The 26th Infantry Brigade was the name of two

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 ...

formations 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 ...

and

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 ...

First World War

The 26th Brigade was formed in 1914 as part of

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 ...

of volunteers. It 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 ...

throughout the war as part of the 9th (Scottish) Division, before being disbanded in 1919.

Component units

* 8th Battalion,

The Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

(Royal Highlanders) * 7th Battalion,

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

(

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

Buffs, The

Duke of Albany Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on the younger sons in the Scottish and later the British royal family, particularly in the Houses of Stuart and Hanover. History The Dukedom of Albany was first granted ...

's) * 8th Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders * 5th Battalion, The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders * 10th Battalion, Princess Louise's (

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

) * 1/5th

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 ...

(T.F.) Loyal North Lancashire Regiment * 26th Machine Gun Company * 26th Trench Mortar BatteryJoined 15 June 1916

Commanders

The following officers commanded the 26th Infantry Brigade during the First World War: *Brigadier-General H. R. Kelham (21 September 1914) *Brigadier-General E. G. Grogan (16 November 1914) *Brigadier-General A. B. Ritchie (31 May 1915) *Brigadier-General J. Kennedy (5 December 1916) *Brigadier-General Hon. A. G. A. Hore-Ruthven (27 July 1918) *Brigadier-General H. G. Hyslop (5 November 1918) :*''Acting'': Lieutenant-Colonel R. Campbell (12 November 1918) *Brigadier-General Hon. A. G. A. Hore-Ruthven (22 November 1918)

Second World War

The brigade was initially formed as an organic part of the 9th (Highland) Infantry Division, itself a duplicate of the

51st (Highland) Infantry Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

. When the 51st Highland Division was surrounded and forced to surrender during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

the 9th Division was renamed as the 51st Division. As part of these changes the 26th Infantry Brigade was redesignated as the 152nd Infantry Brigade on 7 August 1940. On 6 April 1945 the

26th Indian Infantry Brigade The 26th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in March 1941, at Secunderabad, India and assigned to the 6th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade was part of the Line of Co ...

was reformed as the 26th British Infantry Brigade, part of the 36th Infantry Division which was fighting in the Burma Campaign. This second brigade fought its way to

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

. After the reformation of the Territorial Army in 1947 it was active as an independent infantry brigade within Scottish Command for a period.

Component units

In 1939

* 5th Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders * 5th Battalion,

* 7th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders

In 1945

* 2nd Battalion,

Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

* 1st Battalion,

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 ...

* 1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment

Commanders

Brig. 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 (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thou ...

I.K. Thomas (CO Original 26th Brigade) * Brigadier M.B. Jennings * Brigadier L. Gwydyr-Jones

Notes

Infantry brigades of the British Army Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations of Scotland Military units and formations in Burma in World War II {{UK-mil-unit-stub