The 14th Infantry Brigade was a

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 ...

formation during both 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 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 ...

History

First World War

In 1914 this brigade was part of the 5th Division and moved over to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On 30 December 1915 the brigade was transferred to the 32nd Division.

Order of battle

Subordinate units included: *1st Battalion,

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 ...

- (''left January 1916 transferred to 95th Brigade'') *2nd Battalion,

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before bein ...

- (''left September 1914'') *1st 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 January 1916 transferred to 95th Brigade'') *1st Battalion,

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd (Cornwall Light ...

- (''left January 1916 transferred to 95th Brigade'') *2nd Battalion,

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

- (''joined December 1915, left February 1918 transferred to 96th Brigade'') * 1st Battalion,

Dorset Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 1 ...

(''joined 7 January 1916'') *1/5th Battalion,

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. T ...

- (''joined February 1915, left November 1915'') *1/9th (Highlanders) Battalion,

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regimen ...

- (''joined November 1915'') *2nd Battalion,

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment o ...

- (''joined November 1915'') * 5th/6th Battalion, Royal Scots – (''joined July 1916'') *15th (Service) Battalion (2nd Birmingham) Birmingham Pals - (''joined December 1915 transferred from 95th Brigade, left January 1916 transferred to 13th Brigade'') *19th (Service) Battalion (3rd Salford),

Lancashire Fusiliers The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, and had many different titles throughout its 28 ...

(''joined January 1916 transferred from 96th Brigade, left July 1916'') *15th (Service) Battalion (1st Glasgow),

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusi ...

(''joined January 1916 transferred from 97th Brigade'') *4th Machine Gun Company (''joined February 1916, moved to 32nd Battalion

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 tank ...

(M.G.C.) 21 February 1918'') *14th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined March 1916'')

Commanders

The following commanded the 14th Infantry Brigade during the First World War: *Brigadier-General S. P. Rolt (at mobilization) *Lieutenant-Colonel J. R. Longley (20 October 1914 - acting) *Brigadier-General F. S. Maude (23 October 1914) *Lieutenant-Colonel E. G. Williams (12 April 1915 - acting) *Brigadier-General G. H. Thesiger (17 April 1915 - temporary) *Brigadier-General F. S. Maude (4 May 1915) *Brigadier-General C. W. Crompton (10 September 1915) *Brigadier-General C. R. Ballard (26 December 1915) *Lieutenant-Colonel M. Archer-Shee (20 July 1916 - acting) *Brigadier-General Lord E. C. Gordon-Lennox (21 July 1916) *Brigadier-General C. B. Norton (15 April 1918)

Second World War

At the start of the war this formation was made up of regular army battalions based in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

garrisons, nominally part of the 8th Infantry Division. It was present at the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...

, holding

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

airfield and causing many casualties among the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

troops. Evacuated to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

where it became part of the 70th Infantry Division in the break out from

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

. The 70th Infantry Division was transferred to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and then

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Here the division, including the 14th Infantry Brigade, was split up and reformed as

Chindits The Chindits, officially as Long Range Penetration Groups, were special operations units of the British and Indian armies which saw action in 1943–1944 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The British Army Brigadier Orde Wingate form ...

, fighting in the Second Chindit Expedition of 1944 (codenamed

Operation Thursday The Chindits, officially as Long Range Penetration Groups, were special operations units of the British and Indian armies which saw action in 1943–1944 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The British Army Brigadier Orde Wingate forme ...

). The brigade suffered 489 casualties during the Chindit operation. On 1 November 1944 the brigade was redesignated as the 14th British Airlanding Brigade.

Order of battle

The following infantry battalions were assigned to the 14th Infantry Brigade for various periods in the Second World War. *2nd Battalion,

Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...

*1st 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 ...

*2nd Battalion,

Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 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 ...

*1st Battalion,

Welch Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...

*1st 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 ...

* 2nd Battalion,

York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of ...

*2nd Battalion,

King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army. It served under various titles and fought in many wars and conflicts, including both the First and the Second World Wars, from 1680 to 1959. In 1959, the r ...

*1st 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 ...

*2nd Battalion,

Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd Regiment of Foot, 42nd (Roy ...

* 2/4th Australian Infantry Battalion *2nd Battalion,

Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

*7th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

Commanders

Commanders included: * Maj.-Gen.

J. F. C. Fuller Major-General John Frederick Charles "Boney" Fuller (1 September 1878 – 10 February 1966) was a senior British Army officer, military historian, and strategist, known as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising p ...

(? – 14 December 1930) * Maj.-Gen. H. J. Huddleston (14 December 1930 – 1 July 1933) * Brig. H. C. Maitland-Makgill-Crichton (11 July 1933 – 29 June 1937) * Brig. H. C. Harrison (29 June 1937 – 27 January 1939) * Brig. A. R. Godwin-Austen (31 December 1938 – 23 August 1939) * Brig. G. Dawes (3 September 1939 – 26 July 1940) * Brig. O. H. Tidbury (30 October 1940 – 27 April 1941) * Brig.

B. H. Chappel B is the second letter of the Latin alphabet. B may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Astronomy * Astronomical objects in the Barnard list of dark nebulae (abbreviation B) * Latitude (''b'') in the galactic coordinate syste ...

(27 April 1941 – 2 May 1942) * Brig. A. Gilroy (2 May 1942 – 6 November 1943) * Brig.

Thomas Brodie Major General Thomas Brodie, CB, CBE, DSO (20 November 1903 – 1 September 1993) was a British Army officer who saw service in World War II, Palestine and the Korean War. After retirement in 1955, he became involved with the British pressure ...

(6 November 1943 – 31 October 1944)

History

First World War

Order of battle

Commanders

Second World War

Order of battle

Commanders

See also

References

Further reading