28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group

The 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group was a Commonwealth formation of the Far East Strategic Reserve, based in Malaysia from 1955 to 1971 of which elements participated in the Malayan Emergency, Indonesia Confrontation and the Vietnam War.

28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group
Active16 September 1955– 31 October 1971
Country United Kingdom
 Australia
 New Zealand
Branch British Army
 Australian Army
New Zealand Army
TypeInfantry
RoleInfantry Brigade Group for the Strategic Reserve
SizeBrigade
Part ofFar East Strategic Reserve
Garrison/HQTerandak, Malaysia

History

The 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group was formed in Malaya on 16 September 1955 with a combination of forces from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.[1] Its main elements were three infantry battalions from Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand and a British field artillery regiment with an Australian battery. The Brigade's operational role was as the 'Immediate Reaction Force' for the South East Asia Treaty Organisation.[2]

The brigade was initially dispersed to various sites throughout Northern Malaya, including Penang, Ipoh and Taiping. This provided logistical challenges, and after Malaysia Independence in 1957, Bukit Terendak close to Malacca was chosen as the new home for the Brigade. Terendak would house the entire brigade with its infantry battalions and support units, military hospital, airstrip, married quarters areas and shopping precinct. Terendak was of substantial size and covered several square miles with its southwestern border being the Straits of Malacca

Construction and occupation of Terendak was completed by August 1962, with the Brigade in place in its entirety. This brought all units of the Brigade together and under one roof.

During the 1960s elements of the Brigade, either units or components of units would be detached for short periods from 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group to other commands or formations for operations in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo or South Vietnam.

From 1970 due to the changing winds of politics in London and Canberra the Brigade started to wind down and units were either disbanded or moved to other locations and on 31 October 1971 the Brigade ceased to exist when it relocated to Singapore and was renamed 28 ANZUK Infantry Brigade on 1 November 1971. Terendak was handed over to the Malaysian Army where it remains in use today.

Commanders

Command of the brigade was shared by the three contributing nations, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.[3]

CommanderCountryDates
Brigadier P.N.M Moore, DSO, MCUnited KingdomSeptember 1955 to July 1958
Brigadier H.J Mogg, CBE, DSOUnited KingdomJuly 1958 to November 1960
Brigadier F.G Hassett, DSO, MVO, OBEAustraliaNovember 1960 to October 1962
Brigadier R.B Dawson, CB, DSONew ZealandOctober 1962 to October 1964
Brigadier T.D.R McMeekin, OBEUnited KingdomOctober 1964 to January 1967
Brigadier P.L Tancred, OBEAustraliaJanuary 1967 to March 1969
Brigadier R.M Gurr, OBENew ZealandMarch 1969 to March 1971
Brigadier M.J.H Walsh, CB, DSOUnited KingdomMarch 1971 to November 1971

Order of battle
  • Headquarters 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade
    • 28 Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Def and Emp PL
    • 28 Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group LAD
    • 28 Commonwealth Brigade Group Signal Squadron (1956 to 1957)
    • 28 (Commonwealth) Signal Squadron (1957 to 1959)
    • 208 Signal Squadron(Commonwealth) (1959 to 1970)
  • Artillery
    • Royal Artillery
      • 14th Light Regiment, Royal Artillery, Terendak (1968 to 1969)
        • Headquarters Battery
        • No 1 Battery
        • No 5 Battery
    • Royal Australian Artillery
      • 101st Battery (1959 to 1961)
      • 103rd Battery (1961 to 1963)
      • 102nd Battery (1964 to 1966)
      • 'A' Battery(1965–1967)
      • 107th Battery (1967 to 1969)
  • Engineers
    • 11 Independent Field Squadron (1954 to 1970)[4]
    • 410 Plant Troop (1954 to 1962)
  • Medical
    • 16 Field Ambulance, Penang (c1957)
    • 16 Commonwealth Field Ambulance, Terandak (c1960's)
    • 103 Australian Army Dental Section
  • Infantry
  • Transport
    • 3 Squadron RASC, Ipoh & Terandak (1952 to 1965)
    • 3 Squadron RCT, Terandak (1965 to 1969)
  • Ordnance
    • 28 Brigade Ordnance Field Park, Taiping (c1957)
    • 28 Commonwealth Brigade Ordnance Field Park, Terandak (c1960's)
  • Workshop
    • 2 Infantry Workshop, Taiping & Terandak (1955 to 1970)
  • Military Police
    • 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Provost Unit[6]
  • Pay
    • 257 Field Cash Office
  • Postal
    • 368 Postal Unit RE, Terendak
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References
  1. "Formation of 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group (Australian Component) 1955". iprimus.com.au. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  2. Seato. "Te Ara Encyclopedia of new Zeaaland". Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  3. H.B, Eaton (1993). Something extra : 28 Commonwealth Brigade, 1951 to 1974. Edinburgh: Pentland. ISBN 1858210496. OCLC 29468672.
  4. "11 Field Coy 1946–1957". 11indepfdsqn.blogspot.co.nz/. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  5. "British Army units from 1945". British Army units. Archived from the original on 29 August 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  6. 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Provost Unit – Malaya, Borneo, and Singapore, accessed June 2008
Preceded by
28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade		 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group
1955–1971		 Succeeded by
28 ANZUK Infantry Brigade
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