Active 1939–1946 Branch British Army Size Brigade | Country United Kingdom Type Infantry Garrison/HQ Mersa Matruh | |
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The 22nd Guards Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during World War II.
Contents
History
The 22nd Infantry Brigade was formed by the redesignation of the 29th Infantry Brigade on 3 September 1939 and in March 1940 became responsible for all the troops in the Mersa Matruh Garrison area. In February 1941 the unit was reformed and renamed the 22nd Guards Brigade on 20 March 1941. It was converted to the 200th Guards Brigade (14 January 1942) and then finally the 201st Guards Motor Brigade Group (25 May 1942).
The 201st Guards Brigade saw extensive service in the North African Campaign, in Operation Crusader in late 1941 and later the Battle of Gazala, where it was forced to surrender on 20 June 1942 when Tobruk was captured by German and Italian forces, although some men managed to escape capture. The brigade was reformed, as the 201st Guards Brigade, under the command of Brigadier Julian Gascoigne in Egypt on 14 August 1942 and spent the next few months training there, before being sent to Syria in September where it trained as a motorised infantry brigade, with each of the battalions (the 6th Grenadier Guards, fresh from England, and 3rd Coldstream Guards and 2nd Scots Guards, both veterans) composed of only three rifle companies.
In early February 1943 the brigade was ordered to Tunisia to become part of XXX Corps of the British Eighth Army. The brigade's first action in the Tunisian Campaign, which was nearing its end, was during the Battle of the Mareth Line in March. The battle, the first for the inexperienced 6th Grenadiers, was disastrous. Ordered to attack an objective named Horseshoe Ridge, which was believed to be lightly held, the Grenadiers, supported by a very heavy artillery barrage and advancing with all three companies, suffered 70% casualties, mainly from anti-personnel mines and mortars, but managed to take the ridge, and all three companies fired Very lights to announce the capture of their objective. In an attempt to reinforce the forward companies, and aware that his men had suffered very heavy losses in the minefields, the Grenadiers' commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Clive, ordered the battalion's Universal Carriers to clear a way through the minefield, thus making it easier to reinforce the forward companies. This was a dismal failure, with all the Carriers being destroyed. The Germans launched numerous counterattacks, which forced the remnants of the Grenadiers' rifle companies to retreat back through the minefields, sustaining further casualties. The Coldstream Guards, in a similar attack, managed to obtain one of the hills but, like the Grenadiers, also suffered heavily and also lost all Carriers. Realising the dire situation faced by his troops, Brigadier Gascoigne ordered both battalions to be withdrawn. This was achieved under the cover of darkness with no further loss. In the relatively short battle both battalions suffered heavy losses, with the 6th Grenadiers sustaining 279 casualties, including 9 officers and 67 men being killed, 5 officers and 83 men wounded, with a further 5 officers and 104 men taken prisoner. The Coldstream suffered 136 casualties.
In July 1943 the brigade was attached to the 56th (London) Infantry Division to replace the 168th (London) Infantry Brigade of that division which was temporarily attached to the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division during the Sicilian invasion. With the rest of the 56th Division, the brigade landed at Salerno, the first stage of the Italian Campaign, on 9 September 1943, where they were involved in heavy fighting and sustained heavy losses. During the battle 27-year old Company Sergeant Major Peter Harold Wright of the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards was awarded the Victoria Cross. The brigade continued to fight in Italy, crossing the Volturno Line in October and in December at the Bernhardt Line. In early 1944, due to heavy casualties and a lack of Guards replacements, the brigade was eventually sent back to the United Kingdom, where it became a training brigade for the whole Brigade of Guards for the rest of the war.
Order of battle
The brigade was composed as follows during the war:
Upon reforming in August 1942 the 201st Guards Motor Brigade was composed as follows: