The 44th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the

Indian Army during World War II The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.Sumner, p.25 By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, ...

. The brigade was formed in June 1941, at

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

in India and assigned to the

17th Indian Infantry Division The 17th Infantry Division is a formation of the Indian Army. Indian Army during World War II, During World War II, it had the distinction of being continually in combat during the three-year-long Burma Campaign (except for brief periods of refit ...

. Under the command of Brigadier George Ballentine, on establishment the brigade drew a mix of regular soldiers, reservists and new recruits to form three infantry battalions; various supporting units were formed between August and September. A signals section was formed in late December. Due to the rapid expansion of the Indian Army, the brigade suffered from a shortage of experienced leaders, with each infantry battalion having on average only three British officers and also lacking Indian viceroy-commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers. The brigade's manpower problems were made worse in late 1941 when an experienced cadre of 250 personnel were transferred from the brigade in order to form another unit. They were replaced by a large number of inexperienced soldiers, many of whom were under 18 years old. In January 1942, the 44th was transferred to

Malaya Command The Malaya Command was a Command (military formation), formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya, which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederat ...

which was giving ground to a strong Japanese force that had invaded Malaya the previous December. During the

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

on the peninsula, the brigade was involved in the

Battle of Muar The Battle of Muar was the last major battle of the Malayan Campaign during the Second World War. It took place from 14–22 January 1942 around Gemensah Bridge and on the Muar River. After the British defeat at Slim River, General Archibald Wa ...

. After the withdrawal of British Commonwealth forces across the Johore Strait to Singapore, the brigade was briefly placed under the command of the

Australian 8th Division The 8th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army, formed during World War II as part of the all-volunteer Second Australian Imperial Force. The 8th Division was raised from volunteers for overseas service from July 1940 onwards. ...

in February 1942 and assigned to defend an area around the Causeway. The Japanese launched an invasion of the island on 8 February. The brigade took part in the subsequent fighting, but after a week surrendered to the Japanese along with the rest of the garrison on 15 February.

Formation

*6th Battalion,

1st Punjab Regiment The 1st Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamate ...

*6th Battalion,

14th Punjab Regiment The 14th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to the Pakistan Army on independence in 1947, and amalgamated with the 1st, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments in 1956, to form the Punjab Reg ...

*7th Battalion,

8th Punjab Regiment The 8th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to Pakistan Army on Partition of India in 1947 and merged with the Baluch Regiment in 1956. History Madras Infantry The 8th Punjab Regim ...

*44 Brigade Signals Section *44 Brigade Troops Transport Coy. R.I.A.S.C *44 Brigade Workshop Section I.A.O.C *83 Field Post Office

References

British Indian Army brigades {{WWII-stub

Formation

See also

References