British 42nd (East Lancashire) Division Insignia

The 127th (Manchester) Brigade was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

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 ...

that saw active service during both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was assigned to the

42nd (East Lancashire) Division The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignated as the 42nd (East ...

and served in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and on the Western Front in the First World War. In the Second World War, as the 127th Infantry Brigade, it fought in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and was evacuated at Dunkirk. Once back in the United Kingdom, the brigade was converted into an armoured support group. Throughout its existence the brigade was composed mainly of battalions of the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

Early history

The

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

of part-time soldiers was created following an invasion scare in 1859, and its constituent Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) were progressively aligned with the Regular

and

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

during the later 19th Century. Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' introduced by the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

, existing RVCs were brigaded with Regular and Militia regiments in their district. Sub-District No 16 (Lancashire) formed in 1873 included the 63rd and 96th Regiments, the

6th Royal Lancashire Militia The 6th Royal Lancashire Militia (6th RLM) was an auxiliary regiment raised in the county of Lancashire in North West England just before the Crimean War. It later became part of the Manchester Regiment. Although primarily intended for home defenc ...

, the 4th and 7th Administrative Battalions of Lancashire RVCs and the 6th (1st Manchester), 33rd (Ardwick), 40th (3rd Manchester) and 56th (Salford) Lancashire RVCs, all from the

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

and

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

area. The 1881

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

took Cardwell's scheme a stage further, the linked battalions converting into single two-battalion regiments. The 63rd and 96th were amalgamated to create the

, and the Manchester and Ashton RVCs were formally attached to it as its 1st–5th Volunteer Battalions.''Army List''.Rupert Bonner, 'The Development of the Rifle Volunteer Movement in Manchester', ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', 2008, Vol 86, No 347, pp. 216–35.
/ref>Lancashire Record Office Handlist 72
/ref>Westlake, pp. 141–50. While the sub-districts were later referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the Volunteers were excluded from the mobilisation part of the Cardwell system. But under the reforms introduced by

Edward Stanhope Edward Stanhope PC (24 September 1840 – 21 December 1893) was a British Conservative Party politician who was Secretary of State for War from 1887 to 1892. Background and education Born in London, Stanhope was the second son of Philip Stanh ...

in 1888, a comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme was brought in for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own Volunteer Infantry Brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. The five (later six) Volunteer Battalions of the Manchester Regiment constituted the Manchester Brigade, based at 55 Market Street, Manchester, and initially under the command of retired Colonel H.B.H. Blundell.

Territorial Force

When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

(TF) under the

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

of 1908, the Volunteer Battalions became the 5th–10th Battalions of the Manchester Regiment. The Manchester Brigade comprised the 5th–8th Battalions and formed part of the

East Lancashire Division The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignated as the 42nd (East ...

of the TF:Becke, pp. 35–41.Division at Long, Long Trail.
/ref>
/ref> *

5th Battalion, Manchester Regiment The 21st (Wigan) Lancashire Rifle Volunteers, later the 5th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force and Territorial Army recruited in and around Wigan. It served as infantry in Egypt, at Gallipoli, and in some of ...

''(from

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

)'' *

6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

''(from

Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and Ward (politics), electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, the nam ...

)'' *

7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

''(from

)'' * 8th Battalion, Manchester Regiment ''(from

Ardwick Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250. Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from ...

)''

First World War

On the outbreak of 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 ...

