130th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

The 130th (Devon & Cornwall) Brigade, originally the Plymouth Brigade was an infantry formation of Britain's Volunteer Force, Territorial Force, and later Territorial Army (TA). In the First World War the brigade was in British India for most of the war and did not see service as a complete formation, but many of its battalions fought in the Middle East campaigns. The brigade (without its Devon or Cornwall battalions) did see action during the campaign in North West Europe of the Second World War, distinguishing itself at actions such as Operation Jupiter (Hill 112), the capture of Mont Pinçon, Operation Market Garden, at 'Dorset Wood' and at Hengelo. As 130 (West Country) Brigade it continued in the postwar TA until 1961.

The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for the part time Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these Volunteer Infantry Brigades provided a structure for collective training. On 9 February 1889 Lieutenant Colonel the Earl Mount Edgcumbe, commanding officer (CO) of the 2nd (Prince of Wales's) Volunteer Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, was appointed Colonel in command of the Plymouth Brigade, consisting of the volunteer battalions of the Devonsefn|Initially the 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Devons was assigned to the Western Counties Brigade, but it joined the Plymouth Brigade later. Lord Mount Edgcumbe commanded the Plymouth Brigade until 1893; he was succeeded as Colonel Commandant by a retired Regular officer, Major General M. A. H. J. Heriot. By 1895 the Plymouth Brigade had the following organisation:

In May 1940 43rd (W) Division was preparing to go overseas to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, but the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May ended the 'Phoney War' before the division was ready. By the end of 1940 the division was stationed in East Kent, where it remained for the next four years, first in defensive mode, later training intensively for the Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord). It was later noted that its habitual training area round Stone Street, outside Folkestone, bore a marked resemblance to the Bocage countryside in Normandy where it would later fight.

130 Brigade was in reserve for the division's first action, Operation Epsom on 26 June, but it was assigned a leading role on 10 July in Operation Jupiter, to take Hill 112. As the divisional historian remarked, the brigade's introduction to battle was 'both bloody and abrupt'. The attack was supported by all the divisional artillery and mortars, plus the artillery of 15th (Scottish) Division and 11th Armoured Division and two Army Groups Royal Artillery (AGRAs). 130 Brigade was to advance through Château de Fontaine to capture Éterville and Maltot and the high ground to the south east of Hill 112. It was accompanied by Churchill tanks from 9th Royal Tank Regiment (9th RTR), M10 Achilles tank destroyers from 86th (5th Devon) A/T Regiment and Churchill Crocodile flamethrowing tanks from 79th Armoured Division. The advance began at 05.00 and at first the brigade's attack went well, 5th Dorsets and C Squadron, 9th RTR, making good progress against the farms on the lower ground and taking the ruins of Château de Fontaine by 06.15. Brigadier Leslie then launched 4th Dorsets into Éterville. Casualties at first were light and the battalion began to consolidate the position, but a 'grim struggle for the far side of the village then developed'. Meanwhile, 7th Hampshires began the attack on Maltot. They got into the village, but many of the supporting tanks and M10s had been knocked out by crossfire from the uncaptured Hill 112 and from beyond Éterville. The leading Hampshires penetrated the village, leaving strongpoints to be mopped up later by the following Dorsets, but they were driven out by counter attacks. 4th Dorsets, making their second attack of the day, suffered heavy casualties advancing to reach the isolated Hampshires without artillery support. A troop of towed anti tank guns of 86th A/T Regiment was brought up to place an anti tank screen round the south of the village while 4th Dorsets fought to suppress the strongpoints inside the village. The anti tank troop was overrun by a German counter attack, and after firing all their small arms ammunition the crews had to remove the breechblocks from their guns and retreat to the infantry's slit trenches. The situation in Maltot became untenable, and the surviving troops were withdrawn. 5th Dorsets and 7th Somerset Light Infantry (SLI) from 214 Brigade had a tough fight until the following morning to maintain the positions round Éterville. The division then had to hold its positions under mortar fire for another 14 days, described by the divisional history as comparable only 'to the bombardment at Passchendaele'. Only on 22 July did a final set piece attack by 129 Brigade (Operation Express) finally succeed in capturing Maltot.

