306th_Infantry_Brigade_(United_Kingdom)

306th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

306th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

Military unit

306th Infantry Brigade (306 Bde) was a British Army formation organised towards the end of the Second World War from surplus Royal Artillery (RA) personnel who had been retrained as infantry.

Quick Facts Active, Country ...

Origin

By the end of 1944, 21st Army Group was suffering a severe manpower shortage, particularly among the infantry.[1] In January 1945, the War Office began to reorganise surplus anti-aircraft and coastal artillery regiments in the UK into infantry battalions, primarily for lines of communication and occupation duties in North West Europe, thereby releasing trained infantry for frontline service.[2][3] 306th was one of seven brigades formed from these new units.[4][5]

Composition

306th Infantry Brigade was formed on 22 January 1945 by the conversion of Headquarters 55th Light AA Bde, which was part of 2 Anti-Aircraft Group. It was commanded by Brigadier W.R. Harvey and comprised the following Territorial Army RA units:[4][5][6]

Service

After infantry training, including a short period attached to Southern Command, 306 Bde came under the orders of 21st Army Group on 4 May 1945, and landed on the Continent three days later.[4]

Notes

  1. [1]
    Ellis, pp. 141–2.
  2. [2]
    Ellis, pp. 369, 380.
  3. [3]
    "RA 1939–45 Infantry Regts Index".
  4. [4]
    Joslen, pp. 402–3.
  5. [5]
    "RA 1939-45 45 306 Infantry Brigade".
  6. [6]
    Ellis, Appendix IV, p. 369.
  7. [7]
    "RA 1939-1945 623 Infantry Regt".
  8. [8]
    "RA 1939-45 128 LAA".
  9. [9]
    "RA 1939-45 628 Infantry Rgt".
  10. [10]
    "RA 1939-45 82 LAA".
  11. [11]
    "RA 1939-45 87 SL Rgt".
  12. [12]
    Joslen, p. 463.
  13. [13]
    Ellis, Appendix IV, p. 380.
  14. [14]
    "RA 1939-45 636 Infantry Rgt".
  15. [15]
    "RA 1939-45 48 SL Rgt".
  16. [16]
    "5 Anti-Aircraft Division" (PDF). britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  17. [17]
    Litchfield, p. 97.
  18. [18]
    "RA 1939-1945 626 Infantry Regt".
  19. [19]
    "97 Light AA Regiment RA(TA)".
  20. [20]
    "601 Infantry Regiment RA(TA)". The Royal Artillery: 1939-1945.
  21. [21]
    "RA 1939-45 49 Garrison Rgt".
  22. [22]
    "RA 1939-45 49 SL Rgt".
  23. [23]
    "6th Battalion, The West Yorkshire Regiment". 2006-01-05. Archived from the original on 2006-01-05. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
  24. [24]
    "RA 1939-45 608 Infantry Rgt".
  25. [25]
    "RA 1939-45 67 Garrison Rgt".
  26. [26]
    "RA 1939-45 67 SL Rgt".
  27. [27]
    "6th (Glamorgan) Battalion, The Welch Regiment". 2006-01-17. Archived from the original on 2006-01-17. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
  28. [28]
    "RA 1939-45 612 Infantry Rgt".
  29. [29]
    "RA 1939-45 61 Garrison Rgt".
  30. [30]
    "RA 1939-45 61 SL Rgt".
  31. [31]
    Mullaly, p. 376.

References

  • Lionel Ellis, "History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West", Volume II: "The Defeat of Germany", London: HMSO, 1968/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, ISBN 1-84574-059-9.
  • Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
  • Norman E. H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
  • B.R. Mullaly, The South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers), Bristol: White Swan Press, 1955.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 306th_Infantry_Brigade_(United_Kingdom), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.