The 234th Infantry Brigade was an
infantry brigade of the
British Army, raised during the
First World War, and was later reformed during the
Second World War.
First World War
The 234th Brigade was assigned to the
75th Division and served in the
Sinai and Palestine Campaign.
* 2nd Battalion,
Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
* 1/4th Battalion,
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
*
123rd Outram's Rifles
The 123rd Outram's Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army.
History
It traced its origins to the 12th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry, part of the British East India Company's Bombay Army. It fought in the Battle of Khadki ...
*
58th Vaughan's Rifles (Frontier Force)
The 58th Vaughan's Rifles (Frontier Force) was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1849 as the 5th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 58th Vaughan's Rifles (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 5th ...
* 2/4th Battalion,
Dorsetshire 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 19 ...
*
2/4th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment
* 1st Battalion,
152nd Punjabis
The 152nd Punjabis was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in Mesopotamia and Palestine in May 1918, saw service in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War, and was disbanded in September 1921.
Histor ...
* 231st Machine Gun Company,
Machine Gun Corps
* 234th Trench Mortar Battery
Second World War
The brigade was re-formed as the 234th Infantry Brigade during the
Second World War on 1 April 1943 from the redesignation of the 4th (Malta) Infantry Brigade, which before that was known as the Western Infantry Brigade, which had garrisoned the island during its
siege by air and sea by the
Axis powers from June 1940 until November 1942. The unit was formed as the main British military force for the
Dodecanese Campaign to capture the
Dodecanese Islands in late 1943 and consisted mainly of
regular army units of the British Army that had served on the island during the siege.
The brigade, under
Major-General F. G. R. Brittorous, later replaced by
Brigadier Robert Tilney, was landed on the island of
Leros towards the end of September 1943. The 234th Brigade, together with other British, Italian and
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
forces, attempted to hold the Dodecanese islands against successive German air attacks and the landings of amphibious German forces, but without success. In the
Battle of Kos and the
Battle of Leros, German air superiority and tactical ability resulted in British defeats, and their garrisons were forced to surrender after a few days' resistance. The few men of the brigade who had escaped returned to the Middle East, where it was disbanded on 16 January 1944.
Order of battle
The brigade was constituted as follows during the war:
* 4th Battalion,
Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) (''from 13 May 1942 until 10 April 1943, rejoined 26 October 1943, captured 16 November 1943'')
* 8th Battalion,
King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) (''from 13 May 1942 until 7 January 1943'')
* 1st Battalion,
Durham Light Infantry (''from 14 May 1942 until 9 September 1943'')
* 1st Battalion,
Cheshire Regiment (''from 23 January 1943 until 5 April 1943'')
* 1st Battalion,
The King's Own Malta Regiment
The King's Own Malta Regiment was a territorial infantry regiment on the British Army colonial list prior to Malta's independence. It was formed in 1801 as the "Regiment of Maltese Militia", existing only until the following year. It was reformed ...
(''from 29 March 1943 until 10 October June 1943'')
* 2nd 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 ...
(''6 April 1943, captured 16 November 1943'')
* 2nd Battalion,
Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (''from 11 April 1943, captured 16 November 1943'')
* 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) (''from 24 October 1943, captured 16 November 1943'')
Commanders
The following officers commanded the brigade during the war:
[Joslen, p. 396]
*
Brigadier F.G.R. Brittorous (''from 13 May 1942 until 5 November 1943'')
* Brigadier
R. Tilney (''from 5 November 1943'')
References
External links
Orders of Battle.com* Joslen, Lt-Col H.F. (2003)
960 Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:234th Infantry Brigade
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 the 1910s