, the majority of the men volunteered for overseas service. On 31 August 1914, the formation of Reserve or 2nd Line units was authorised for each TF unit going overseas. Initially these were formed from men who had not volunteered for overseas service, and the recruits who were flooding in. Later they were mobilised for overseas service in their own right. From now on, the original battalions and brigades were designated with a '1/' prefix and the 2nd Line duplicate by a '2/'. Eventually the 2nd Manchester Brigade went overseas as the 199th (Manchester) Brigade.Manchester Rgt at Long, Long Trail
/ref>
/ref>'Territorial Force 1914–1919' at Museum of the Manchester Regiment.
/ref> The East Lancashire Division embarked at Southampton and sailed for

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

on 10 September 1914, the first complete TF division to leave England for foreign service. The division began disembarking at

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

on 25 September and the bulk (including the Manchester Brigade) concentrated at

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Order of battle

During the war, the Manchester Brigade was constituted as follows: * 1/5th Battalion, Manchester Regiment * 1/6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment * 1/7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment * 1/8th Battalion, Manchester Regiment ''(left for 126th Brigade February 1918)'' * 127th Machine Gun Company,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

''(formed 14 March 1916, moved to 42nd Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 23 February 1918)'' * 127th Trench Mortar Battery ''(joined 26 March 1917)'' When British infantry brigades were reduced to three battalions in February 1918, 1/8th Manchesters transferred to 126th Brigade in 42nd Division. At the same time, the machine gun company left to join a new divisional machine gun battalion.

Commanders

The following officers commanded the East Lancashire Brigade during the war: *

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

N. Lee ''(wounded 4 June 1915)'' *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Lord Rochdale ''(acting)'' * Brigadier-General Hon. Sir H.A. Lawrence ''(from 21 June 1915)'' * Brigadier-General G.S.McD. Elliot ''(from 22 September 1915)'' * Brigadier-General V.A. Ormsby ''(from 1 Mar 1916, killed 2 May 1917)'' * Brigadier-General Hon. A.M. Henley ''(from 5 May 1917)''

Egypt and Gallipoli

The East Lancashire Division remained in Egypt training and manning the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

defences until 1 May 1915 when it embarked at Alexandria for

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

. The Manchester Brigade first went into action at the

Third Battle of Krithia The Third Battle of Krithia (Turkish: ''Üçüncü Kirte Muharebesi''), fought on the Gallipoli peninsula during World War I, was the last in a series of Allied attacks against the Ottoman defences aimed at achieving the original objectives of 25 ...

. In late May 1915 the division was numbered as

– 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 Manchester becoming 127th (1st Manchester) Brigade. The battalions adopted the prefix '1/' (becoming 1/5th Manchesters, for example) to distinguish them from their 2nd Line duplicates then training in the United Kingdom as the 199th (2/1st Manchester) Brigade in

66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division The 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, which saw service in the trenches of the Western Front, during the later years of the Great War and was disbanded after the w ...

. The 127th Brigade participated in the

Battle of Krithia Vineyard The Battle of Krithia Vineyard (6–13 August 1915) was fought during the Gallipoli Campaign during the First World War. It was originally intended as a minor British action at Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula to divert attention from the immine ...

(6–13 August) and then for the rest of 1915 was engaged in

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...

. 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 The Battle of Romani was the last ground attack of the Central Powers on the Suez Canal at the beginning of the Sinai and Palestine campaign during the First World War. The battle was fought between 3 and 5 August 1916 near the Egyptian town o ...

(4–5 August).

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 killed in May that year) and taking part in some minor operations along the

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

coast. In 1918 the 42nd Division became part of IV Corps in Third Army, in which it remained for the rest of the war. During the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

's Spring Offensive (

Operation Michael Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...

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 The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allies of World War I, Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (1918), Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Wester ...

, 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. When the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 191 ...

was breached during the

Battle of the Canal du Nord The Battle of Canal du Nord was part of the Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War by the Allies against German positions on the Western Front. The battle took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, along an incomplete portion of ...

on 27 September 1918, 127th Brigade's attack was completely successful. The rest of 42nd Division then passed through to continue the attack. 125th Brigade's follow-up 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. Third Army's advance in Picardy culminated in the

Battle of the Selle The Battle of the Selle (17–25 October 1918) was a battle between Allied forces and the German Army, fought during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. Prelude After the Second Battle of Cambrai, the Allies advanced almost and liberated ...

