Home Service and Winter Warfare Training 1942 - 1943
On their return from Garrison duties in Iceland the Brigade became the spearhead of Winter Warfare Training in the UK, pending the return of 49th Division HQ (which had formed the core of Iceland Force/Alabaster Force) from Iceland, resulting in their lead role in this respect being recognised by the addition of various specialist staff and advisers, and, indeed specialist units - especially the Mule Companies of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps - and being located in the most suitable parts of the UK for this purpose - namely Wales and Scotland.
The individual War Diaries spell out the training conducted over this period and various anecdotes are included. The locations are referenced and photographs and Wikipedia descriptive entries have been included in those Pages to try and give a suitable picture of how these men were spending their time. Quite a few members of the Brigade found themselves transferred to other Corps, perhaps reflecting their ages or question marks over their continued appropriateness for a front-line Infantry role in terms of fitness - bearing in mind that it was envisaged that the 49th Division would have a spearhead role in the invasion of Europe.
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