The 198th (2/1st East Lancashire) 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 service 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 ...

with the

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 ...

. Reformed in 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 ...

as 198th Infantry Brigade it served with

54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division The 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 following the creation of the Territorial Force (TF) as the East Anglian Division. During the First World War the division fo ...

and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war, before disbanding in late 1943.

First World War

The brigade was raised as a duplicate of the East Lancashire Brigade. It was part of the

, from those men in the

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 ...

who originally had not agreed to serve overseas. However, the brigade ended up serving in the

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from eros ...

of the Western Front, suffering horrendous casualties in March 1918 during

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 ...

, the opening phase of 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. As with the rest of the division, the brigade suffered extremely heavy casualties and had to be completely reformed. The brigade saw service during the

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 ...

and the war ended on 11 November 1918.

Order of battle

* 2/4th 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 ...

''(renamed 4th Battalion 19 February 1918)'' * 2/5th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment ''(left July 1918)'' * 2/9th Battalion,

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 ...

''(left 22 July 1918)'' * 2/10th Battalion, Manchester Regiment ''(disbanded 15 February 1918)'' * 203rd 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 ...

''(moved to 66th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 11 March 1918)'' * 198th Trench Mortar Battery * 5th (Service) Battalion,

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment o ...

''(from 19 July 1918)'' * 6th (Service) Battalion,

Royal Dublin Fusiliers The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army created in 1881, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with its home depot in Naas. The Regiment was created by the amalgamation of two Brit ...

''(from 19 August 1918)'' * 6th Battalion,

Lancashire Fusiliers The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, and had many different titles throughout its 28 ...

''(from 22 September 1918)''

Second World War

Both the brigade and division were disbanded in 1919, shortly after the end of the Great War. However, the brigade was reformed, now as the 198th Infantry Brigade, in the Territorial Army shortly before the outbreak of the

in 1939, as part of the expansion of the Territorial Army when war with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

seemed inevitable. It was again assigned to the 66th (East Lancashire) Division. However, the 66th Division was disbanded in June 1940 shortly after the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was evacuated from Dunkirk. After the disbandment of the 66th Division, the brigade was independent for six months before joining the

until it was disbanded near the end of 1943. The

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

King's Regiment (Liverpool) The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which we ...

and the 6th

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service ...

were retrained as

Beach groups During the Second World War, the Allies realised the need for the landing zone of an amphibious assault to be organised for the efficient passage of follow on forces. The British formed such units from all three services – the Royal Navy (Command ...

for the upcoming

invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

and the 7th Borders were transferred to the 222nd Brigade (later 213th Brigade) and the 198th Infantry Brigade ceased to exist and was not reformed in the Territorial Army after the war.

Order of battle

* 8th (Irish) Battalion,

''(until 4 July 1943)'' * 6th Battalion,

''(until 9 September 1943)'' * 7th Battalion, Border Regiment ''(until 9 December 1942)'' * 198th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company ''(formed 30 July 1940, disbanded 14 July 1941)'' * 2nd Battalion,

Hertfordshire Regiment The Hertfordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originating in units of Rifle Volunteers formed in 1859, the regiment served in the Second Anglo-Boer War and the First and Second Wor ...

''(from 9 December 1942 until 23 August 1943)'' Commanders *

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 ...

J.M. Radcliffe (''until 12 August 1941'') * Brigadier A.C.T. Evanson (''from 12 August 1941 until 10 May 1943'') * Brigadier R.K. Arbuthnott (''from 10 May 1943 until 7 October 1943'') * Brigadier B.U.S. Cripps (''from 7 October 1943'')

References

{{British infantry brigades of the Second World War Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II

B198 The Benetton B198 is a Formula One racing car with which the Benetton Formula One team competed in the 1998 Formula One season. It was driven by Giancarlo Fisichella, who had moved from Jordan, and Alexander Wurz, who was in his first full se ...

Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943