South Lancashire Brigade
166th (South Lancashire) Brigade
166th (South Lancashire & Cheshire) Brigade
166th Infantry Brigade
Active1902-1919
1920-1939
1944-1945
Country United Kingdom
TypeInfantry
SizeBrigade
Part of55th (West Lancashire) Division
EngagementsFirst World War

The 166th (South Lancashire) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in the First World War and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the Second World War.

Origin

The brigade was first formed in the Volunteer Force in 1902 from elements of the Mersey Brigade and the Cheshire and Lancashire Brigade. Headquartered at Lancaster under the officer commanding 4th Regimental District, it comprised the 1at and 2nd Volunteer Battalions of the South Lancashire Regiment and the 3rd, 6th and 8th (Scottish) Volunteer Battalions of the King's (Liverpool Regiment), together with a transport company of the Army Service Corps and a bearer company of the Medical Staff Corps.[1]

The brigade continued when the Volunteers were subsumed into the Territorial Force in 1908 (when the volunteer battalions were renumbered), with the following composition:[1][2][3]

The brigade formed part of the TF's West Lancashire Division.[1][2][3]

First World War

These later became 166th (South Lancashire) Brigade and 55th (West Lancashire) Division respectively, in 1915. The brigade served with the division on the Western Front during the Second World War.

Order of battle

The brigade had the following composition during the war:[2][3]

Commanders

The following officers commanded the brigade during the First World War:[2]

Commanding officers
Rank Name Date appointed Notes
Brigadier-General A. L. MacFie 3 October 1911 Promoted brigadier-general 5 August 1914
Brigadier-General L. F. Green-Wilkinson 3 January 1916
Brigadier-General F. G. Lewis 25 April 1917 Wounded 1 December 1917
Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. A. MacDonald 1 December 1917 Acting
Brigadier-General R. J. Kentish 4 December 1917

Interwar

The brigade and division were both demobilised after the Armistice with Germany. When TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 the brigade was reformed as 166th (South Lancashire and Cheshire) Infantry Brigade, once again in 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division. The TF became the Territorial Army in 1921. During the interwar years the brigade had the following composition:[4]

By 1939 war with Nazi Germany was becoming increasingly likely and, as a consequence, the Territorial Army was doubled in size with each formation forming a duplicate. The 55th Division was scheduled to raise the duplicate 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division with 166th Brigade to be transferred to help form the new division. By May 1939 the brigade had been redesignated 166th (Staffordshire) Infantry Brigade and its headquarters had been moved to Beacon Place, Lichfield, Staffordshire.[5]

Second World War

The TA was mobilised on 1 September 1939, war was declared on 3 September, and next day the 166th Infantry Brigade was redesignated 176th Infantry Brigade and transferred to 59th (Staffordshire) Division when that formation was activated on 15 September.[6]

A new 166th Infantry Brigade was formed on 15 August 1944 by the redesignation of 199th Infantry Brigade. This brigade had previously served with the 66th Infantry Division until that formation was disbanded in June 1940 and 199th Bde transferred to the 55th Division. It served in Northern Ireland from 24 July 1944 until it returned to the UK and rejoined 55th (West Lancashire) Division in June 1945, after the end of the war in Europe.[6][7]

Order of battle

From when it was redesignated on 15 August 1944 166th Brigade had the following composition:[6]

Neither 166th Brigade nor 55th (West Lancashire) Division were reformed in the postwar TA.[9]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Army List, various dates.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 133–9.
  3. 1 2 3 55th Division at Long, Long Trail.
  4. ↑ War Office, Titles & Designations, 1927.
  5. ↑ Monthly Army List, May 1939.
  6. 1 2 3 Joslen, pp. 90–1, 93–4, 354–5.
  7. ↑ Joslen, pp. 97, 363.
  8. ↑ Joslen, p. 467.
  9. ↑ Watson.

References

  • A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56), London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8.
  • H.F. Joslen, Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945, London: HM Stationery Office, 1960/London: London Stamp Exchange, 1990, ISBN 0-948130-03-2/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, ISBN 1-843424-74-6.
  • War Office, Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army, London: War Office, 7 November 1927.

External sources

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