A new
231st Infantry Brigade was created in the
Second World War on 1 April 1943 by the redesignation of the
1st (Malta) Infantry Brigade. This was composed of three
Regular Army battalions that had been stationed on or been transported to
Malta since the start of the Second World War and had served there during the
siege. After
Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel's defeat at the
Second Battle of El Alamein, in late 1942, Malta lost some of its strategic significance and the
231st Independent Infantry Brigade, joined the
British Eighth Army in North Africa, who were preparing for the
Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky).
Sicily and Italy The Allied invasion of Sicily was to be the first of three
amphibious assault landings conducted by the 231st Brigade during the war. The brigade was constituted as an independent
brigade group under the command of
Brigadier Roy Urquhart, later famous as commander of the
1st Airborne Division, which was
destroyed at Arnhem in September 1944. After some hard fighting, including the 2nd Devons at Regalbuto amongst the foothills of
Mount Etna, the
Germans were driven from Sicily and the
Allies prepared to invade Italy. Despite the success of the relatively brief campaign, the brigade sustained almost 600 casualties, with the 1st Hampshires losing over 300 men, the 1st Dorsets 189 and the 2nd Devons 113. The campaign ended in mid-August and the 231st Brigade was withdrawn for a short rest to prepare for the next operation. The 231st Brigade's second assault landing was at
Porto San Venere on 7 September 1943, when the
Allies invaded Italy. They were now experienced amphibious assault troops. After this, the 231st Brigade became an integral part of the veteran
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and was recalled to
England with the division, to prepare for the
Allied invasion of Normandy, scheduled for the spring of 1944. In February 1944 Brigadier
Sir A. B. G. Stanier assumed command of the brigade.
Gold Beach Gold Beach was the codename for the centre invasion beach during the Allied
invasion of Normandy, 6 June 1944 or D-Day. 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. This was the hardest and costliest of the 231st Brigade's three assault landings and the
Battle of Normandy exacted a heavy toll on the brigade. The task of invading Gold Beach was given to the 50th Infantry Division and the
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
Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, the infantry assault battalions that attacked in the west were; the 1st Battalion,
Hampshire Regiment, and the 1st Battalion,
Dorsetshire Regiment. On the east the
69th Brigade, followed by
151st Brigade, again a regiment of DD tanks was attached, they were from the
4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. s of 50th Division wade ashore from
LCTs on Jig beach, Gold area, 6 June 1944. The markings on the carrier indicate a vehicle from the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, 231st Brigade. 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
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 Infantry 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 boats grounded earlier than expected and they had to wade ashore. By midnight on the 6 June 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
3rd Canadian Infantry Division 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 Europe that would ultimately be a stepping stone to victory. The
Longues-sur-Mer gun battery (as seen in the film
The Longest Day where the German officer looks out at the invasion fleet), surrendered on 7 June to the 231st Brigade.
North West Europe at Vernon, 28 August 1944. After Normandy the brigade 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 during
Operation Market Garden and was then present during the
Nederrijn campaign in North West Europe. Much depleted, the 231st Brigade was transferred back to the
United Kingdom in December 1944, to serve as a Training Brigade. At the same time, it exchanged the 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment, for the 1/6th Battalion,
Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) from the
131st (Queens) Brigade.
Order of Battle The following units constituted the 231st Brigade during the Second World War: • 300th Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery • 352nd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery • 66th Field Company,
Royal Engineers (
from 1 May until 5 August 1943) •
295th Field Company, Royal Engineers (
from 7 August until 23 September 1943) • 346 Company RASC
Royal Army Service Corps • 200th
Field Ambulance,
Royal Army Medical Corps Commanders The following officers commanded the 231st Brigade during the Second World War: •
Brigadier K.P. Smith • Brigadier
R.E. Urquhart (
from 19 May 1943) • Brigadier
A.D. Ward (
from 30 September 1943) • Brigadier G.W.B. Tarleton (
from 9 October 1943) • Brigadier G. Murray (
from 11 December 1943) • Brigadier
Sir Alexander Stanier, Bart (
from 23 February 1944) • Brigadier J.D. Russell (
from 14 February 1945) ==See also==