List of British infantry brigades of the Second World War (1–100) facts for kids

During World War II, a British brigade was led by a brigadier. Here, Brigadier Lionel Bootle-Wilbraham is with staff from the 126th Infantry Brigade.

During World War II, a British infantry brigade was a military group made up of several battalions. A brigadier was in charge of each brigade. Usually, three infantry brigades would form an infantry division. However, brigades could also work on their own. When they did, they were usually assigned to a larger command called a corps. Brigades were very flexible. They rarely kept the same battalions for long. They could also move between different divisions or higher commands as needed. Their jobs varied a lot, from fighting in battles to training new soldiers. The British Army had 216 different numbered or named brigades during the war. But not all of them existed at the same time. Many were formed by changing the name or number of existing groups. This article focuses on brigades numbered from 1 to 100. You can find brigades numbered above 100 or with names in another list.

The British Army had two main parts during World War II: the regular army (full-time soldiers) and the Territorial Army (TA), which had part-time soldiers. The TA was very important for making the army bigger during wartime. To do this, existing TA groups (called "first-line" units) would create new groups. These new groups, called "second-line" units, started with a small group of experienced soldiers, known as a cadre. Then, more soldiers would join until the group was full. The regular army also formed new brigades by bringing together existing infantry battalions. Many new infantry brigades were also created as British African regiments grew.

What Were Brigades?

Infantry soldiers were the main fighting force of the British Army. Here, soldiers from the 29th Infantry Brigade get ready for action during the Burma Campaign.

During World War II, the infantry was the most important part of the British Army. Infantry soldiers were organized into regiments, but these were mostly for administration. The actual fighting units were the battalions. One regiment could have many battalions. A brigade usually had three infantry battalions and about 2,500 soldiers. A brigadier was their commander.

Brigades were not fixed groups. Their makeup and role could change based on what was needed in a battle or war. For example, the 9th Infantry Brigade kept the same three battalions throughout the war. But the 16th Infantry Brigade had 17 different battalions under its command at various times. It was rare for a brigade to have battalions from only one regiment. Most brigades had a mix of battalions from different regiments. Brigades could be independent, reporting to a high-level command, or they could be part of a division. Those in divisions could be moved around as needed. For instance, the 9th and 10th Infantry Brigades stayed with their divisions for the whole war. However, the 16th Infantry Brigade was assigned to seven different divisions and many other commands! In battle, brigades received help from artillery, engineers, and other support units. These support units usually belonged to the larger formations the brigade was part of.

The British Army had two main parts: the regular army and the part-time Territorial Army (TA). At the start of the war, the regular army had about 224,000 soldiers. The TA had about 438,100 part-time soldiers. The regular army's main job was to keep peace and defend the British Empire. Before the war, many British Army brigades and divisions existed only on paper. They didn't have enough artillery, communication gear, engineers, or transport. If war broke out, fighting brigades and divisions would need to be put together from available battalions. At the start of the war, the regular army had 24 infantry brigades. Most were in the UK, but some were in the Middle East, Malta, West Africa, British Malaya, and Hong Kong. The British Army also recruited more soldiers in African regiments, like the Nigeria Regiment and the King's African Rifles. This led to many new brigades being formed in East and West Africa. Over the war, 140 regular army brigades were created, but not all at once. Many were renamed or renumbered.

The TA was meant to be the main way to increase the number of army groups. But before the war, the British government cut funding for the TA. By 1936, they realized the TA couldn't be ready for a European war in three years. So, they delayed more funding. After Germany took over parts of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, the TA was ordered to double in size. In early 1939, the TA had 35 infantry brigades. The existing groups (first-line) were told to create a second group. They would use a small group of trained soldiers (a cadre) to start the new group. These new groups were called "second-line" units. By the start of the war, some second-line brigades were ready, while others were still forming. By the end of 1939, the TA had grown to 32 first-line and 32 second-line infantry brigades.

From 1939 to 1940, each brigade in the British Expeditionary Force had a company with nine French 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank guns. After the Battle of France and the Dunkirk evacuation, more anti-tank companies were formed for brigades. These had the Ordnance QF 2-pounder anti-tank gun. These companies were later disbanded. The British Army learned lessons from the Battle of France. In the UK, brigades were reorganized into "brigade groups." This meant adding artillery, anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank guns, machine guns, and engineers directly to them. This change was then used for brigades overseas. However, this made it harder for divisions to control and focus their artillery fire to support the infantry brigades. After training exercises showed this weakness, brigades in the UK went back to being regular brigades. The extra units were returned to the divisions. These brigade groups, because they lacked firepower and weren't concentrated with other groups, often faced much larger enemy forces and were defeated.

Infantry Brigades (1-100)

See also

• British Army during the Second World War
• British deception formations in World War II
• British infantry brigades of the First World War
• List of British infantry brigades of the Second World War (101–308 and named)