.
| 231st Infantry Brigade | |
|---|---|
| Active | |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Allegiance | Allies |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Brigade |
| Part of | 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division |
| Engagements | Battle of Malta Battle of Sicily Adrano D Day Gold Beach Operation Perch Operation Market Garden Nederrijn |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |
White Maltese Cross on a Red Shield when an Independent Brigade in Malta. |
| Identification symbol |
Twin overlapping red "T T" on a black background,with 5oth Division |
Contents |
The 231st Infantry Brigade was a Second World War British Army unit, originally formed from the 1st Malta Brigade.It was composed of regular British Army battalions, was stationed on Malta at the start of the Second World War. After Rommel’s defeat at El Alamein, Malta lost some of its strategic significance and 231st Brigade, joined the 8th Army in North Africa, who were preparing for the invasion of Sicily, which was to be Brigades first of three amphibious assault landings of the war. After some hard fighting, including 2nd Devons at Regalbuto amongst the foothills of Mount Etna , the Germans were driven from Sicily and the Allies prepared to invade Italy. The Brigades second assault landing was at Porto San Venere on 7 September 1943. After this they were recalled home, along with the rest of 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division , as they were now experienced amphibious assault troops, to prepare for the invasion of France. The third landing on Gold Beach was indeed the hardest and costliest of the assault landings and the battle of Normandy extracted a heavy toll on the Brigade. After Normandy they followed the armoured divisions across northern France to Belgium, where they assisted the Guards Armoured Division, in liberating Brussels, and on the Dutch border. They held Joe's Bridge in Lommel across the Escaut Canal at the start of XXX Corps , advance to Arnhem and was then present during the Nederrijn campaign in North West Europe.
Brigadier Roy Urquhart, made famous as commander of the 1st Airborne Division, was in command of this brigade during the Sicily landings.
It was transferred back to the United Kingdom in December 1944, to serve as a Training Brigade. At the same time, it switched the 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment, for the 1/6th Battalion Queen's Regiment
Gold Beach was the Allied codename for the centre invasion beach during the World War II Allied invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944. It lay between Omaha Beach and Juno Beach, was 8 km wide and divided into four sectors. From West to East they were How, Item, Jig, and King.
The task of invading Gold Beach was given to the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and the British 8th Armoured Brigade. The beach was assaulted in multiple brigades of the 50th Infantry Division; on the West was the 231st Infantry Brigade, followed by the 56th Brigade, attached to this was a regiment of DD tanks from The Nottinghamshire Yeomanry (Sherwood Rangers), the infantry assault battalions that attacked in the West were; the 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment, and the 1st Battalion Dorset Regiment. On the East 69th Brigade, followed by 151st Brigade, again a regiment of DD tanks was attached, they were from the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. Their primary objective was to seize the town of Bayeux, the Caen-Bayeux road, and the port of Arromanches with the secondary objectives being to make contact with the Americans landing at Omaha Beach to the West and the Canadians landing at Juno Beach to the East. The 716th Static Infantry Division commanded by Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter, and elements of the 1st Battalion of the German 352nd Infantry Division commanded by Generalleutnant Dietrich Kraiss, defended the Channel coast for the Germans.H-Hour for the Gold beach landing was set for 0725 hours,
At 0725 hours, the 50th (Northumbrian) Division assault landed Gold beach with the objective of taking the beach, then moving to Bayeux and making a rendezvous with the American troops at Omaha beach. The landing crafts were deployed seven miles off the beach, compared to the American ones that were deployed 12 miles off the beaches, this meant they had a shorter run in.
The first battalion to come ashore suffered heavy casualties, among them their CO and the second-in-command, because their higgins boat's grounded earlier than expected and they had to wade ashore.
By midnight on the June 6, 1944, 24,970 men had landed on Gold Beach, and had penetrated six miles into occupied France. They fulfilled one of their secondary objectives by meeting up with the Canadians who had landed at Juno Beach, but failed in their primary objective of reaching the Caen-Bayeux road and in their secondary objective of meeting the Americans from Omaha Beach. However they had established a foothold into Fortress Europa that would ultimately be a stepping stone to victory
The Longues-sur-Mer gun battery (as seen in the movie The Longest Day where the German officer looks out at the Invasion fleet), surrendered on the 7th June to 231st Brigade