The 105th Brigade was a formation of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was raised as part of the new army also known as

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...

and assigned to the 35th Division. The brigade served on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

History

The infantry was originally composed of Bantams, that is soldiers who would otherwise be excluded from service due to their short stature. This became a regular infantry Brigade with the end of the Bantam experiment at the end of 1916, after it was noted that bantam replacements were not up to the physical standards of the original recruits. The brigade was disbanded in April 1919 at Ripon, the brigade was not reformed in the Second World War.

Order of Battle

The composition of the brigade was as follows: *15th Battalion, (1st Birkenhead),

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. T ...

*16th Battalion, (2nd Birkenhead), Cheshire Regiment ''(disbanded February 1918)'' *14th Battalion, (West of England),

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

''(disbanded February 1918)'' *15th Battalion, (Nottingham),

Sherwood Foresters The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to f ...

* 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion,

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battali ...

''(joined February 1918)'' *105th Machine Gun Company ''(joined April 1916, left for division MG battalion February 1918)'' *105th Trench Mortar Battery ''(joined February 1916)''

Commanders

*Brig-Gen J G Hunter C.B. ''to 16 April 1916'' *Lt-Col T Ranken ''16 April 1916, to 1 May 1916'' *Lt-Col F W Daniell ''1 to 6 May 1916'' *Brig-Gen A H Marindin ''6 May 1916, to 27 March 1918'' *Lt-Col A W Crellin ''27 to 31 March 1819'' *Lt-Col W Appleyard ''31 March to 7 April 1918'' *Brig-Gen A Carton de Wiart V.C., D.S.O. ''7 to 20 April'' (wounded) *Lt-Col L M Stevens ''20 to 22 April 1918'' *Brig-Gen A J Turner C.M.G. D.S.O. ''22 April 1918 to March 1919''

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book , last1=Davson , first1=H.M. , title=The History of the 35th Division in the Great War , date=1926 , publisher=Naval & Military Press , location=London , isbn=9781843426431 , page=296 , edition=2020 Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Pals Brigades of the British Army