After a short rest 43rd (Wessex) Division moved west to launch an attack towards the dominating height of Mont Pinçon as part of Operation Bluecoat. Starting at 08.00 on 30 July, the division was to force its way through enemy positions at Briquessard and advance through Cahagnes towards Ondefontaine. 130 Brigade led, reinforced by 4th SLI and Sherman tanks of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, followed by the other brigades. Initial casualties were heavy, particularly from mines, and 5th Dorsets attacking on the right soon ran into trouble. On the left 4th Dorsets opened the way for 7th Hampshires to advance on Cahagnes, but it took the accompanying tanks several hours to negotiate the difficult country. The advance achieved only on the first day. and it took until the following morning to clear the mines and restart the advance with 214 Brigade. The division fought its way forward during the next few days to the foot of Mont Pinçon. 130 Brigade got into Ondefontaine on 3 August, and next day pushed through the woods beyond. A new attack was planned for 6 August, with 130 Brigade making a feint to the north, while 129 Brigade continued from the west. During the day 130 Bde made substantial progress, diverting German defenders from the main thrust. It continued next day, while the dominating position of Mont Pinçon fell to a surprise attack, by 129 Bde and its supporting tanks. Having taken Mont Pinçon, 43rd (W) Division participated in the pursuit of the broken enemy, who were soon caught in the Falaise pocket. However, the divisional commander, Maj Gen Ivor Thomas, considered that Brig Leslie was dilatory in attacking on 13 August and sacked him. He was temporarily replaced by the senior battalion commander, Lt Col Basil Coad ('Daddy Coad') from 5th Dorsets, until Brig. B. B. Walton arrived three days later.

After the breakout from the Normandy beachhead, 43rd (W) Division was sent ahead to make an assault crossing of the River Seine at Vernon. US troops had already reached the west bank of the Seine, so the convoys of assault troops and bridging material moving eastwards had to be carefully coordinated to cross with US convoys repositioning to the south. 130 Brigade was in Group 3, a convoy of just over 1000 vehicles including 15th (Kent) GHQ Troops Royal Engineers who were to operate tank rafts and build a heavy Bailey Bridge. The leading group arrived at Vernon on the afternoon of 25 August and began the assault that evening. By 10.00 on 27 August a bridgehead had been secured, the first light bridge (named 'David') was ready, tanks were being ferried across and 130 Bde was assembling in Vernon to be passed across the river when required. The troops in the bridgehead drove off a determined counter attack, the light bridge (damaged by shellfire) was repaired, and the first 40 ton Bailey ('Goliath') was completed by 19.30. Some of the brigade's troops had already crossed on 'David'; now the rest of the brigade streamed across 'Goliath' and next morning began the breakout. 4th Dorsets cleared the high ground of Germans who had troubled the bridgehead, then 5th Dorsets passed through to capture the villages beyond. 7th Hampshire fought the remains of the defending German battlegroup and captured Tilly. That afternoon, XXX Corps passed through and resumed the pursuit. After the Seine crossing, 43rd (W) Division was 'grounded' while the rest of XXX Corps raced across northern France and Belgium.

By the time 43rd (W) Division next moved, the war was already 250 mile (402 km) away. The first element of 130 Bde to move up was 7th Hampshires, sent on 8 September to reinforce the garrison of liberated Brussels. The whole of the brigade was near Brussels by 11 September, and then 43rd (W) Division concentrated at Diest to take part in Operation Market Garden, beginning on 17 September. In 'Garden', the ground part of the operation, XXX Corps was to link river crossings up to the Nederrijn at Arnhem via a 'carpet' of airborne troops. 43rd (W) Division accompanied by 8 Armoured Bde was to follow Guards Armoured Division, carrying out assault crossings if any of the bridges were found to be destroyed, and protecting the 'corridor' to Arnhem. The division waited as the advance got under way, then on 20 September 130 Bde received orders to move up. The advance up the only road ('Club Route') was painfully slow for the infantry, who were being carried in amphibious DUKWs ready for river crossings, and night found the head of the brigade group still at the great bridge at Grave. Next morning 4th Dorsets took over responsibility for the bridges at Grave and Neerbosch while the rest of 130 Bde caught up with the Guards at Nijmegen. There were no Germans left in Nijmegen and by early afternoon 5th Dorsets had established a tight bridgehead on the north bank of the Waal, while 7th Hampshires guarded the south bank. 214 Brigade passed through at dawn next day and followed the Guards who were held up by fierce resistance on 'The Island' between the Waal and the Nederrijn. 130 Brigade was then relieved at Nijmegen and followed up in DUKWs. At Valburg on 23 September its leading battalion, 5th Dorsets, was cut in half by a German tank attack supported by artillery. While the head of the battalion carried on to link up with the Polish Parachute Brigade at Driel, the rest of the brigade had to fight hard to clear Valburg crossroads. When they got through, 4th Dorsets delivered assault boats to the Poles, a few of whom managed to get across the river. On 24 September the decision was made to evacuate the survivors of 1st Airborne Division. That night, under an intense barrage, 4th Dorsets and the Polish crossed the river to establish a new bridgehead from which to carry out the evacuation. The Dorsets' crossing was a disaster; the assault boats were late arriving, the opposite bank was strongly defended and the two leading companies were scattered and destroyed. The rest of the battalion was pinned down, and the DUKWs carrying stores could not mount the river banks. The following night the final evacuation of the airborne bridgehead was carried out by the Royal Engineers, covered by 130 Bde; around 2300 survivors of 1st Airborne and the Poles were ferried back to the south bank; few of 4th Dorsets made it back. In the aftermath of Market Garden, 43rd (W) Division was stationed on The Island, with 130 Bde still in its exposed positions along the Nederrijn, subject to mortar, machine gun and shell fire. On the night of 26/27 September German troops infiltrated the outposts of 43rd (Wessex) Reconnaissance Regiment to the left (west) and a sharp fight broke out. Brig Walton ordered 7th Hampshires to intervene and recapture Randwijk. Heavy losses were sustained among the houses as the battle escalated, but by midday the ad hoc group of units from 43rd (W) Division had eliminated the German bridgehead. The Germans launched more a serious counter attack from the east on 1 October, with 116th Panzer Division attacking 130 Bde. 5th Dorsets beat off this attack, but a German party infiltrated into some factory buildings and fortified themselves in brick kilns. 7th Hampshires had to dislodge these troops with the help of RAF Typhoons. On 5 October 43rd (W) handed most of its positions over to the US 101st Airborne Division, but 5th Dorsets had difficulty extricating themselves from their exposed positions round Driel. The battalion left its anti tank and mortar platoons to help the Americans and fighting continued for another day before the offensive ended. 130 Brigade then relieved the US 82nd Airborne Division on the Groesbeek heights that it had captured during Market Garden. As 43rd (W) Division settled down to hold this static line during the autumn, it rotated its brigades every seven days. Basil Coad was promoted to brigadier and took permanent command of 130 Bde on 7 October.

