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1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade

Field	Value
unit_name	3rd (Nigeria) Infantry Brigade
23rd (Nigeria) Infantry Brigade
1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade
dates	1940–1945
allegiance	British Crown
branch	British Empire
type	Infantry
size	Brigade
command_structure	[1st (African) Division](1st-african-division)
[11th (African) Division](11th-african-division)
[82nd (West Africa) Division](82nd-west-africa-division)
notable_commanders	Brigadier Gerald Smallwood
battles	East African campaign
Burma campaign

23rd (Nigeria) Infantry Brigade 1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade 11th (African) Division 82nd (West Africa) Division Burma campaign The 1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Colonial Auxiliary Forces during World War II. It was formed in 1940 from battalions of the Royal West African Frontier Force and served in the East African and Burma campaigns.

History

The 1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade was originally raised in 1940 as the 3rd (Nigerian) Brigade. In this guise it was involved in the East African Campaign against the forces of the Italian Empire in Kenya under the command of Brigadier Gerald Smallwood. Later it was renamed the 23rd (Nigerian) Brigade and was attached to the 1st (African) Division. In February 1941, the 23rd (Nigerian) Brigade took Mogadishu the capital of Italian Somaliland. On 10 March 1941, the Brigade quickly advanced to Degehabur, about 160 km south of Jijiga, and captured the city days later without resistance, before it participated in the reoccupation of British Somaliland later in the year.

In 1944 the brigade was attached to the 82nd (West Africa) Division and renamed the 1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade. In this same year it sailed for Ceylon, where the division was assembled on 20 July. The brigade then moved to Burma and took part in the third Arakan campaign in December 1944.

The brigade first advanced south along the Kalapanzin valley, then crossed a steep and jungle-covered mountain range to converge with the 81st (West Africa) Division on Myohaung at the mouth of the Kaladan River. This move forced the Japanese to evacuate the Mayu peninsula which they had held for almost four years and retreat south along the coast. They continued to advance, maintaining pressure on the Japanese, capturing the port of Gwa shortly before the Japanese abandoned Burma.

Formations

The 1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade was made up of the following units

1st Bn., The Nigeria Regiment
2nd Bn., The Nigeria Regiment
3rd Bn., The Nigeria Regiment
52nd (Nigeria) Light Battery West African Artillery
51st (Nigeria) Field Company, West African Engineers

Notes

References

"The 82nd West African Division".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

brigades-of-the-british-army-in-world-war-ii military-units-and-formations-in-burma-in-world-war-ii military-units-and-formations-in-british-somaliland-in-world-war-ii military-units-and-formations-established-in-1940 military-units-and-formations-disestablished-in-1945 history-of-jijiga

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