32nd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

The 32nd Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army that saw active service during both the First and the Second World Wars.

32nd Brigade
32nd Infantry Brigade (Guards)
Formation badge of the brigade
Active1914–1919
1941–1946
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry formation
SizeBrigade
Part of11th (Northern) Division
Guards Armoured Division
EngagementsFirst World War
Second World War
Commanders
Notable
commanders
John Ormsby Evelyn Vandeleur

First World War

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The Brigade was raised originally as the 32nd Infantry Brigade, part of the 11th (Northern) Division, a New Army formation which served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during the First World War.[1]

Order of battle

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Second World War

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Infantrymen of the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards, Guards Armoured Division, moving up to the front line, July 1944.

The Brigade was reformed as 32nd Infantry Brigade (Guards) on 1 October 1941, during the Second World War. In 1942, the brigade joined the Guards Armoured Division, and later saw service during Operation Overlord, the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine, including Operation Market Garden, and the Western Allied invasion of Germany.

Order of battle

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Commanders

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Postwar

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The Brigade was reraised in the early 1950s and joined the 3rd Infantry Division. The Brigade was moved from Cyprus to reinforce the British forces in the Canal Zone in February 1952, but was later disbanded by being redesignated 29th Infantry Brigade.

Bibliography

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  • 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.

References

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  1. ^ F. G. Spring, 'Appendix III: 11th (Northern) Division', The History of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment (Poacher Books, 2008), 108.