70th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

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70th Infantry Brigade
Active World War I, 1939 - 1944, 1950s
Country Great Britain
Branch British Army
Type Infantry
Size Brigade
Part of 8th Division, 23rd Division (World War I), 23rd (Northumbrian) Division 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division (World War II)
Nickname The Polar Bears (as part of 49th Division)
Engagements Western Front Operation Overlord, Operation Epsom, Invasion of Normandy
Battle honours The Odon Valley, Juvigny, Mezidon
Insignia
Identification
symbol		 (as part of 49th Division)

The 70th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw service during the First and Second world wars. During the Great War it was raised as part of Kitchener's Army and fought mainly in the trenches of the Western Front and was disbanded after the war ended. The brigade was reformed in the Second World War in the Territorial Army as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 151st (Durham) Infantry Brigade. The brigade saw service at Dunkirk, Iceland and in the Normandy Campaign before again being disbanded in August 1944.

History

Originally part of the 23rd Division (and briefly 8th Division) during World War I, the Brigade was reformed in the interwar period as part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division.[1] It was transferred to the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division, the 2nd Line duplicate of the 50th Infantry Division, under which it was involved in the Battle of France in 1940 and the retreat from Dunkirk.[2]

After escaping France, the brigade became part of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division when the 23rd Division was disbanded in July 1940 due to the heavy losses it suffered. It went with the division to Iceland in 1941 for a chilly garrison stay, before returning to England in November of that year. It spent the remaining two and a half years training before landing in Normandy as part of Operation Overlord on 12 June 1944.[3]

During Operation Martlet, the preparatory attack for Operation Epsom that took place on 25 June 1944, the brigade was heavily engaged around the village of Rauray with elements from the 12th SS Panzer and 26th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiments of 12th SS Panzer Division.[4] The 70th Brigade then fought a bloody battle around Rauray as Kampfgruppe Weidinger of 2nd SS Panzer Division counter-attacked between 29 June and 1 July.[5] For this it was given the battle honour of 'The Odon'[6]

Thereafter it fought south of Tilly-sur-Seulles, before following the 49th Division's initial drive during I Corps' drive to the Seine in late August. On 19 August, the brigade was withdrawn from the frontline and began to disband to fill the increasing gap in available infantry replacements as the British Army was suffering from a severe lack of available infantrymen at the time.[7] By 19 October 1944, the brigade ceased to exist.[8] Its place in the 49th Division was taken by the 56th Independent Infantry Brigade.

During the Mau Mau uprising, East Africa Command controlled 39th Infantry Brigade, 49th Infantry Brigade, and 70th (East African) Infantry Brigade.[9] Later 70th (East African) Brigade became the basis for the newly independent Kenya Army.[10] Brigade headquarters was at Nyeri where the Brigade Signals Troop was also located. May have operated from 1953 onwards.[11]

Commanders

Component Units in World War I

Component Units in World War II

References

  1. ↑ "Northern Command on 3 September 1939". Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  2. ↑ "British Expeditionary Force 1940 - 23rd Div". Retrieved 2003-03-05.
  3. ↑ Baverstock, Kevin (2002). Breaking the Panzers. pp. 2–27. ISBN 0-7509-2895-6.
  4. ↑ Meyer, Hubert (2005). The 12th SS: The History of the Hitler Youth Panzer Division. Stackpole Books. p. 393. ISBN 0-8117-3198-7.
  5. ↑ Baverstock, pp.47-152
  6. ↑ "Orders of Battle.com - 70th Brigade Honours". Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  7. ↑ Baverstock, pp.162-177
  8. ↑ "Orders of Battle.com - 70th Brigade History". Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  9. ↑ United Kingdom: Kenya Insurgency 1952-1956 Units and Operations
  10. ↑ Obituary: Maj-Gen Dick Gerrard-Wright The Telegraph, 12 July 2012
  11. ↑ Paul, James; Spirit, Martin (2008). "British Units in the Kenyan Emergency". Britains-smallwars.com. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Chesterfield Sherwoods on the Somme". Retrieved 2008-03-05.

Bibliography