222nd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

The 222nd Infantry Brigade was a Home Service formation of the British Army that existed under various short-lived titles in both the First and Second World Wars

2nd Provisional Brigade
222nd Brigade
222nd Independent Infantry Brigade (Home)
222nd Infantry Brigade
ActiveMay 1915–1919
31 October 1940 – 18 November 1943
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry Brigade
RoleTraining and Home Defence
Part ofFirst World War:
Southern Army, Home Forces
Second World War:
Norfolk County Division (WWII)
76th Infantry Division
Insignia
Badge worn when in the 76th Division

First World War

Formation and Service

On the outbreak of the First World War, the Territorial Force (TF) immediately mobilised for home defence. On 31 August 1914, its units were authorised to raise 2nd battalions from those men who had not volunteered for, or were not fit for, overseas service, together with new volunteers, while the 1st Line went overseas to supplement the Regulars.[1] Early in 1915, the 2nd Line TF battalions were raised to full strength to form new divisions, and began to form Reserve (3rd Line) units to supply drafts.[2] The remaining Home Service men were separated out in May 1915 to form brigades of Coast Defence Battalions (termed Provisional Battalions from June 1915).[3]

Order of Battle

The 2nd Provisional Brigade formed in North East England in May 1915 with the following composition:[3][4]

In March 1916 the Provisional Brigades were concentrated along the South East Coast of England. 21st Battalion, which had been guarding the Northumberland Coast, moved to Herne Bay, Kent and joined the 10th Provisional Brigade. The 26th and 27th Provisional Battalions also left the 2nd Provisional Brigade, and the 23rd (formerly Durham Light Infantry details) joined. The 2nd Provisional Brigade was billeted in and around Clacton and St Osyth in Essex. Here it came under the orders of Southern Army.[5][6]

The Military Service Act 1916 swept away the Home/Foreign service distinction, and all TF soldiers became liable for overseas service, if medically fit. The Provisional Brigades thus became anomalous, and at the end of 1916 the remaining battalions became numbered battalions of their parent units. Part of their role was physical conditioning to render men fit for drafting overseas, alongside units of the Training Reserve. The 2nd Provisional Brigade became the 222nd Infantry Brigade, with its subunits re-designated as follows: [7]

222nd Brigade had no divisional allocation and remained subordinate to Southern Army and later Eastern Command. In May 1918 each of the non-divisional home service brigades provided one Garrison Guard battalion to reconstitute the 178th (2/1st Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) Brigade of 59th (2nd North Midland) Division in France. 222nd Brigade supplied the 36th Northumberland Fusiliers, which was replaced in the brigade by a newly raised Home Service battalion of the regiment (37th Battalion).[8]

The brigade never served overseas, and was demobilised early in 1919.

Second World War

Formation and Service

On 31 October 1940, a new brigade titled the 222nd Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) was formed for service in the United Kingdom[12] After a brief spell attached to the East Anglian 18th Infantry Division, the Brigade became part of the Norfolk County Division on 24 December 1940.[13] On 18 November 1941 the Norfolk County Division became the 76th Infantry Division and the Brigade (Home) was retitled as the 222nd Infantry Brigade.[13]

The 222nd Brigade was disbanded on 18 November 1943.[12]

Order of Battle

The following units served in the Brigade:[12]

  • As part of 18th Division and Norfolk County Division.
    • 8th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment (31 October 1941 — 17 November 1941)
    • 8th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment (31 October 1941 — 17 November 1941)
    • 11th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers (31 October 1941 — 17 November 1941)
  • As part of 76th Division.
    • 8th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment (18 November 1941 — 14 December 1942, converted into 101st Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery)
    • 8th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment (18 November 1941 — 9 December 1942, renamed as the 1st Battalion of that regiment on 27 May 1942, replacing Regular battalion captured at Singapore) [14][15]
    • 11th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers (18 November — 7 September 1942)
    • 9th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment (7 September — 10 October 1942)
    • 4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (from 3 October 1942 — 14 November 1943)
    • 7th (Cumberland) Battalion, Border Regiment (from 9 December 1942 — 14 November 1943)
    • 16th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (14 December 1942 — 14 November 1943, renamed as the 1st Battalion of that regiment on 1 January 1943, replacing Regular battalion captured at Tobruk)[16]

Commanders

The following officers commanded 222nd Brigade during the war:[12]

  • Brigadier C.L.B. Duke
  • Brigadier H.St G. Schomberg (from 5 November 1940)
  • Brigadier J.M. Rawcliffe (from 12 August 1941)

Notes
  1. Becke, p. 6.
  2. Becke, pp. 6, 65.
  3. "The 10 Provisional Brigades". Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  4. Army Council Instructions, January 1916, Appendix 18.
  5. 21st Provisional Battalion War Diary, The National Archives, Kew file WO 95/5458.
  6. Distribution of Northern and Southern Armies (Home Defence), The National Archives file WO 33/765.
  7. "Unallocated". The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013.
  8. "Northumberland Fuiliers". The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  9. "Northumberland Fusiliers". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  10. "Yorkshire Regiment". The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  11. "Durham Light Infantry". The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  12. Joslen, p. 385.
  13. Joslen, pp. 99, 114, 385.
  14. Joslen, p. 537
  15. "1st Bn, The Royal Leicestershire Regiment: Deployments". Archived from the original on 26 December 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  16. "1st Bn, The Sherwood Foresters: Service". Archived from the original on 7 January 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
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References
  • Army Council Instructions Issued During January 1916, London: HM Stationery Office, 1916.
  • Maj 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, ISBN 1-84734-739-8.
  • Lt-Col H.F. Joslen, Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945, London: HM Stationery Office, 1960/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2003, ISBN 1-84342-474-6.

External sources

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