10th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment

History

The 10th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment was a pre-war TA battalion 

Syria

Misses Tunisia

Invasion of Sicily

In October 1943, 168th Briagde was treansferred back to 56th Infantry DivisionTransfer back to 56th Infantry Division

Garigliano

Anzio

Disbanded

Organisation

The battalion landed in Italy in October 1943 seemingly organised as per WE VI/587/2 (the battalion still mentions WE VI/587/1 but the establishment figures match the second version). The WE was a standard for British infantry battalions coming from the Middle East. Interestingly, the WE recorded at high command has the battalion as being organised as per WE II/233/2 level, the standard WE for an infantry battalion in Europe.

 Its rifle companies were named A, B, C and D. The battalion managed to maintain a standard four rifle company establishment throughout the autumn and winter of 1943/44. However, the German counterattacks at Anzio from the 7th to 9th February 1944 overran the battalion and it suffered extremely heavy losses. As a result the battalion was only able to organise one rifle company (C Company) by the 12th February. On the 18th February reinforcements in the form of  10 officers and 115 Green Howards ORs  arrived and they became A Company. The battalion then operated on a two-company basis until it left the Anzio beachhead on 11th March.

In the Middle East, during April and May, the battalion was reinforced and reorganised on a three rifle company basis (A, B and C) before it was announced the battalion was to be disbanded. The personnel were distributed to the other infantry battalions in the division with most going to their fellow battalions in 168th Infantry Brigade, 1st Battalion London Scottish and 1st Battalion London Irish Rifles. 

Strength

The following table is based on the WE returns in the war diaries.  The strength for VI/587/2 that the division was reporting against was 36 Officers and 746 ORs for a total of 782 personnel. The WE included the Regimental Medical Officer and attached personnel such as cooks and mechanics and these are included in the figures below. Personnel not part of the WE (i.e. the attached chaplain and his driver) have not been included.