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    31st Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

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    31st Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

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    31st_Infantry_Brigade_(United_Kingdom)

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    31st Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

    Uploaded by

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 4

    31st Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

    The 31st Infantry Brigade was an infantry formation of the


    31st Lorried Infantry Brigade
    British Army, which participated in both the First and the Second
    31st Infantry Brigade
    World Wars. The brigade was later reformed after the end of the
    31st Brigade
    war serving in the British Army of the Rhine until the end of
    National Service in 1956, which saw the reorganisation of the
    brigade as the 11th Infantry Brigade.

    First World War


    The 31st Brigade was originally raised in the First World War in
    1914, by volunteers from Kitchener's Army. During the First World
    War, it was assigned to the 10th (Irish) Division and served in the
    Middle Eastern theatre at Gallipoli, Salonika and Palestine.

    Order of battle
    The brigade had the following composition:[1]

    5th (Service) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Formation badge of the brigade
    (August 1914 – May 1918, transferred to 66th (2nd East during and after the Second World
    Lancashire) Division) War
    6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Active 1914–1919
    (August 1914 – May 1918, transferred to 14th (Light) 1939–1946
    Division)
    1946–1956
    5th (Service) Battalion, Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish
    Fusiliers) (August 1914 – April 1918, transferred to 14th Country United
    (Light) Division) Kingdom
    6th (Service) Battalion, Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Branch British
    Fusiliers) (August 1914 – November 1916, absorbed by Army
    5th Battalion)
    2nd Battalion, Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Type Infantry
    (November 1916 – October 1918) formation
    2nd Battalion, 42nd Deoli Regiment (July – October Size Brigade
    1918)
    Engagements
    74th Punjabis (April – October 1918) First World
    2nd Battalion, 101st Grenadiers (May – October 1918) War
    38th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (June – July Second
    1918) World War

    Second World War


    The 31st Infantry Brigade was formed in the Second World War
    as an independent brigade group.[2][3] On 26–27 September 1940,
    it was assigned to defend the Royal Military Canal, a few miles
    from Hythe and Dover on the south coast. There is a detailed
    description of this defence area in British archaeological survey
    sources.[4]

    Order of battle
    The brigade group had the following composition:[2]

    2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment Mule teams from the 31st
    2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Independent Infantry Brigade training
    Infantry in the Black Mountains in Wales, 26
    1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles June 1941.

    1st Battalion, Border Regiment – from 1 December 1940


    31st Independent Brigade Group Anti-Tank Company – formed 14 September 1940; left 1
    January 1941
    D Company, 5th (Prince of Wales's) Battalion, Devonshire Regiment (Machine Guns) – later
    31st Independent Brigade Group MG Company (Devon); left 5 August 1941
    31st Independent Brigade Group Reconnaissance Company – formed 1 January 1941
    When the brigade operated as a brigade group, it included the following:

    Royal Artillery
    75th (Highland) Field Regiment – 'left 4 December 1941
    223rd Anti-Tank Battery – detached from 56th (King's Own) Anti-Tank Regiment[5]
    Royal Engineers

    237th Highland (City of Dundee) Field Company – left 5 August 1941[6]


    9th Field Company – from 48th (South Midland) Division 8 December 1941[7]
    Royal Army Service Corps
    31st Independent Brigade Group Company – formed 5 August 1940
    39th Motor Coach Company – from 17 August 1941
    Royal Army Medical Corps
    152nd Field Ambulance – left 5 August 1941
    181st Field Ambulance – joined 31 July 1941
    Royal Army Ordnance Corps
    31st Independent Brigade Group Workshop – formed 18 March 1941
    31st Independent Brigade Group Ordnance Field Park – formed 18 March 1941
    Royal Military Police
    31st Independent Brigade Group Provost Section

    Commanders
    The following officers commanded the brigade group:[2]
    Brigadier H.E.F. Smythe
    Brigadier George Hopkinson – from 27 October 1941
    The brigade was redesignated as the 1st Airlanding Brigade Group on 10 December 1941[2][3][8] and came
    under command of the 1st Airborne Division. 'It probably lost its unique badge at about this time although it
    did not lose its Group status until 10 March 1943.'[3] 223rd Anti-Tank Battery, 9th Field Company and
    other attached units became airborne units at this time.[5][7]

    On 15 April 1946, almost a year after the end of the war in Europe, the 6th Airlanding Brigade was
    renamed the 31st Lorried Infantry Brigade. This brigade wore a black desert rat on a red oval.[3]

    The following officers commanded the brigade between 1946 and 1956:

    Brigadier Roger H. Bower: April–December 1946


    Brigadier William R. Cox: January–December 1947
    Brigadier William P. Oliver: January 1948-February 1949
    Brigadier Cyril E.H. Dolphin: February 1949-September 1950
    Brigadier Frederick Stephens: September–November 1950
    Brigadier Victor D.G. Campbell: December 1950-November 1952
    Brigadier John F.M. Macdonald: November 1952-November 1954
    Brigadier Alfred (John) Tilly: November 1954-March 1956

    Bibliography
    J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield:
    Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
    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.
    Graham E. Watson & Richard A. Rinaldi, The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and
    Units 1889–2018, Tiger Lily Books, 2018, ISBN 978-171790180-4.

    External sources
    The Long, Long Trail (http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk)

    References
    1. 10th (Irish) Division at Long, Long Trail. (http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of
    -divisions/10th-irish-division/)
    2. Joslen, p. 279.
    3. Imperial War Museum collections, object 30072758 (http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o
    bject/30072758)
    4. Defence Area 36: Royal Military Canal: Bilsington–Ruckinge at Archaeology Data Site
    (archived) (https://web.archive.org/web/20131213204337/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue//ad
    sdata/arch-455-1/dissemination/pdf/Text_Reports/DA36_TEXT_-_ROYAL_MILITARY_CAN
    AL.pdf)
    5. Frederick, pp. 914, 919.
    6. Watson & Rinaldi, p. 164.
    7. Watson & Rinaldi, p. 151.
    8. Joslen, p. 279, 414.

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?


    title=31st_Infantry_Brigade_(United_Kingdom)&oldid=1084207285"

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