70th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
| 70th Brigade 70th Infantry Brigade 70th Independent Infantry Brigade |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1914–1919 1939–1944 1950–? |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Brigade |
| Nickname(s) | "The Polar Bears" |
| Engagements |
World War I World War II |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |
.jpg) (as part of 49th Division) |
The 70th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw service during both World War I and World War II and postwar.
Originally part of the 23rd Division (and briefly 8th Division) during World War I.
The brigade was reformed in 1939 in the Territorial Army (or TA, the British Army's part-time reserve component) as the 70th Infantry Brigade just before the end of the interwar period, originally as part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, when the TA was ordered to be doubled in size, due to the increasing likelihood of another war with Germany. The brigade was formed as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 151st Infantry Brigade and was composed of the 10th, 11th and 12th Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry, containing many former members of those battalions. The brigade was transferred to the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division, the 2nd Line duplicate of the 50th Division, on 2 October 1939, just under a month after the start of World War II.
The brigade, serving with the 23rd Division in Northern Command, was, although poorly trained and equipped, ordered to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under General Lord Gort, then serving on the border between France and Belgium, as lines of communication troops under GHQ BEF. The brigade arrived in France on 25 April 1940. Together with the rest of the BEF, the brigade was, under a month after its arrival in France, involved in the Battle of France in May 1940 and the retreat to Dunkirk from where it took part in the Dunkirk evacuation.
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