242nd Brigade (United Kingdom)

242nd Brigade (242 Bde) was an infantry formation composed of British and Indian troops, which served in Turkey during the Occupation of Constantinople after World War I

242nd Brigade
Active1920
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry Brigade
EngagementsOccupation of Turkey
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Brig.-Gen. F.S. Montague-Bates

History

242 Brigade was formed around Izmit, about 100 km east of Constantinople, on 30 March 1920 by General Headquarters of the British Army of Occupation. Under the command of Brigadier-General F.S. Montague-Bates,[1] 242 Bde initially comprised three Indian Army battalions, with a proportion of British Army support troops, all drawn from 28th Division, which was serving in Turkey at the time; a British infantry battalion (1st Gordon Highlanders, from the Army of Occupation in Germany)[2] was soon added. The brigade was formally attached to 28th Division from 6 June to 15 September 1920.[3][4]

Order of battle

During its short existence, 242 Bde was constituted as follows:[3][4]

Attached:

On 13 July the 20th Hussars took part in one of the last mounted actions by British cavalry, during an operation against Turkish nationalists.[4][5]

During August Major-General Edmund Ironside took over command of the troops in the Izmit area (which became 'Ironside Force').[4] When Montague-Bates authorised a sortie over the River Sarkaria to protect his perimeter against attacks by Nationalist Turks, Ironside reprimanded him. One of Montague-Bates' staff reported that the two generals 'had heated words' and 'When Brigadier Bates came out of the meeting he was white with rage, said good-bye, and having collected his belongings left with hardly a word'. Montague-Bates returned to Constantinople and was sent home.[6] He was replaced in command of 242 Bde by Brigadier-General H.A.V. Cummins.[3]

In September 1920 the Greek Army took over the Izmit Front, which allowed the British Army of Occupation to be reduced. 242 Brigade was disbanded on 3 October and the troops dispersed, most of them joining 84th Brigade of 28th Division at Haydarpaşa.[3]

Notes
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. 1st Bn, The Gordon Highlanders: Service at Regiments.org
  3. Becke, pp. 112–6.
  4. 242 Brigade War Diary, The National Archives, Kew file WO 95/4925.
  5. 'Charge of the 20th Hussars at village Gebze' Archived 29 July 2013 at Archive.today at Great War Forum
  6. Lyster, Marie (15 July 2011). Among the Ottomans: Diaries from Turkey in World War I. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781848855212 – via Google Books.

References
  • Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-84734-738-X.
  • Ian Lyster, Among the Ottomans: Diaries from Turkey in World War I, London: Tauris, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84885-521-2

External sources

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