siege Warfare'', Osprey Publishing, 2010.