The 2nd (West Africa) Infantry Brigade was a

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 ...

formation 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 ...

. It was formed from battalions of the

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928, it received royal recognition ...

in 1940. In the early part of the war, the Brigade served in the East African campaign before seeing action against the Japanese in Burma in 1944–45.

History

The brigade was originally formed as 4th (

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

) Infantry Brigade but was re-designated 24th (Gold Coast) Infantry Brigade in October 1940. It was involved in the East African Campaign against the forces of the

Italian Colonial Empire The Italian colonial empire ( it, Impero coloniale italiano), known as the Italian Empire (''Impero Italiano'') between 1936 and 1943, began in Africa in the 19th century and comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencie ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

under the command of Brigadier Collen Edward Melville Richards and was attached to the

2nd (African) Division The 2nd (African) Division was a British Empire colonial unit that fought during the Second World War. On 19 July 1940, the 2nd (African) Division was formed in Kenya, British East Africa. On 24 November of that year, the division was redesignat ...

. During the East African Campaign, the brigade was part of Andrew Cunningham's force which attacked from

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

into

Italian Somaliland Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centur ...

and then advanced into

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. After the campaign, the brigade returned to West Africa in December 1941 and was reorganized as an independent brigade group (with attached engineer and artillery units). They were then designated as the 2nd (West African) Infantry Brigade. In October 1942 command of the brigade passed to Brigadier Ernest Western who was to remain in this role until March 1945. In 1944, reorganized once more as an infantry brigade, the 2nd (West African) was attached to the 82nd (West Africa) Division and sailed for

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, where the complete division was assembled on July 20. They then moved to

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 ...

and took part in the third Arakan Campaign in December 1944 as part of

Philip Christison General Sir Alexander Frank Philip Christison, 4th Baronet, (17 November 1893 – 21 December 1993) was a British Army officer who served with distinction during the world wars. After service as a junior officer on the Western Front in the Fir ...

XV Corps 15th Corps, Fifteenth Corps, or XV Corps may refer to: *XV Corps (British India) * XV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * 15th Army Corps (Russian Empire), a unit in World War I *XV Royal Bav ...

. It first advanced south along the Kalapanzin valley, then crossed a steep and jungle-covered mountain range to converge with the

British 81st (West Africa) Division The 81st (West African) Division was formed under British control during the Second World War. It took part in the Burma Campaign. History The inspiration for the division's formation came from General George Giffard, commander of the Britis ...

Myohaung Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District. Mrauk U is of great cultural importance to the local Rakhine (Arakanese) people, and is the location of many ...

at the mouth of the

Kaladan River The Kaladan River ( my, ကုလားတန်မြစ်, ; also Kysapnadi, Beino, Bawinu and Kolodyne) is a river in eastern Mizoram State of India, and in Chin State and Rakhine State of western Myanmar. The Kaladan River is called the Chh ...

. This move forced the Japanese to evacuate the Mayu peninsula which they had held for almost four years, and retreat south along the coast. They continued to advance maintaining pressure, on the Japanese capturing the port of Gwa shortly before the Japanese abandoned Burma. Western was wounded in March 1945 and command of the brigade was given to Brigadier Adam Wilson-Brand.

Formation

The 2nd (West Africa) Infantry Brigade was made up of the following units: *1st Bn., The

Gold Coast Regiment The Ghana Regiment is an infantry regiment that forms the main fighting element of the Ghanaian Army (GA). History The regiment was formed in 1879 as the Gold Coast Constabulary, from personnel of the Hausa Constabulary of Southern Nigeria, to per ...

; *2nd Bn., The Gold Coast Regiment; *3rd Bn., The Gold Coast Regiment.Allen 1984, p. 656.

Notes

References

* Allen, Louis. (1984). ''Burma: The Longest War 1941–45''. Reprinted 2002. Phoenix Press. . * Jackson, Ashley. (2006). ''The British Empire and the Second World War''. Continuum International Publishing Group. . * Moreman, T.R. (2005). ''The Jungle, the Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941-45''. Routledge. .

External links

Burma Star.org
{{British infantry brigades of the Second World War Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations in Burma in World War II Military units and formations in British Somaliland in World War II Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945