- 231st Infantry Brigade
.Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 231st Infantry Brigade
abbreviation= 231st Inf Bde
Caption=
dates=
country=Great Britain
allegiance=Allies
branch=British Army
type=Infantry
role=
size=Brigade
command_structure= 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
equipment=
Past Commanders=
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
notable_commanders=
identification_symbol= White Maltese Cross on a Red Shield when an Independent Brigade in Malta.
identification_symbol_2=Twin overlapping red "T T" on a black background,with "5oth Division"
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
march=
mascot=
battles=Battle of Malta Battle of Sicily Adrano D Day Gold Beach Operation Perch Operation Market Garden Nederrijn
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=History
The 231st Infantry Brigade was a
Second World War British Army unit, originally formed from the1st Malta Brigade .It was composed of regularBritish Army battalions, was stationed onMalta at the start of the Second World War. After Rommel’s defeat atEl Alamein , Malta lost some of its strategic significance and 231st Brigade, joined the8th 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 ofMount Etna , the Germans were driven from Sicily and the Allies prepared to invade Italy. The Brigades second assault landing was atPorto San Venere on 7th September 1943. After this they were recalled home, along with the rest of50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division , as they were now experienced amphibious assault troops, to prepare for the invasion of France. The third landing onGold 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 theGuards Armoured Division , in liberating Brussels, and on the Dutch border. Hear they held theNearpelt across theEscaut Cannal at the start ofXXX Corps , much delayed advance toArnhem and was then present during theNederrijn campaign in North West Europe.Brigadier
Roy Urquhart , made famous as commander of the1st 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 BattalionDevonshire Regiment , for the 1/6th Battalion Queen's RegimentCommanders
*Brig. K.P. Smith
*Brig. R.E. Urquhart
*Brig. A.D. Ward
*Brig. G.W.B. Tarleton
*Brig. G. Murray
*Brig. Sir A.G.B. Stanier
*Brig. J.D. RussellComponent Units
*1st Bn,
Dorsetshire Regiment
*1st Bn,The Hampshire Regiment
*2nd Bn,The Devonshire Regiment
*1/6th Bn, TheQueen's Royal Regiment D Day 6th June 1944
Gold Beach
Gold Beach was the
Allied codename for the centre invasion beach during theWorld War II Allied invasion of Normandy,June 6 ,1944 . It lay betweenOmaha Beach andJuno 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 theBritish 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 ofDD tank s from the The Nottinghamshire Yeomanry (Sherwood Rangers), the infantry assault battalions that attacked in the West were; the 1st BattalionHampshire Regiment , and the 1st BattalionDorset Regiment . On the East 69th Brigade, followed by 151st Brigade, again a regiment of DD tanks was attached, they were from the4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards .Their primary objective was to seize the town ofBayeux , theCaen -Bayeux road, and the port ofArromanches with the secondary objectives being to make contact with the Americans landing atOmaha Beach to the West and the Canadians landing atJuno Beach to the East. The 716th Static Infantry Division commanded by GeneralleutnantWilhelm Richter , and elements of the 1st Battalion of theGerman 352nd Infantry Division commanded by GeneralleutnantDietrich 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 atJuno Beach , but failed in their primary objective of reaching the Caen-Bayeux road and in their secondary objective of meeting the Americans fromOmaha Beach . However they had established a foothold intoFortress 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 BrigadeExternal links
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