on 20 October.126th Brigade led the division's attack over footbridges laid by the engineers over the River Selle. 1/5th and 1/6th Manchesters of 127th Brigade then followed up to an intermediate objective. The division then had to wheel right, and was held up. But in the afternoon the attack was resumed and 127th Brigade pushed on to the final objective, which 1/6th Manchesters took after dark without much difficulty. After the Selle, 42nd Division was withdrawn into reserve and halted around

Beauvois-en-Cambrésis Beauvois-en-Cambrésis is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The ...

from 24 October until the advance was resumed on 3 November. On 7 November the 42nd Division captured

Hautmont Hautmont () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is southwest of the centre of Maubeuge, and has 14,500 residents. On August 3, 2008, a narrow but strong F4 tornado swept through the town, as well as Maubeuge, Neuf-Mesn ...

and the high ground to its west. By 10 November the most forward troops of 42nd Division were on the

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical nl, Mabuse or nl, Malbode; pcd, Maubeuche) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border ...

–

Avesnes-sur-Helpe Avesnes-sur-Helpe (; vls, Avenne aan de Helpe) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Nord department. It is situated 14 km from the Belgian border, and 18 km south of Maubeuge, the near ...

road. This was the end of the fighting, because the

Armistice with Germany The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

came into the effect the following day. In December the division moved into quarters in the

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

area and by mid-March 1919 most of its troops had gone home for demobilisation.

Between the wars

The Territorial Force was disbanded after the war as was the brigade and the 42nd Division but both were reconstituted in the Territorial Army, which was formed on a similar basis as the Territorial Force. The brigade reformed as the 127th (Manchester) Infantry Brigade with the same units as it had before the First World War, with all four battalions of the

. However, the 6th and 7th Manchesters were merged, in 1921, to create the 6th/7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment. To fill the gap left by the absence of the 7th Battalion, the 9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment was transferred from the 126th (East Lancashire) Infantry Brigade and this remained the structure of the brigade until 1936. In the late 1930s the United Kingdom's air defences were greatly increased, mainly by converting a number of infantry battalions of the Territorial Army into anti-aircraft or searchlight units of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. As a result, in 1936, the 6th/7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment was transferred to the Royal Artillery and became 65th (The Manchester Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery, joining the 33rd (Western) Anti-Aircraft Group,

2nd Anti-Aircraft Division The 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division (2nd AA Division) was an Air Defence formation of the British Army from 1935 to 1942. It controlled anti-aircraft gun and searchlight units of the Territorial Army (TA) defending the East Midlands and East Anglia ...

. In 1938 a further reorganisation of the composition of Territorial divisions saw them reduced from four to three infantry battalions and so the 9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment left the brigade to become the machine gun battalion for the 42nd Division. They were replaced by the 4th/5th Battalion,

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nott ...

from the 126th (East Lancashire) Infantry Brigade. Shortly afterwards, in 1939, the brigade was redesignated the 127th Infantry Brigade.

Second World War

The brigade was mobilised, along with the rest of 42nd Division and the Territorial Army, in late August 1939 due to the worsening situation in Europe. On 1 September 1939 the

launched its

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began on 3 September 1939, and 127th Infantry Brigade was embodied for full-time war service and all units were soon brought up to full strength.

Order of battle

The 127th Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:Joslen, p. 312. * 4th Battalion,

''(transferred to 126th Brigade 8 September 1941)'' * 8th (Ardwick) Battalion, Manchester Regiment ''(left 6 May 1940)'' * 127th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company ''(formed 2 February 1940, disbanded 24 January 1941)'' * 1st Battalion,

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusi ...

''(from 6 May 1940 until 31 October 1941)'' * 2nd Battalion,

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and t ...

