| 38 (Irish) Brigade | |
|---|---|
Insignia of 38 (Irish) Brigade |
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| Active | 1914 - 1918 1942 - 1947 2007 - |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Territorial Army |
| Part of | 2nd Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn |
| Motto | Ubique et Semper Fidelis |
The 38th (Irish) Brigade was a British Army unit formed initially after the start of World War I, without the title 'Irish'.
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The Brigade, formed in 1914, became one of the brigades of 13th (Western) Division, one of the Kitchener's Army war-raised formations. It fought through the war as part of 13th Division.
It was reformed on 13 January 1942 by converting the 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), a Home defence static brigade which had been part of the Dorset County Division.[1] The 210th Infantry Brigade had originally been formed on 10 October 1940. From late 1941 to mid 1942 the 38th Brigade was subordinate to the 1st Infantry Division. It served under a number of other formations during the Second World War but in March 1943 it joined 78th (Battleaxe) Infantry Division in Tunisia and fought with distinction in Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy as part of this highly regarded division until the end of World War II, though during May 1945 it was detached to both 46th Division and 6th Armoured Division. The brigade then was alloted occupation duties in Carinthia in southern Austria, and was eventually formally disbanded in April 1947.[2]
38 (Irish) Brigade reformed on 1 August 2007, as part of a new combined divisional / brigade structure called HQ Northern Ireland and 38 (Irish) Brigade after the disbandment of HQ Northern Ireland and has its Headquarters at Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn.[3] The Brigade subsequently came under command of the 2nd Division, the regional division for Scotland, the North of England and Northern Ireland, on 1 January 2009. It is now the Regional Brigade responsible for administering the Territorial Army within Northern Ireland. This was the culmination of a drawdown of military headquarters in Northern Ireland, which had seen the disbandment of 3 Infantry Brigade, 8 Infantry Brigade, 39 Infantry Brigade and 107 (Ulster) Brigade.
Today the Territorial soldiers from the Brigade have served on operations supporting the Regular Army in the Balkans, on Operation TOSCA in Cyprus, on Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan and Operation TELIC in Iraq. At home the Brigade has the key role of providing the Civil Contingency Reaction Force for Northern Ireland.
(As the 38th Irish Brigade)
With this combination, it therefore had pre-war Regular, Territorial and war-time raised units within its structure.
Source: 38 (Irish) Infantry Brigade at Orders of Battle.com?
38 (Irish) Brigade Units 2010
Units supporting 38 (Irish) Brigade:
The current Brigade insignia is a green shamrock on a circular, sand-coloured, background. This insignia was adopted to differentiate it from the World War II design which is now too similar to the design of the tactical recognition flash (TRF) worn by the Royal Irish Regiment