43rd (Wessex) Division returned to the offensive in early 1945 in Operation Blackcock to reduce the Roer Triangle. The operation was launched on 16 January and 43rd (W) Division came up on the right of 52nd (Lowland) Division on 20 January. 130 Brigade launched 4th Dorsets at Schier Waldenrath at dawn the next day behind an impressive barrage and carried by Kangaroo Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) of 1st Canadian APC Regiment. Opposition was light, the main problems coming from booby traps and mines. 5th Dorsets then marched up to relieve 4th SLI at Langbroich while the Kangaroos returned to bring up 7th Hampshires for next day's attack on Waldenrath. The attack by 7th Hampshires on 22 January was a major success: supported by a massive barrage and by Crocodile flamethrowers, the APC borne infantry swept through Putt and fought their way into Waldenrath, taking 200 prisoners at a cost of 30 casualties. The rest of 43rd (W) Division then continued the advance, though exploitation was prevented by bad weather. 130 Brigade pushed on again on 25 January, but was stopped by ice and mines. The brigade then established defensive positions hidden on reverse slopes and came under the temporary command of 52nd (L) Division from 28 January to 2 February.

XXX Corps was next tasked with clearing the Reichswald up to the Rhine as part of Operation Veritable. Five divisions made the initial assault on 8 February, with 43rd (W) Division due to pass through on the second day to capture Goch. Although 15th (S) Division achieved all its objectives on 8 February, the roads collapsed into mud and progress was held up on the second day. By the time 43rd (W) was launched, only one congested road was open through the heavily bombed town of Kleve, and the whole division was strung out, with 130 Bde still in Nijmegen. It was left as a reserve for 53rd (Welsh) Division, and it was not until 15 February that it got through to join in the fighting. At first light 4th Dorsets in the lead passed through the exhausted 129 Bde and found itself in a fierce fight with fresh German troops. It pushed on slowly until 7th Hampshires took over the lead in the afternoon, followed in turn by 5th Dorsets. 5th Dorsets arrived just as a night counter attack came in against 7th Hampshires, but put in a fresh attack with tanks at 09.30 next morning, just in time to clear the start line for 214 Bde's follow up attack. On 17 February 130 Bde cleared Forst Kleve, but there was little opposition after the wood had been blasted by RAF Typhoons and Canadian rocket projectors (the Land mattress). 43rd (W) Division had now 'rolled up' 10 mile (16 km) of the Siegfried Line defences and cleared the escarpment overlooking Goch. On 20 February 130 Bde was pulled out and sent to relieve a Canadian brigade holding a 'watery wilderness' north of Kleve, where the troops had to be taken in aboard Buffalo amphibious vehicles and contact patrols between the isolated companies had to be carried out by boat. The brigade remained here until 11 March, while the rest of the division completed the advance to Xanten on the Rhine. Contact with the enemy was close, but 130 Bde had no artillery support other than Bofors guns of 110th LAA Regiment firing in a ground role.