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Berlin Infantry Brigade

{{Short description|British army garrison 1953–1994}}

{{Infobox Military Unit

| unit_name = Berlin Infantry Brigade

| image = British Berlin Infantry Brigade Patch.svg

| caption =

| country = {{flag|United Kingdom}}

| branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}

| type = District Command

| dates = 1953–1994

| specialization =

| command_structure =

| size =

| current_commander =

| garrison = Berlin

| battles =

| notable_commanders =

}}

The Berlin Infantry Brigade was a British Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. This occupation lasted throughout the Cold War. The French Army also had units in West Berlin, called the French Forces in Berlin and the US Army's unit in West Berlin was the Berlin Brigade. The Soviet Army unit in East Berlin was the 6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.

History

File:British Chieftain tanks.JPEG Chieftain tanks of the Berlin armoured squadron, taking part in the Allied Forces Day parade in June 1989]]

The Berlin Infantry Brigade was formed in October 1953 out of the force called "Area Troops Berlin" and consisted of some 3,100 men in three infantry battalions, an armoured squadron, and a number of support units. Its shoulder sleeve insignia was a red circle over a black background with the word Berlin in red on a black background running around the top.{{cite web|url=http://www.western-allies-berlin.com/ |title=Berlin Brigade |publisher=Western-allies-berlin.com |date=22 June 2005 |access-date=20 May 2011}} It was not initially part of the British Army of the Rhine despite being based in Germany.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPAMQ3oIT_4C&q=berlin+infantry+brigade&pg=RA1-PA127 |title=The British Army in Germany: An ... – Google Books |isbn=9780972029698 |access-date=20 May 2011|last1=Watson |first1=Graham |last2=Rinaldi |first2=Richard A. |date=August 2005 }} However, by the mid-1980s, the brigade is recorded to have become part of the BAOR, being its second major component after I (BR) Corps.David C. Isby & Charles Kamps Jr, Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's, 1985, p.303

In 1946 the military postal address for Berlin based British troops was 'BAOR 2' but when the BFPO indication number was introduced in 1951 to was changed to 'BFPO 45' and remained its address until the British troops were withdrawn from Berlin in 1994.SC Fenwick (2021). Nothing succeeds like an address - BFPO numbers. Winter 2021. The Cleft Stick, Newsletter of the Defence Postal & Courier Officers' Association

The three infantry battalions and armoured squadron assigned to Berlin were rotated regularly; the single armoured squadron was detached from an armoured regiment assigned to I (BR) Corps. The infantry battalions were rotated every two years.{{cite web|url=http://www.western-allies-berlin.com/berlin-infantry-brigade |title=Berlin Infantry Brigade |publisher=Western-allies-berlin.com |date=2 July 1945 |access-date=20 May 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.western-allies-berlin.com/units/british-army/british-army |title=British Army Units |publisher=Western-allies-berlin.com |access-date=20 May 2011}} All other units were permanently based in Berlin.

Structure

At the time when the Berlin Wall fell (9 November 1989), the operational structure of the British forces in Berlin was as follows:

Under the treaties that enabled the German reunification, all non-German military forces were required to leave Berlin. Therefore the brigade was reduced to two battalions in 1992, then further reduced in 1993 to a single battalion. Finally Berlin Infantry Brigade was officially disbanded in September 1994 and its troops moved to the United Kingdom or British Forces Germany garrisons.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPAMQ3oIT_4C&q=berlin+infantry+brigade&pg=RA1-PA127 |title=The British Army in Germany: An ... – Google Books |isbn=9780972029698 |access-date=20 May 2011|last1=Watson |first1=Graham |last2=Rinaldi |first2=Richard A. |date=August 2005 }}

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Different names of the Berlin Infantry Brigade from 1945–1994:{{cite book |author1=Graham Watson |author2=Richard A. Rinaldi |title=The British Army in Germany (BAOR and after): An Organizational History 1947–2004 |year=2005 |publisher=Tiger Lily Publications LLC | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNm0n9SwRQIC&q=The+British+Army+in+Germany:+An+Organizational+History+1947-2004 |isbn=0-9720296-9-9 |page=127}}

! Month, Year!!Name

November 1946 -British Troops Berlin
February 1949 -Area Troops Berlin
October 1953 -Berlin Infantry Brigade Group
December 1963 -Berlin Infantry Brigade
April 1977 -Berlin Field Force
January 1981 – September 1994Berlin Infantry Brigade

References

{{reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book |last1=Durie |first1=William |title=The British Garrison Berlin 1945 - 1994: nowhere to go ... a pictorial historiography of the British Military occupation / presence in Berlin |date=2012 |publisher=Vergangenheitsverlag (de) |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-86408-068-5 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/978161722 |language=English |oclc=978161722}}

External links and references

{{Commons}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120619083418/http://www.kameradschaft.248gsu.de/ 248 German Security Unit Veterans Association]
  • [https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.Berlin-Brigade.de Berlin Brigade Memories]
  • [https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.berlin-brigade.de/aut-hist/brigade-e.html/ History of the Berlin Brigade]
  • [http://www.western-allies-berlin.com History of the French, American and British Berlin Brigades]
  • [http://www.berlin1969.com Berlin 1969 – the Allies in Berlin at midpoint of the Cold War]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20101211074209/http://baor-locations.co.uk/Berlin.aspx British Army of the Rhine Locations]
  • [http://maps.berlin-brigade.com/ Berlin-Brigade Installations]
  • {{cite web | title = West Alliierte in Berlin | url = http://www.waib.de|publisher=The history of the three Western Allied Forces and their civilian employees in Berlin from 1945–1994 }}
  • [http://www.berlinbrigade.com/ BerlinBrigade.com] Dedicated to all that served in West Berlin from 1945 to 1994

Category:British Army deployments

Category:Cold War military history of Germany

Category:Military units and formations established in 1953

Category:Allied occupation of Germany

Category:West Berlin