History

The 234th Infantry Brigade was a British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 Infantry Brigade created on 1 April 1943 from the 4th (Malta) Infantry Brigade, which had garrisoned the island during its siege by air and sea by the Axis powers. The unit was formed as the main British military force of the operation

Dodecanese Campaign

The Dodecanese Campaign of World War II was an attempt by Allied forces, mostly British, to capture the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea following the surrender of Italy in September 1943, and use them as bases against the German-controlled Balkans...

 to capture the Dodecanese Islands in late 1943. The brigade, under Major General F. G. R. Brittorous, later replaced by Brigadier Robert Tilney

Robert Tilney

Brigadier Robert Adolphus George Tilney CBE, DSO, TD was British Army officer who served during the Second World War.Brigadier Robert Tilney was a Territorial Army officer formerly of the Leicestershire Yeomanry. On November 5, 1943 Tilney was appointed to command the British forces on the Greek...

, was landed on the island of Leros

Leros

Leros is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies 317 km from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 11-hour ferry ride . Leros is part of the Kalymnos peripheral unit...

. The Brigade, together with other British, Italian and Allied forces, attempted to hold the Dodecanese islands against successive German air attacks and the landings of amphibious German forces, but without success. In the battles of Kos

Battle of Kos

The Battle of Kos was a brief battle between British, Italian and German forces for the control of the Greek island of Kos, in the then Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea.-Background:...

 and Leros

Battle of Leros

The Battle of Leros was the central event of the Dodecanese Campaign of the Second World War, and is widely used as an alternate name for the whole campaign. Leros was occupied by British forces on 15 September 1943...

, German air superiority and tactical ability resulted in British defeats, and their garrisons were forced to surrender after a few days' resistance.

Component units

On 16 November 1943:

• 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Fusiliers
• 2nd Battalion, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
  The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
  The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1961. It was formed as The Queen's Own as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 50th Regiment of Foot and the 97th Regiment of Foot...
  
  
• 4th Battalion, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)
  The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)
  The Buffs , formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army until 1961. It had a history dating back to 1572 and was one of the oldest regiments in the British Army being third in order of precedence...
  
  
• 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
  King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
  The King's Own Royal Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1680 to 1959. Its lineage is continued today by the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.-History:...
  
  

External links

• Orders of Battle.com