The 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade was an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

that saw active service in the Indian Army during the Second World War, notably in the

Burma Campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

History

The 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade was formed in October 1941, at Campbellpore in India. The brigade was assigned to the

7th Indian Infantry Division The 7th Infantry Division is a war-formed infantry Division (military), division, part of the British Indian Army that saw service in the Burma Campaign. History The division was created on 1 October 1940 at Attock, under the command of Major-ge ...

until July 1942, when it was attached to the North Western Army. It returned to the 7th Division in December 1942, and took part in the

. Between April and May 1944, it was corps reserve for XXXIII Indian Corps and was attached to the 5th Indian Infantry Division in March 1945. The rest of the war was under the 7th Division command.

Order of battle

The brigade included the following units: *4th Battalion, 5th Gurkha Rifles October 1941 to January 1944 *4th Battalion, 10th Gurkha Rifles October to December 1941 *4th Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment April 1942 to August 1945 *4th Battalion,

8th Gurkha Rifles The 8th Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha regiment of the Indian Army. It was raised in 1824 as part of the British East India Company and later transferred to the British Indian Army after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The regiment served in World War I ...

May to October 1942 *4th Battalion, 1st Gurkha Rifles February 1944 to August 1945 *1st Battalion,

Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...

December 1942 to September 1944 and April to August 1945 *1st Battalion,

11th Sikh Regiment The 11th Sikh Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1922, when after World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.S ...

March to April 1944 *1st Battalion, Burma Regiment May 1944 to April 1945 *2nd Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment February 1945 *2nd 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 10th Baluch Regiment, Baluch Regiment in 1956. History Madras Infantry Th ...

May 1945 *1st Battalion,

19th Hyderabad Regiment The 19th Hyderabad Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed at the time of reforms of the Indian Army after the First World War, when it moved from single-battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. The reg ...

May 1945

Commanders

The brigade had the following commanders in the Second World War:

References

Bibliography

External links