page_title: 169th (3rd London) Brigade
section_title: Second World War
hierarchical_section_title: 169th (3rd London) Brigade / Second World War
caption_attribution_description: English: A patrol of the 2/7th Queen's Regiment enters the village of Pugliano, Italy, September 1943. A patrol of the 2/7th Queen's Regiment enters the village of Pugliano, 18-19 September 1943.
context_page_description: The 169th (3rd London) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and the Second World Wars. Throughout its existence the brigade, serving under numerous many different titles and designations, was an integral part of the 56th Infantry Division. It served on the Western Front and in the North African and Italian campaigns during World War II.
context_section_description: The 3rd London Infantry Brigade and the division, along with the rest of the Territorial Army, were mobilised between late August and early September 1939, due to the already tense situation in Europe becoming worse when, on 1 September, the German Army invaded Poland. Two days later, both Britain and France declared war on Germany, thus beginning the Second World War.
  Initially assigned to the 1st London Infantry Division, in October 1939 the brigade was reassigned to 2nd London Infantry Division, formed in April 1939 as a 2nd Line duplicate of the original London Division (which had been redesignated 1st London Division upon creation of a duplicate 2nd).
  In the New Year of January 1940 the 1st battalions of both the Tower Hamlets Rifles and The Rangers were transferred elsewhere, leaving only the two 2nd Line duplicate battalions in the brigade. Later in the year the remaining battalions were also posted away, on 16 October, the 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifles was transferred to the newly created 26th Armoured Brigade and the 2nd Rangers, on 15 October, became part of 20th Armoured Brigade. On 28 November 1940 the brigade Headquarters was redesignated as Headquarters 71st Infantry Brigade.
  A new 169th Brigade was created on the same day from the redesignation of the 35th Infantry Brigade, which was renumbered 169th (London) Infantry Brigade on 28 November 1940. The brigade, also known frequently as the "Queen's Brigade", was composed of the 2/5th, 2/6th (Bermondsey) and 2/7th (Southwark) battalions of the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), all Territorial battalions. The 35th Brigade had been part of the 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division and seen service with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the Battle of France where they were forced into a retreat to Dunkirk, where they suffered heavy casualties and were evacuated to England. Shortly after arriving back in England the 12th Division was disbanded in July and its brigades sent elsewhere, the 35th transferring to the 1st London Infantry Division, and reforming it a standard infantry division. On 18 November 1940 the division regained its historical number and was redesignated 56th (London) Infantry Division.
  The brigade, brought up to strength earlier in the year with large numbers of conscripts, remained with the division in Kent, under command of XII Corps, and, as with most of the rest of the British Army after the evacuation from Dunkirk, either on coastal defence and home service duties or training to repel a German invasion of England which was, at the time, thought highly likely.
  In November 1941, after serving in Kent since July 1940, the division moved to East Anglia, in particular to Suffolk, where they came under command of XI Corps. The move to Suffolk proved to be popular for the many men, mostly conscripts but also wartime volunteers, from the nearby counties who had joined the brigade since Dunkirk. The brigade performed much the same duties as they had in Kent, performing home defence duties and in training to expel an invasion. As the spring of 1942 arrived the brigade, and in turn the rest of 56th Division, were involved in more and more demanding large-scale exercises. However, there was a drain on the battalions as they were frequently required to send drafts overseas as replacements for the 1st and 2nd battalions, both Regular Army units stationed in the India and the Middle East, respectively. The brigade soon left to be sent to Essex for a month before returning to Suffolk again and in July, after being brought up to full War Establishment strength, began to prepare for overseas service although the whereabouts where as yet unknown and the men of the battalions were given 14 days leave.
  Shortly before departing the men of the brigade and division were visited by General Sir Bernard Paget, Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, followed by His Majesty King George VI The division left the United Kingdom from Liverpool on 25 August 1942 and were sent to Iraq where they arrived on 4 November and came under command of III Corps alongside the British 5th I
caption: A patrol of the 2/7th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment enters the village of Pugliano, Italy, September 1943.
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