The 198th (2/1st East Lancashire) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw service during the First World War 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 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 who originally had not agreed to serve overseas. However, the brigade ended up serving in the trenches of 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 ...

, suffering horrendous casualties in March 1918 during Operation Michael, 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 ''(renamed 4th Battalion 19 February 1918)'' * 2/5th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment ''(left July 1918)'' * 2/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment ''(left 22 July 1918)'' * 2/10th Battalion, Manchester Regiment ''(disbanded 15 February 1918)'' * 203rd Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps ''(moved to 66th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 11 March 1918)'' * 198th Trench Mortar Battery * 5th (Service) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers ''(from 19 July 1918)'' * 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers ''(from 19 August 1918)'' * 6th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers ''(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 Second World War in 1939, as part of the expansion of the Territorial Army when war with Nazi Germany 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 King's Regiment (Liverpool) and the 6th Border Regiment were retrained as Beach groups for the upcoming invasion of France 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, King's Regiment (Liverpool) ''(until 4 July 1943)'' * 6th Battalion, Border Regiment ''(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 World ...

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