209th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

209th Infantry Brigade (209 Bde) was a Home Defence formation of the British Army during World War II.

Origin
The brigade was formed for service in the United Kingdom on 13 October 1940 by No 9 Infantry Training Group in the South West Area of Southern Command. Under the name of 209th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) it was initially composed of newly-raised battalions of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment).

Composition
The composition of 209 Bde was as follows:
 * 7th Bn The Buffs (until 7 November 1941, when it converted to 141st Regiment Royal Amoured Corps)
 * 8th Bn The Buffs (until 22 September 1942)
 * 9th Bn The Buffs (21 October 1940–15 August 1941, and 24 November 1941–25 October 1943)
 * 10th Bn The Buffs (until 25 October 1943)
 * 11th (Royal Militia of Jersey) Battalion, Hampshire Regiment (from 24 September 1942)
 * 14th Bn Durham Light Infantry (25 September 1942–14 November 1944)
 * 18th Bn Welch Regiment (20 November 1943–19 September 1944)
 * 6th Bn Northamptonshire Regiment (from 19 November 1943)
 * 2/5th (Glamorganshire) Bn Welch Regiment (from 19 September 1944)
 * 11th Bn South Staffordshire Regiment (from 15 November 1944)

Commanders
The commanders of 209 Bde were:
 * Brigadier C.C. Hewitt (until 21 May 1941)
 * Brigadier G. St G. Robinson (21 May–20 October 1941)
 * Brigadier R.C. Matthews (28 October 1941–17 August 1942)
 * Brigadier W.G. Hewett (10 August 1942–10 August 1944)
 * Brigadier N.P. Proctor (10 August 1944–14 February 1945)
 * Brigadier A. Gilroy (from 14 February 1945)

Service
On 28 February 1941, HQ South West Area formed Devon and Cornwall County Division, which included the brigade. On 1 December 1941, the County Division was redesignated 77th Infantry Division and the brigade became 209th Infantry Brigade. The 77th was a Reserve Division, later designated a Holding Division with the role of sorting, retraining and temporarily holding personnel before they were reassigned to other units. It was formally disbanded on 1 September 1944 when its divisional and brigade HQs adopted the numbers of the recently-disbanded 45th (Holding) Division. 209 Bde was redesignated 135th Infantry Brigade. All these formations remained within the UK throughout the war.