233rd Brigade was an infantry formation of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and the

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

First World War

233rd Brigade was formed at Zeitun, near

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, on 25 May 1917, as part of 75th Division, which was being organised by the British

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a military formation of the British Empire, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–1915), at the ...

(EEF) from

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

battalions arriving as reinforcements from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

ordered that

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

battalions should also be included in order to speed up the formation of the Division, and 233rd Brigade was formed on this basis.Becke pp. 123–30.

Order of Battle

The following units served in 233rd Brigade: * 1/5th Battalion,

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Som ...

(had gone to India with

43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of Britain's Territorial Army (United Kingdom), Territorial Army (TA). The division was first formed in 1908, as the Wessex Division. During the World War I, First ...

in October 1914; joined 25 May 1917) * 2/4th Battalion,

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The re ...

(had gone to India with 45th (2nd Wessex) Infantry Division in December 1914; joined 25 May 1917; left for Western Front 2 May 1918 and joined

62nd (2nd West Riding) Division The 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw active service on the Western Front during the First World War. History During the First World War the division fought on the Western Front at Bulle ...

) * 2nd Battalion,

3rd Gurkha Rifles The 3rd Gorkha Rifles or Third Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 3 GR is an Indian Army infantry regiment. It was originally a Gurkha regiment of the British Indian Army formed in 1815. This regiment recruit mainly Magars and Gurung tribes. They wer ...

(joined 24 June 1917 from

29th Indian Brigade The 29th Indian Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service with the Indian Army during the First World War. Formed in October 1914, it raided Sheik Saiad en route to Egypt, defended the Suez Canal in ea ...

) * 3rd Battalion, 3rd Gurkha Rifles (joined 30 June 1917 from 29th Indian Brigade) * 230th Machine Gun Company (joined 15 July 1917; transferred to 75th Battalion

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

3 May 1918) * 233rd Trench Mortar Battery (joined 1 September 1917; disbanded 27 November 1918) * 1/4th Battalion,

Wiltshire Regiment The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. T ...

(had gone to India with

in October 1914; joined 15 October 1917; transferred to 232nd Brigade 3 May 1918) * 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 ...

(had gone to India with 45th (2nd Wessex) Division in December 1914; transferred from 234th Brigade 25 April 1918; disbanded by 10 August 1918) * 29th Punjabis (joined from India 28 April 1918) * 2nd Battalion,

154th Infantry The 154th Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in Mesopotamia in May 1918, saw service in the First World War and the Third Anglo-Afghan War, and was disbanded in May 1921. History Background Heavy losses ...

(a new battalion formed at

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

with one company each from: **

102nd King Edward's Own Grenadiers The 102nd Prince of Wales's Own Grenadiers was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It could trace its origins to 1796, when it was raised as the 13th Battalion, Bombay Native Infantry. The Grenadiers were part of the Indian army whi ...

108th Infantry The 108th Infantry were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment traces their origins to 1768, when they were raised as the 1st Battalion, Bombay Sepoys. The regiments first action was during the Mysore Campaign in the Thi ...

119th Infantry (The Mooltan Regiment) The 119th Infantry (The Mooltan Regiment) was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment originated in 1817, when it was raised as the 1st Battalion, 10th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry. The regiment's first action was in ...

** 122nd Rajputana Infantry : and joined from

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

25 July 1918)

Commanders

The following officers commanded 233rd Brigade during this period: * Brig-Gen The Hon Edward Colston * Brig-Gen E.H. Wildblood (from 16 October 1919)

Service

233rd Brigade took over the Rafa defences in Sinai in June 1917, and only joined 75th Division on 18 August that year. It took part in the EEF's invasion of Palestine beginning with the

Third Battle of Gaza The Third Battle of Gaza was fought on the night of 1–2 November 1917 between British and Ottoman forces during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I and came after the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory at the Ba ...

on 27 October 1917, culminating in the Capture of Gaza (6–7 November) and Junction Station (13–14 November), and the

Battle of Nebi Samwil The Battle of Nebi Samwil (17–24 November 1917) was fought during the decisive British Empire victory at the Battle of Jerusalem between the forces of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and the Ottoman Empire's Yildirim Army Group during the Sinai ...

(20–24 November). In the Spring of 1918, 233rd Brigade was involved in the actions at Tell 'Asur (11–12 March) and

Berukin Bruqin () is a Palestinian town 13 kilometers west of Salfit in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Brukhin, which was built over lands confiscated from the Palestini ...

(9–11 April). During General Allenby's final offensive (the Battles of Megiddo, 233rd Brigade took part in the

Battle of Sharon The Battle of Sharon fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, began the set piece Battle of Megiddo (1918), Battle of Megiddo half a day before the Battle of Nablus (1918), Battle of Nablus, in which large formations engaged and responded to mov ...

(19 September). At the end of the fighting on 19 September, 75 Division went into reserve until the Armistice with the Turks was signed on 31 October. Demobilisation began early in 1919, but the 75th Division was selected for the Army of Occupation of Palestine. The reduced division formed one composite brigade under the command of Brig-Gen Colston of 233rd Brigade. In March 1919 it returned to garrison duty in Egypt, and other units were attached for this work. Finally, 233rd Brigade was disbanded on 16 March 1920.

Second World War

On 27 July 1941, Malta Command created Central Infantry Brigade from among reinforcements that had reached the island from Egypt during the ongoing

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

; brigade HQ was provided by HQ 'D' Infantry Brigade, which had come out from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Central Infantry Brigade was commanded by Brigadier

Ivan de la Bere Brigadier Sir Ivan de la Bere, (25 April 1893 – 27 December 1970) was a senior British Army officer, who played a prominent part in the Siege of Malta during the Second World War. He was later an official in the Royal Household. Early life ...

, and was renamed 3rd (Malta) Infantry Brigade on 14 July 1942. It was renamed again as 233rd Infantry Brigade on 1 April 1943.Joslen, p. 395.

Order of Battle

The following units served in 3rd (Malta)/233 Brigade: * 11th Battalion,

Lancashire Fusiliers The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, and the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. It had many diffe ...

(until 20 May 1944) * 1st Battalion,

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence ...

(machine gun battalion) (until 22 January 1943) * 2nd Battalion,

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen' ...

(until 10 April 1943) * 4th Battalion,

Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

(11 April – 5 September 1943) * 1st Battalion,

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 11 June 1943) * 10th (Territorial) Battalion, King's Own Malta Regiment (4 May 1942 – 5 October 1943) * 8th Battalion,

King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army. It served under various titles and fought in many wars and conflicts, including both the First and the Second World Wars, from 1680 to 1959. In 1959, the ...

(11 October – 3 November 1943) * 2nd Battalion, King's Own Malta Regiment (from 10 October 1943) * 3rd Battalion, King's Own Malta Regiment (from 10 October 1943) * 30th Battalion,

Royal Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and ...

(from 14 May 1944)

Notes

References

* A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: the 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * * Chris Kempton, ''British Empire & Commonwealth Museum Research Paper No 1: A Register of the Titles of the Unites of the H.E.I.C. & Indian Armies 1666–1947, Bristol: British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, 1997, .
Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth

The Long, Long Trail
{{British infantry brigades of the Second World War Military units and formations established in 1917 Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II