Hi, The 73rd Independent Infantry Brigade comprised 4 Battalions. The 70th Battalion of The Northamptonshires was one. Does anyone know the other three, please? Thanks, Gordon
70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment The battalion was authorised on December 9th, 1940 and began to form on December 29th at Kettering. Up to February 1941, the battalion was attached to the 70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment at Kettering. It then became independent. It moved to Truro in mid-July 1941 and was attached to the 73rd Independent Infantry Brigade for airfield defence. The battalion remained in Cornwall until disbanded at the end of 1943.
Wiki - oddly - does not list the 70th Northamptonshire Bn. in the brigade. See: 73rd Brigade (United Kingdom) - Wikipedia The 8th Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Bn. appears to have remained in Cornwall after the brigade was disbanded 'on coast defence duties'. This appears in a 2021 book 'Defending Bedfordshire The Military Landscape from Prehistory to the Present' by Mike Osborne. Small world I do know him! The relevant page of the book can be viewed using Google Books: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Defending_Bedfordshire/iMg3EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq="73rd+Independent+Infantry+Brigade"&pg=PT149&printsec=frontcover
Thanks All, I am specifically looking for someone who was there in 1942. The above information shows exactly which battalions were there. Gordon
