267th_Indian_Armoured_Brigade Knowpia

The 267th Indian Tank Brigade was a short lived armoured brigade of the Indian Army during the Second World War. It was reconstituted as 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade.

History edit

The brigade was formed on 3 July 1942 at Sialkot with three regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps. These were infantry battalions of the British Army that were converted to an armoured role:

116th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps formed on 24 July 1942 from 9th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders^[1]
160th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps formed on 15 July 1942 from 9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment in the United Kingdom^[2]
163rd Regiment Royal Armoured Corps formed on 30 July 1942 from 13th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters^[2]

It moved to Secunderabad in October under the command of the 43rd Indian Armoured Division and then to Poona.^[3] The brigade was intended for service in the Burma Campaign during the Second World War^[4] but in the event it never left India. On 1 April 1943, it was reconstituted as the 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade.^[3]

The brigade commanded the following units:^[4]^[5]

116th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (joined on 27 July 1942; left on 31 October 1942 for 255th Indian Armoured Brigade)^[1]
163rd Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (joined on 30 July 1942; left on 31 March 1943 when it reverted to 13th Sherwood Foresters in 67th Indian Training Brigade)^[2]^[6]^[a]
160th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (joined on 22 December 1942; left on 1 April 1943 when it reverted to 9th Royal Sussex Regiment in 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade)^[2]^[8]
267th Armoured Brigade Signals Squadron (1942 to 1943; became 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade Signals Section)
111th Field Post Office (July 1942 to April 1943)

^ Kempton^[7] acknowledges Joslen's^[6] information, but notes that there is no reference to a 67th Indian Training Brigade in any official Indian Army records or orders of battle.

^ ^a ^b Kempton 2003c, p. 1
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kempton 2003c, p. 2
^ ^a ^b Kempton 2003b, p. 4
^ ^a ^b "Royal Tank Ccrps: 267 Indian Tank Brigade". burmastar.org. Archived from the original on 12 July 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ Kempton 2003b, p. 5
^ ^a ^b Joslen 1990, p. 543
^ Kempton 2003b, p. 57
^ Kempton 2003c, p. 8

Joslen, Lt-Col H.F. (1990) [1st. Pub. HMSO:1960]. Orders of Battle, Second World War, 1939–1945. London: London Stamp Exchange. ISBN 0-948130-03-2.
Kempton, Chris (2003b). 'Loyalty & Honour', The Indian Army September 1939 – August 1947. Vol. Part II Brigades. Milton Keynes: The Military Press. ISBN 0-85420-238-2.
Kempton, Chris (2003c). 'Loyalty & Honour', The Indian Army September 1939 – August 1947. Vol. Part III. Milton Keynes: The Military Press. ISBN 0-85420-248-X.