''(8 September – 19 October 1941)'' * 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment ''(from 126th Brigade 25 to 31 October 1941)''

Commanders

The following officers commanded 127th Infantry Brigade during the war: *

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

V.T.R. Ford ''(until 16 November 1939)'' *

G.S. Kay ''(

Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

, from 16 to 24 November 1939)'' * Brigadier K.J. Martin ''(from 24 November 1939 until 25 January 1940)'' * Lieutenant Colonel J.W. Pendlebury ''(Acting, from 25 January to 5 February 1940)'' * Brigadier J.G. Smyth, VC ''(from 5 February 1940 until 2 April 1941)'' * Brigadier R.C. Matthews ''(from 2 April until 25 October 1941)'' * Lieutenant Colonel V.S. Laurie ''(Acting, from 25 to 28 October 1941)'' * Brigadier C.C.G. Nicholson ''(from 28 October 1941)''

France and Dunkirk

Commanded at the time by

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

John George Smyth, VC, an

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

officer, the 127th Infantry Brigade landed in France on 24 April 1940 and became part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The 42nd Division came under command of

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

, which also included 5th Infantry Division and

44th (Home Counties) Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. ...

. The 44th had, along with the 42nd Division, initially been held back from joining the BEF sooner for potential operations in Northern Europe although, as it turned out, this plan never came to anything and both were sent to France at around the same time. Soon after arrival the 8th (Ardwick) Battalion,

were sent on to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

(one of many British Army garrisons around the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

) and the brigade received the 1st Battalion,

, a

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

unit, in exchange. The battalion had arrived from Highland Area in

Scottish Command Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a command of the British Army. History Early history Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of war with France in 1793. The Scottish District was comman ...

and joined in order to strengthen the brigade, as part of the BEF's official policies, and took place in all the 1st Line Territorial divisions that joined the BEF (except the three 2nd Line divisions that arrived in April and were subsequently mauled in the fighting to come). When the German attack on France and the Low Countries of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

began on 10 May 1940, 127th Brigade was assigned to 'Macforce', a scratch force commanded by the Director of Military Intelligence with the BEF,

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Noel Mason-Macfarlane Lieutenant General Sir Frank Noel Mason-MacFarlane, (23 October 1889 – 12 August 1953) was a senior British Army officer, administrator and politician who served as Governor of Gibraltar during the Second World War. Early life and military ca ...

. Macforce assembled on 17 May with the role of covering the crossings over the River Scarpe As German pressure increased, the BEF was forced to withdraw to Dunkirk and 127th Brigade returned to 42nd Division on 20 May. It was evacuated from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.42nd Armoured Division, and 127th Brigade was renamed 42nd Support Group. Apart from 1st Battalion, East Lancashires, its infantry battalions were replaced by artillery regiments. On 1 June 1942 the support group was disbanded, its headquarters becoming the

HQ for the division.Joslen, p. 222.

Recipients of the Victoria Cross

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Alfred Robert Wilkinson, 1/5th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, First World War

Notes

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, . * A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: the 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * John K. Dunlop, ''The Development of the British Army 1899–1914'', London: Methuen, 1938. * James Edmonds, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1918'', Vol V, ''26th September–11th November, The Advance to Victory'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1947/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1993, . * David Fraser, ''And We Shall Shock Them: The British Army in the Second World War'', London:Cassell 1983 .* Frederick E. Gibbon, ''The 42nd East Lancashire Division 1914–1918'', London: Country Life, 1920/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, . * * John North, ''Gallipoli: The Fading Vision'', London: Faber & Faber, 1936. * Edward M. Spiers, ''The Army and Society 1815–1914'', London: Longmans, 1980, . * Ray Westlake, ''Tracing the Rifle Volunteers'', Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, .

External sources

British Military History

Lancashire Record Office, ''Handlist 72''

The Long, Long Trail

Museum of the Manchester Regiment

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130528220855/http://warpath.orbat.com/ The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918{{British infantry brigades of the Second World War Military units and formations established in 1908 Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1941 B127 Military units and formations in Manchester Manchester Regiment 1908 establishments in the United Kingdom