British infantry brigades of the First World War

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During the

The pre war regular army only had eighteen infantry brigades, with another forty-five serving with the reserve Territorial Force (TF). Once war was declared, the regular army was expanded first by volunteers and then conscripts for what became known as Kitchener's Army. At the same time, volunteers for the TF formed second line formations.

Three infantry brigades served with a

The reserve formations of the Territorial Force comprised fourteen divisions, each of three brigades, while another three brigades were independent formations intended for coastal defence.[3] They were unnumbered until August 1915, and took the name of the region with which they were affiliated, or the name of the regiments that supplied their battalions. When the brigades were given numbers, they became the 125th–234th brigades. As a home defence organisation, their men could not be sent overseas against their wishes.^[5] After war was declared, almost to a man the Territorial Force volunteered to serve overseas, so a second line Territorial Force was recruited, virtually a mirror image of the first line divisions and brigades.^[6] For example, the Northumbrian Division, had the Northumberland, York and Durham and the Durham Light Infantry Brigades.^[7] The second line 2nd Northumbrian Division, had the 2nd Northumberland, 2nd York and Durham and the 2nd Durham Light Infantry Brigades.^[8] Volunteers for the second line Territorial Force had the same terms and conditions as the first line, and could not be sent overseas unless they agreed to do so.^{[9] [nb 1]}

Kitchener's Army

The third part of the British Army was the New Army, also known as Kitchener's Army. Recruits for the New Armies were technically part of the regular army, serving for three years or until the end of the war.^[11] The first of the New Armies comprised the 9th–14th divisions, with the 26th–43rd brigades. The second New Army comprised the 15th–20th divisions, with the 44th–61st brigades. The third comprised the 21st–26th divisions, with the 62nd–79th brigades. The fourth and fifth were the Pals battalions of the 30th–35th divisions, with the 89th–106th brigades and the 37th–42nd divisions, with the 110th–136th brigades. The last New Army was the sixth, comprising the 36th–41st divisions, with the 107th–124th brigades.^[12]

Infantry brigade composition

At the start of the First World War French, Russian and German divisions consisted of two brigades each of which were made up of two regiments. Each regiment had three battalions, except the Russians which had four, which meant that in total there were around 6,000 men in the brigade. The British Army was different. Its divisions consisted of three brigades, with each brigade having slightly over 4,000 men in four battalions, plus support troops, under the command of a brigadier general.^[13]

The 1914 British infantry brigade comprised a small headquarters and four infantry battalions, with two heavy

Within the brigade a typical deployment was one battalion in the front line, with the other two in reserve, about 2 to 3 miles (3.2 to 4.8 km) back. The forward battalion had several sections manning outposts in the front trench with two companies manning strong points behind them. The third company was in reserve to act as a counter-attacking force and the fourth company was resting. Two brigades of a division would be deployed forward with the third brigade in reserve.^[22]

List of brigades

See also

• British Army during World War I
• British Army First World War reserve brigades
• British Army uniform and equipment in World War I
• British Expeditionary Force order of battle (1914)
• British Expeditionary Force (World War I)
• List of British divisions in World War I
• List of British brigades of the Second World War
• Recruitment to the British Army during the First World War

Notes

Footnotes

Citations