161 infantry brigade west africa

I am tracing a signaller Dennis Taylor #2586957 . His service record shows he was in the Gambia and then Sierra Leone in early 1941 with 161 Infantry Brigade , I can find many references to 161 INDIAN Infantry brigade which I think is a completely different unit , NA has only one war diary for 161 Infantry Brigade HQ which has not been digitised.Can anyone offer any more info please ?

thanks Clive Farmer

 

What unit was he with?

I know that there is more than one diary for 161st Brigade HQ because I have at least three at home. Will consult and return this evening.

I think that the naming is inconsistent, which could be why you've had difficulty locating the files.

 

Service records say "161 Inf Bde" then " attached to OC Troops Gambia" then some info about rates of pay , the entry for "161 Inf Bde" then has ditto marks through to when he disembarked Port Suez 29/7/1941

Clive

 

Still not back at home, but checked the references on my phone:

WO 166/1034
161ST. INFANTRY BRIGADE: Headquarters (HQ).
1939 Sept.- 1940 Oct.

WO 173/121
HQ [161 Infantry Brigade]
1941 Jan - May

WO 169/1312
161 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters (HQ)
1941 June- Dec.

These may also be of interest:

WO 173/19
H.Q. [Sierra Leone Area]
1939 Aug.- 1940 Dec.

WO 173/131
HQ [Sierra Leone Area]
1941 Jan - Dec

161st Indian Infantry Brigade was born from 161st Infantry at some point in 1942, I think. I'll be able to check later.

 

Based on Joslen's Orders of Battle, 161st Infantry Brigade sailed from the UK on 18 December 1940 and arrived in West Africa on 4 January 1941. It remained there through 18 June 1941, when it set sail for Egypt. At the time the brigade consisted of the 1st/4th Essex Regiment and the 2nd/5th Essex Regiment and served under Sierra Leone Area.

Here are some notes on the service of 1st/4th Essex Regiment in West Africa:


WO Control – 20 July 1940 to 31 August 1940
The battalion left the 161st Brigade on July 20th was mobilised on July 23rd, 1940, completing by August 1st. It left Wooler on August 4th and embarked at Liverpool on August 5th for West Africa.

HQ Sierra Leone Area, HQ Military Forces, West Africa – 31 August 1941 to 4 January 1941
It disembarked at Freetown, Sierra Leone on August 31st and moved into Wilberforce Barracks coming under the command of West Africa Force.

161st Infantry Brigade – 4 January 1941 to 25 November 1941
The battalion was assigned to the 161st Brigade on January 4th, 1941, but did not come directly under command until January 11th, when the brigade arrived in Freetown with the 2/5th Essex Regiment. The battalion left Wilberforce Barracks on June 13th, 1941 and handed over to the 4th Nigeria Regiment. It embarked under the brigade on June 16th and sailed on June 20th for Egypt.

Here are some notes on the 2nd/5th Essex Regiment in West Africa:

161st Infantry Brigade – 3 September 1939 to 15 October 1941
The Battalion HQ moved to Throckley, Newcastle-on-Tyne in early September and then to the Haltwhistle area on October 15th, 1940. It was mobilised on November 30th, 1940 and embarked at Glasgow on December 17th, 1940 with the brigade.
The battalion reached Freetown, Sierra Leone on January 5th, 1941 and moved to Benguema Camp, near Waterloo, Sierra Leone. A West African brigade from Nigeria relieved the brigade in June 1941 and the battalion embarked on June 19th, 1941 for Egypt under the brigade.

 

And Bamboo very kindly uploaded details of the convoy W.S. 2 here:
The Winston Specials

 

And the diaries for this battalion during this period are:

Reference: WO 173/180
Description: 2/5 Essex Regiment
Date: 1941 Jan-May

Reference: WO 169/1719
Description: 2/5 Essex Regiment
Date: 1941 June- Dec.

 

Chapter One of this recent publication covers Sierra Leone for this period.

An Imperial World at War

By luck, the entirety of the chapter is present--only a few endnotes are lost.

 

Charley,

Thanks for the heads up on the Sierra Leone article.

David

 

You're very welcome.

Cliverfarmer (the thread starter) seems to have vanished though. Perhaps we need to be less helpful in future; it scares people off!

 

I do--thanks.

 

I think you are right Charley. I think part of it is not being aware of forum protocol regarding following up on requests.

 

Thanks for all the very informative responses . I am very aware of the need to keep in touch and respond . Two weeks ago my wife went into hospital with a severe stroke and did not survive , so I am sure you will all understand my silence .Some time when I am back on my emotional feet again I will pick up on all the leads and references .

Clive Farmer

 

I am very sorry to hear this.

 

Incidentally, there is another article that has a very small amount of information about Sierra Leone during the Second World War:

An Enduring Commitment: The British Military’s Role in Sierra Leone by ANDREW STEWART

There's not much WW2 material that you won't find elsewhere, but there could alway be a date / individual / unit reference of use--who knows?

Feel free to message me if you'd like a copy.

 

I apologised earlier for my lack of response which was after the death of my wife .I am trying to pick up the pieces of my life and find getting back into research helps . So following up on earlier posts , the dates of Dennis Taylors movement from Glasgow to Sierra Leone and then on to Egypt match exactly those of 2/5th Essex to which I think he was attached as a signaller .But his records show a transfer to "O C Troops " Gambia 29/1/1941 and back to Sierra Leone 11/4/1941 . None of the helpful earlier posts mention Gambia , could anyone throw any light on this ?

Thanks Clive

 

I'll check the paperwork I have and get back to you. The one possibility I recall is that some small contingents of 161st Brigade men were detailed as guards/escorts for internees and POWs being shipped to various colonies. One company-sized group of 1/4th Essex did a round trip to Jamaica in 1941, for instance.

More soonish.

 

Scratch the last conjecture: false scent--details as follows:-
___________________________________________________________________________

A detachment from the 161st Infantry Brigade Signal Section embarked at FREETOWN, Sierra Leone on 21/1/41 en route to GAMBIA (vessel unrecorded). They arrived on 23/1/41, but the first attempt of the main signal section at FREETOWN to contact them on 29/1/41 was unsuccessful.

On 7/2/41, Lieut. J.M. Sawyers returned from this detachment to FREETOWN, leaving the remainder of the detachment to maintain communications between AREA HQ in BATHURST (GAMBIA) and 4th Gold Coast Regt. at BRIKAMA.

During this period (JAN-MAY), similar signals detachments were dispatched to and operating from DARU, PORT LOKO and MAKENI and PAGUMA and ACCRA. They appear to have been using 'No.11 Sets' with 'high power units' and 'Windham Aerials' to faciliate long-range communications--ACCRA, for instance, was 900miles away.

On 31/3/41, Wireless Communication was (finally) established between the detachment at BATHURST (GAMBIA) and their parent unit, the brigade signals section, at FREETOWN. Both C.W & R.T. were used and signals were received at R.9.

On 9/4/41, the signals detachment returned from BATHURST (GAMBIA) to FREETOWN. It is only then that it is recorded that it comprised seven men with 2 x No.11 Sets.

___________________________________________________________________________

I also have a schematic of these various wireless locations and connections, but I'm currently between computers as I bought a new machine yesterday, so I may have to get back to you (here) with it.

I hope this is some help to you, Clive.
BATHURST, incidentally, is now named BANJUL.