British 53rd Infantry Brigade

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1 Unit History
2 Commanders
3 Organisation
4 Internal Links
5 External Links

[edit] Unit History

This Second World War formation was part of the British 18th Infantry Division that was sent to Singapore at the beginning of 1942. It was converted from the British 163rd Infantry Brigade on September 18, 1939 . The Brigade arrived at Singapore on January 13, 1942 , before the rest of the 18th Infantry Division, and was attached to the Indian 11th Infantry Division and Westforce on mainland Malaya where it was involved in the retreat back to Singapore where it rejoined the 18th Division.

After a brief defence of the island, General Arthur Percival, commander of the Singapore garrison, surrendered to the Japanese on February 15, 1942. The 53rd Brigade went into captivity along with the rest of the 18th Infantry Division.