15th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

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15th (North East) Brigade
Insignia of 15th (North East) Brigade
Active	1914 -
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Territorial Army
Engagements	World War I Battle of Mons Battle of Le Cateau First Battle of Ypres Battle of the Somme Third Battle of Ypres Battle of Vimy Ridge Battle of Epehy World War II Operation Husky Italian Campaign North West Europe Campaign Post War Battle of Surabaya
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier Richard Dennis OBE

The 15th Infantry Brigade is a British Army brigade. Part of the regular British 5th Infantry Division during the Second World War, it is now part of the British 2nd Infantry Division in the north of the United Kingdom.

1 History
2 Commanding Officers during World War II
3 Structure during World War II
4 Current Structure
5 Links

[edit] History

When the 5th Division was sent to France in early 1940 the 15th Brigade was sent as part of Sickleforce to fight in the Norwegian Campaign in May 1940 under the command of Lieut. General H.R.S.Massey. The Norwegian Campaign was a failure for the British. It was reunited with the 5th Division on 3rd August 1940.

The Brigade served with this unit through the rest of the war, seeing action in Sicily in 1943 and Italy in 1944, ending the war in North West Europe.

The Brigade was reformed in 1982, as a Territorial Army formation, which in turn was part of the Second Infantry Division which was moving to York. The Brigade's Headquarters were at RAF Topcliffe and its first commander in this new role was Brigadier Michael Aris. Its organisation and role were tested in Exercise Keystone in 1983, when it consisted of:

Queen's Own Yeomanry
6th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
7th Battalion, The Light Infantry
1st Battalion, Yorkshire Volunteers
2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Volunteers

In 1999, having been a territorial formation for many years, the brigade was made responsible for both regular and territorial units in the North East, when the Second Division became a "Regenerative Division", responsible for the north of England and Scotland.