Explore Listing
On 8 November 1942, Operation TORCH landed Allied forces in Algeria (at Oran and Algiers) and Morocco (at Casablanca) to secure the Vichy territories of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The intention was to advance to Tunis some 800 km to the east and then advance to attack the rear of the Axis forces fighting Montgomery's Eighth Army in the Western Desert.
The Eighth Army's 78th Division had borne the brunt of the fight for the Sangro and having destroyed the 65th German Division, it now required relief. General Montgomery brought the 1st Canadian Division down from the mountains and relieved V Corps' 78th Division brigade by brigade, while each was fighting in contact with the enemy. On 2 December, command of the battle above the Sangro passed to the Commander 1st Canadian Division, Major General Christopher Vokes*, who took 38 (Irish) Brigade and 4th Armoured Brigade under command.
In mid-January 1943, as the Germans were building up their strength in the Bou Arada Plain area of Tunisia, 38 (Irish) Infantry Brigade was ordered to prepare for an attack on four features on the 19 January. However, the Germans upset the plans at 0730 hours on the 18 January by attacking the centre of the Brigade position, with a force that included 20 to 30 tanks, where the 6th Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was deployed. The Brigade made good use of its supporting artillery which inflicted severe damage on the German armour and infantry. The 6 INNISKS took A Company of the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers under command and drove the Germans out of a position to their front.
In April 1943, the First Army selected the 78th Division to begin the final thrust eastwards against Tunis. The Division first had to capture an area of high ground some 20 miles short of Tunis.
Having captured Centuripe, 38 (Irish) Brigade advanced to the south bank of the River Salso where the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Faughs) secured a bridgehead. The Irish Brigade then crossed the Salso on 4 August. With the 6th Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers holding the Salso bridgehead, the Irish Brigade pushed the 2nd Battalion The London Irish Rifles and the 1st Faughs forward to the next river obstacle - the River Simeto.
With operations complete in Tunis, North Africa, the Commander 38 (Irish) Brigade, Brigadier Nelson Russell, had embarked for Sicily (in advance of the rest of the Brigade) on 23 July 1943. The Irish Brigade had spent late June and early July in training at Hammamet before moving to an assembly area at Sousse on 10 July in order to prepare for embarkation and transportation to Sicily on 26/27 July.
From 25-29 September 1943, 38 (Irish) Brigade landed and concentrated at Taranto, southern Italy.
In Italy, the 38 (Irish) Brigade's parent formation, 78th (Battleaxe) Division, had been advancing to the Volturno Line when its progress was threatened around Termoli as it encountered the 16th Panzer Division.
The Brigade moved forward from Taranto to Barletta by road and rail with battalion main bodies departing from the Nasisi railway station around 1700 hours on 29 September and arriving in Barletta from 1500-1700 hours the following day, 30 September 1943. The battalions then marched to Andria to a camp and bivouac area with poor water facilities and an excess of biting mosquitoes.
After three months of action in the Battle for Italy, 38 (Irish) Brigade was relieved in the area of Lake Trasimeno at the beginning of July 1944. The Brigade travelled south to a concentration area near Rome before moving out of theatre with the 78th (Infantry) Division, sailing from Taranto on 18 July and arriving in Alexandria, Egypt, where it disembarked on 22 July.
