The 36th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of British Army that fought in the First World War, as part of

12th (Eastern) Division The 12th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division raised by the British Army during the First World War from men volunteering for Kitchener's New Armies. The division saw service in the trenches of the Western Front from June 1915 to the e ...

, on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. The brigade also fought in the Second World War, with the

12th (Eastern) Infantry Division The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which fought briefly in the Battle of France during the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a European power and its occupat ...

, in France, and later with 78th Infantry Division in Tunisia and Italy.

First World War

The 36th Brigade fought throughout the First World War with the

on the

. During the First World War the brigade was part of the ''New Army'', also known as '' Kitchener's New Armies'', and disbanded after the war ended.

Order of battle

* 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) ''(disbanded February 1918)'' * 9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) * 7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment * 11th (Service) Battalion,

Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Ref ...

''(disbanded February 1918)'' * 36th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps ''(formed 1 February 1916, moved to 12th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 1 March 1918)'' * 36th Trench Mortar Battery ''(formed 15 June 1916)'' * 5th (Service) Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) ''(from February 1918)''

Second World War

Reformed during the Second World War as the 36th Infantry Brigade on 7 October 1939, this time as part of the Territorial Army, and attached to the

, duplicate of the

44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. ...

. The brigade was formed as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 132nd (Kent) Infantry Brigade. It fought in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

in May 1940 where it was overrun by the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

and dispersed and suffered very heavy casualties, due mainly to the division having none of its support units and the infantrymen having had little training. Reformed in the United Kingdom, it was redesignated 36th Independent Infantry Brigade from 22 June 1940, when the 12th Division was disbanded, until 22 June 1942 when it was assigned to the 78th ''Battleaxe'' Infantry Division and served in the North African Campaign, in Operation Husky and the Italian Campaign, in particular the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

and later

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

, followed by the

Spring 1945 offensive in Italy The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack into the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 ...

Order of battle

The 36th Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: * 2/6th Battalion,

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

''(left 26 October 1939)'' * 6th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment * 7th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment ''(until 20 August 1942)'' * 5th Battalion, Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) ''(from 26 October 1939)'' * 36th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company ''(formed 18 August 1940, disbanded 20 June 1941)'' * 8th Battalion,

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

''(from 21 August 1942)'' * 181st 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 ...

''(from 10 December 1941 until 22 June 1942)''

Commanders

The following officers commanded the brigade during the war:Joslen, p. 284. * Brigadier G.R.P. Roupell ''(until 20 May 1940, MIA)'' * Brigadier A.L. Kent-Lemon ''(from 1 July 1940 until 17 December 1942)'' * Brigadier B. Howlett ''(from 17 December 1942, KIA 29 November 1943)'' *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

P.E.O. Bryan ''(

Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

, from 30 November to 3 December 1943)'' * Brigadier J.L. Spencer ''(from 3 December 1943 until 2 May 1944)'' * Brigadier J.G. James ''(from 2 May 1944, KIA 16 June 1944)'' * Brigadier C.D. Packard ''(from 27 June until 20 December 1944)'' * Brigadier G.R.D. Musson ''(from 20 December 1944 until 7 June 1945)'' * Lieutenant Colonel A.J. Odling-Smee ''(Acting, from 7 June until 11 July 1945)'' * Brigadier G.R.D. Musson ''(from 11 July 1945)''

Recipients of the Victoria Cross

* Corporal

George Jarratt Corporal George Jarratt VC (20 July 1891 − 3 May 1917) was a British Army soldier and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British ...

, 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, Great War *

Neville Elliott-Cooper Lieutenant Colonel Neville Bowes Elliott-Cooper, (22 January 1889 – 11 February 1918) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Br ...

, 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, Great War

References

Bibliography

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II