1st Essex & 2nd Queens June 1945

Discussion in 'British Indian Army' started by RobG64, Feb 6, 2017.

  1. RobG64

    RobG64 Well-Known Member

    Hello Mr. Ryan! Hope you can help me out again?

    Joslen has two battalions, 1st Battalion Essex Regiment and 2nd Battalion Queen's Regiment, under command of two brigades at the same time in India in 1945! Can you tell me which is correct?

    23rd British Brigade
    1 Essex 8.3.42 - 17.6.45
    2 Queens 24.10.44 - 17.6.45

    29th British Brigade
    1 Essex 25.5.45 - 31.8.45
    2 Queens 25.5.45 - 31.8.45

    Regards
    RobG64
     
  2. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    Although assigned to the 29th Brigade on May 25th, the both battalions did not leave the 23rd Brigade until June 17th, when they moved to Uruli Camp near Poona and joined the 29th Infantry Brigade. They remained there with the brigade until the end of the war.

    The Essex Regiment regimental history confirms it was not until June that it left 23rd Infantry Brigade. The Queen's Regiment history cites the exact date the Battalion moved to Uruli Camp near Poona as 21st June 1945, when it joined 29th Infantry Brigade.

    Although we treat Joslen as somewhat of a 'bible' of orders of battle, he was human and made some errors.
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2017
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  3. RobG64

    RobG64 Well-Known Member

    Excellent! Thank you very much!

    RobG64
     
  4. tfarms2020

    tfarms2020 Member

    Hi

    My grandfather was posted to 1st Battalion Essex Regiment from 14th Oct '44 (after 69th Anti-Tank RA disbanded) until the end of the war, I just found a photo of him at Uruli Camp dated August '45, so the above dates are really helpful

    Do you have any other information about the movements of 1st Essex between Oct '44 and June '45?

    Many Thanks!

    Tom
     
  5. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    Here is a summary of the 1st Essex Regiment from 1941 to 1945:

    23rd Infantry Brigade – 17 October 1941 to 17 June 1945

    The battalion returned to the 23rd Infantry Brigade on October 17th, 1941 and embarked with it on the same date at Alexandria for Tobruk. It remained on static defence at Tobruk until November 25th with the brigade and then went into action at Ed Duda until December 4th. It remained there until December 12th, when it returned to Tobruk to rest and refit. After resting, the battalion returned to Egypt on December 22nd and embarked at Port Tewfik on February 25th for India.

    It arrived at Bombay under the brigade on March 8th and moved at once to Poona. On April 7th, 1942, the battalion left Poona and moved to Khunti Camp, near Ranchi to train. The brigade was called out in early September 1942 during the ‘Congress Revolution’ for duties near Patna with the battalion deployed at Dhanbad. It returned to Khunti in October and spent the next five months in jungle training.

    The brigade left Ranchi on April 11th, 1943 for Jhingergacha, East Bengal and then moved to the Arakan, arriving at Chittagong on May 1st. By the next day, it was in place in the Bawli Bazaar-Goppe Pass area in defence of the area. The battalion patrolled and returned to Chittagong on May 24th having seen no action. It arrived there on May 29th and left for Calcutta on June 13th, 1943. From Calcutta, it moved to Bidadi Camp, Bangalore. The brigade joined the Special Force (Chindits) on August 6th and the battalion was reformed into the 44th and 56th Columns for long-range penetration tasks. The brigade moved to Chhartapur in Central Provinces at the end of October to continue training and then to Shargarh in January 1944. At the end of March, both columns moved to Saugor and entrained for the front on March 31st. It arrived at Agartala station on April 6th, Mariani on April 8th and Bokajar, near Dimapur on April 10th.

    The battalion columns then advanced into the Naga Hills and remained in action until the capture of Ukhrul. It was then withdrawn to Imphal on July 23rd and then Dimapur by July 25th. It remained there until August 14th, when it left the front for Bangalore. It arrived there eight days later and rested under the brigade until October 21st. On October 26th, it moved into a training camp at Orcha, near Jhansi and absorbed the 51st/69th RA. It left Jhansi on March 26th, 1945 for Depetuli Camp, near Ranchi in order to elicit volunteers for parachute units but few men from the 23rd Brigade volunteered. After a short stay there, the brigade moved to Barembe, near Ranchi.



    29th Infantry Brigade – 17 June 1945 to 31 August 1945

    Although assigned to the 29th Brigade on May 25th, the battalion did not leave the 23rd Brigade until June 17th, when it moved to Uruli Camp near Poona and joined the 29th Infantry Brigade. It remained there with the brigade until the end of the war.
     
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