132nd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
Middlesex Brigade 132nd (Middlesex) Brigade 132nd Infantry Brigade | |
---|---|
Western Desert Campaign | |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | James Steele Lashmer Whistler |
The 132nd Infantry Brigade was an
Formation
After the creation of the
First World War
On the outbreak of the First World War, the men of the division accepted liability for overseas service to relieve Regular troops for the fighting fronts. The 7th and 8th Middlesex sailed for Gibraltar on 4 and 10 September 1914. The rest of the division was ordered to India, although the brigade staffs and Regular adjutants of the battalions were to remain behind. To replace 7th and 8th Middlesex, the 4th Battalion, Border Regiment and 4th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry were added to the Middlesex Brigade, and the 1st Brecknockshire Battalion of the South Wales Borderers also sailed with the brigade. The Home Counties Division embarked at Southampton and sailed on 30 October 1914, disembarking at Bombay on 1–3 December.[1]
Service in India
On arrival, the division's units were sent distributed to various peacetime stations across India,
From 1915 onwards there was a regular drain on the battalions as they lost their best Non-Commissioned Officers for officer training, sent detachments to various places in India, and provided drafts to replace casualties among units fighting in
By 1918 the only units still formally attached to 132nd Brigade were 1/10th Middlesex and 1/4th Border (now returned from Burma and actually serving in the Jubbulpore Brigade of
Order of Battle
During the First World War the Middlesex Brigade was composed as follows:[1][4][5]
Commander: Brigadier-General W.R. Clifford (remained in England)
- 7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (from Hornsey) – to Gibraltar[6][7]
- 8th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (from Hounslow) – to Gibraltar[6][7]
- 9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (from Willesden) – to India
- 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (from Ravenscourt Park) – to India
- 4th (Cumberland and Westmorland) Battalion, Carlisle) – to Burma[2]
- 4th Battalion, King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) (from Shrewsbury) – to Burma [8]
- 1st Brecknockshire Battalion, South Wales Borderers (from Brecon) – to Aden[9]
Between the wars
The Territorial Force was disbanded shortly after the end of the war. It was, however, reformed in the 1920s as the Territorial Army and the 132nd Brigade was reformed as the 132nd (Middlesex) Infantry Brigade in 1920.[1] The division was also reconstituted as the 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division. The brigade was reformed with the same composition as it had before the First World War. However, in 1920, the 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was converted into the Home Counties Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals.[10] They were replaced in the brigade by the 5th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment from the 133rd (Kent and Sussex) Infantry Brigade.
In the late 1930s, however, all three of the Middlesex battalions were posted away or converted to other roles. The 9th Battalion was, in 1938, converted into the 9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (60th Searchlight Regiment)[11] and transferred to the 40th Anti-Aircraft Group, 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division. In the same year, the Middlesex Regiment was designated as a Machine Gun regiment[12] and the 7th and 8th Middlesex were transferred elsewhere. Also in 1938, all infantry brigades in the British Army were reduced from four battalions to three. The 7th and 8th Middlesex were replaced by the 4th Royal West Kents from the 133rd Brigade and the 6th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment from the 131st (Surrey) Infantry Brigade. In 1939 the brigade was redesignated 132nd Infantry Brigade.
Second World War
The brigade and division, alongside most of the rest of the Territorial Army, was mobilised in late August 1939 due to the situation in Europe deteriorating situation in Europe. 3 September 1939 saw the start of the
Shortly after full mobilisation in early September 1939, 132nd Brigade HQ became HQ Central Sub-Area in the United Kingdom and the units of the brigade were temporarily under the command of other formations until the brigade reassembled in 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division on 7 October 1939.[13]
Order of Battle
132 Brigade was constituted as follows:[13]
- 1/6th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (until 4 May 1940, to 10th Brigade)
- 4th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
- 5th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
- 132nd Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company (formed 1 December 1939, disbanded 15 January 1941)
- 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (from 10th Brigade, from 4 May until 29 June 1940)
- 1/7th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) (from 25th Brigade on 1 July 1940, returned to 131st Brigade 1 July 1941)
- 2nd Battalion, Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) (from 131st Brigade 2 July 1941)
Commanders
The following officers commanded 132nd Brigade during the war:[13]
- Brigadier T.T. Waddington (until 8 November 1939)
- Brigadier J.S. Steele (from 8 November 1939 until 14 February 1941)
- Brigadier C.B. Robertson (from 14 February 1941 until 4 September 1942)
- Brigadier L.G. Whistler (from acting command of 133rd Brigade 4 September until 26 November 1942)
- Acting, from 26 November 1942)
Service
On 2 April 1940, the 132nd Brigade, now commanded by Brigadier James Steele, MC, (later to become Adjutant-General to the Forces), an officer of the Regular Army, went to France with 44th Division as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The division came under command of III Corps, including 5th Division and 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, another Territorial division.[14] Both 44th and 42nd divisions had been held back from reinforcing the BEF sooner in order to participate in potential operations in Northern Europe, yet this had never come to anything.[15] Shortly after their arrival, the 1/6th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment was transferred to the 10th Brigade, part of 4th Division, receiving the 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, a Regular Army unit, in exchange and the "Kent and Surrey" brigade became an all-West Kent formation. The reason for the exchange of units was due to official BEF policy of mixing the Regular and Territorial Armies, and, in theory, to strengthen the inexperienced Territorial divisions.[16]
The brigade saw fighting in the
Back in the United Kingdom, 132nd Brigade was re-equipped and positioned in its own county of
The brigade was shipped out to
Post war
The brigade was reorganised postwar but disbanded by 1968.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Becke, pp. 49–54.
- ^ a b c "The Long, Long Trail – Researching soldiers of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1919".
- ^ Robson, Appendices 1 & 2.
- ^ "The Long, Long Trail – Researching soldiers of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1919".
- ^ "44th (Home Counties) Division". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- ^ a b "The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment)". The Long, Long Trail.
- ^ a b "Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment)". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
- ^ "The Long, Long Trail – Researching soldiers of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1919".
- ^ "The Long, Long Trail – Researching soldiers of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1919".
- ^ "10th Battalion, the Middlesex Regiment [UK]". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "9th Battalion, the Middlesex Regiment [UK]". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b c d e Joslen, p. 318.
- ^ "British Military History". Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ^ Fraser, p. 30.
- ^ Fraser, p. 28.
- ^ Horrocks, p. 97.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Bibliography
- Becke, A.F. (1936). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2A. The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-12-4.
- Horrocks, Brian (1960). A Full Life. London: Collins.
- Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
- Robson, Brian (2004). Crisis on the Frontier: The Third Afghan War and the Campaign in Waziristan 1919–20. Stapelhurst: Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-211-8.
- ISBN 978-0-304-35233-3.
External links