126th (East Lancashire) Brigade

126th (East Lancashire) Brigade
Active 1908–1941
Country  United Kingdom
Branch Territorial Army
Type Infantry Brigade
Part of 42nd (East Lancashire) Division
Engagements Gallipoli Campaign
Battle of Romani
Battle of Passchendaele
Battles of the Somme (1918)
Hundred Days Offensive (1918)
Dunkirk evacuation
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Brigadier-General Viscount Hampden
BrigadierLionel Bootle-Wilbraham

The 126th (East Lancashire) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army during World War I and World War II. It was assigned to the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division and served in the Middle East and on the Western Front in the Great War. In the Second World War it served again with the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division in France was evacuated at Dunkirk and was then converted into an armoured brigade.

Formation

On the creation of the Territorial Force in 1908, two battalions from the East Lancashire Regiment and two from the Manchester Regiment were organised into an East Lancashire Brigade within the East Lancashire Division.[1]

World War I

On the outbreak of World War I, the men volunteered for overseas service and the division embarked at Southampton and sailed for Egypt on 10 September 1914, the first TF division to leave England for foreign service. The division began disembarking at Alexandria on 25 September and the bulk (including the E. Lancs Brigade) concentrated at Cairo.[1]

Order of battle

During World War I the East Lancashire Brigade was constituted as follows:[1][2][3]

Commanders

The following officers commanded the East Lancashire Brigade during World War I:[1]

Egypt and Gallipoli

The East Lancashire Division remained in Egypt training and manning the Suez Canal defences until 1 May 1915 when it embarked at Alexandria for Gallipoli. The East Lancashire Brigade first went into action at the Third Battle of Krithia

In late May 1915 the division was numbered as 42nd (1st East Lancashire) Division – taking the lowest number of any TF division in recognition that it was the first to go overseas – and the brigades were also numbered, the East Lancashire becoming 126th (1st East Lancashire) Brigade. The battalions adopted the prefix '1/' (becoming 1/4th East Lancs, for example) to distinguish them from their 2nd Line duplicates then training in the UK as the 198th (2/1st East Lancashire) Brigade in 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division.[1]

The 126th Brigade participated in the Battle of Krithia Vineyard (6–13 August), where Lt William Forshaw of 1/9th Manchesters won a Victoria Cross, and then for the rest of 1915 was engaged in trench warfare. After the evacuation from Gallipoli, the division returned to Egypt in January 1916 with less than half the strength with which it had set out. It remained in the Canal Defences for the whole of 1916, rebuilding its strength, and taking part in the Battle of Romani (4–5 August).[1]

Western Front

In January 1917, 42nd Division was ordered to France, the move being completed by mid-March. It spent the remainder of the war on the Western Front. During 1917 it formed part of Fourth Army in 'quiet sectors' (though the brigade commander was wounded in September that year) and taking part in some minor operations along the Flanders coast.[1]

In 1918 the division became part of IV Corps in Third Army, in which it remained for the rest of the war. When British infantry brigades were reduced to three battalions in February 1918, 1/4th East Lancs and 1/9th Manchesters transferred to the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division where they merged with their 2nd line battalions. 126th Brigade received 1/8th Manchesters from 127th Brigade in 42nd Division. At the same time, the machine gun company left to join a new divisional machine gun battalion.[1]

During the German Spring Offensive (Operation Michael or the First Battles of the Somme 1918), the troops of 42nd Division took part in the Battle of Bapaume (24–25 March), First Battle of Arras (28 March) and the Battle of Ancre (5 April). Then, during the Allied Hundred Days Offensive, it participated in the Battle of Albert (21–23 August) and the Second Battle of Bapaume (31 August–3 September) during the fighting on the Somme.[1]

When the Hindenburg Line was breached during the Battle of the Canal du Nord on 27 September, 126th Brigade was holding the forward outpost line, but withdrew before Zero Hour for the rest of 42nd Division to attack through it. 125th Brigade's attack was only partially successful, but the advance was renewed after dark, and the following afternoon 126th Brigade passed through 127th to take Welsh ridge, the final objective.[9]

Third Army's advance in Picardy culminated in the Battle of the Selle on 20 October. On 42nd Division's front, 1/5th East Lancashires (with its band playing) and 1/10th Manchesters of 126th Brigade led the attack over footbridges laid by the engineers over the River Selle. The Official History records that 'Very fierce fighting took place on the strongly held railway line, and it was two and a half hours before it was finally mopped up by the companies detailed for the purpose. The portion to the north of the attack up to the edge of Solesmes was dealt with by a company of the Manchester'. The rest of the division then moved on towards the final objective.[10]

After the Selle, 42nd Division was withdrawn into reserve and halted around Beauvois-en-Cambrésis from 24 October until the advance was resumed on 3 November. On 7 November the 42nd Division was tasked to take the high ground west of Hautmont and if possible to capture the town. The division was held up by enfilade fire from the right, and 126th Brigade did no more than occupy some of the high ground. 125th Brigade was therefore ordered to pass through it the next morning and advance to the objective. But the 126th, 'in an endeavour to atone for its slowness on the 7th', pushed on and reached Hautmont before 125th could catch up.[11]

By 10 November the most forward troops were on the Maubeuge–Avesnes-sur-Helpe road. This was the end of the fighting, because the Armistice with Germany came into the effect the following day. In December the division moved into quarters in the Charleroi area and by mid-March 1919 most of its troops had gone home for demobilisation.[1]

World War II

The 42nd (East Lancashire) Division and its components were reformed in the Territorial Army in 1920. On the outbreak of World War II 126th Infantry Brigade once again mobilised as a 1st Line formation. However, the 4th Battalion, Border Regiment was quickly posted away, and the brigade received the Regular Army's 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment in its place.

Order of Battle

126 Brigade was constituted as follows during World War II:[12]

Commanders

The following officers commanded 126th Brigade during World War II:[12]

Dunkirk

The 126th Infantry Brigade landed in France on 15 April 1940. During the Battle of France the division helped to hold the line of the River Escaut and the canals, until the British Expeditionary Force was forced to withdraw.[13] When 42nd Division was evacuated from Dunkirk, 126th Brigade remained behind, transferring to the 1st Infantry Division for the final part of the battle and only being evacuated on 2 June. After arriving back in England the brigade rejoined the 42nd Division.[12] After this, the brigade received replacements and was tasked mainly with home defence and training to repel a potential German invasion.

Conversion

On 1 November 1941, the 42nd Division was converted into 42nd Armoured Division, and 126th Brigade was renamed 11th Armoured Brigade. Its infantry battalions became tank battalions of the Royal Armoured Corps as 107th Regiment RAC (King's Own), 110th Regiment RAC (Border Regiment) and 111th Regiment RAC (Manchester Regiment).[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Becke, pp. 35–41.
  2. ↑ http://www.1914-1918.net/42div.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.warpath.orbat.com/divs/42_div.htm
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.1914-1918.net/eastlancs.htm
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.warpath.orbat.com/regts/e_lancs.htm
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.1914-1918.net/mancs.htm
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.warpath.orbat.com/regts/manchesters.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.1914-1918.net/mg_units.htm
  9. ↑ Edmonds, pp. 44–8.
  10. ↑ Edmonds, pp. 338–9.
  11. ↑ Edmonds, p. 510.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Joslen, p. 311.
  13. ↑ Lord Gort's despatch, London Gazette, Supplement 10 October 1941 http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/35305/supplements/5899
  14. ↑ Joslen, pp. 165, 311.

References

External Sources