The 27th Infantry 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 in 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

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 ...

, and the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. In Korea, the brigade was known as 27th British Commonwealth Brigade due to the addition of Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and Indian units.

Unit history

First World War

The German Spring Offensive, March-july 1918 Q6735

It was originally formed in August 1914 as the 27th Brigade and was part of the

9th (Scottish) Division The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War. A ...

, the first of the

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 ...

divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War. It was originally composed of the 11th and 12th (Service) Battalions of the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regimen ...

, 6th (Service) Battalion

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

and the 10th (Service) Battalion

Argyll and 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 ...

(Princess Louise's).p.70 Rikhye, Ravi ''Order of Battle of the British Army 1914'' Richard A Rinaldi 15 Jul 2008

Second World War

In 1939 this brigade was reformed, as the 27th Infantry Brigade, in the Territorial Army as part of the

9th (Highland) Infantry Division The 9th (Highland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed just prior to the start of the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a significant military power and its occupation of C ...

, a 2nd Line 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 surrendered 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 ...

in June 1940 the 9th (Highland) Division was redesignated as a new 51st Division. Due to this the 27th Infantry Brigade became the 153rd Infantry Brigade and served with the 51st (Highland) Division in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and

North-West Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, Northw ...

from 1942 to 1945.

Post Second World War

27 BCB orders group following the Battle of Yongju 22 Oct 1950 (AWMP01813)

The Brigade was reformed in 1948 and sent out to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, but was then sent on to Korea at the outbreak of the

, where

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Kenneth Muir of the Argylls was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

in September 1950. Soon after arriving in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, the brigade was in action, being involved in the defence of the Pusan Perimeter, on 29 August 1950, and the UN offensive to link with the

Inchon landings The Battle of Incheon (), also spelled Battle of Inchon, was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved s ...

. The brigade was joined in September 1950 by an Australian contingent, 3rd Battalion,

Royal Australian Regiment The Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) is the parent administrative regiment for regular infantry battalions of the Australian Army and is the senior infantry regiment of the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. It was originally formed in 1948 as a t ...

(3 RAR), and in December 1950 by the 2nd Battalion,

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricia's) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patrici ...

. At this time the brigade had few of the support units that were a normal feature of other Commonwealth units in Korea, and were always at a disadvantage in this respect, being reliant on US support units. After further action during the retreat from the Yalu River, the Chinese Winter Offensive (including

Third Battle of Seoul The Third Battle of Seoul, also known as the Chinese New Year's Offensive, the January–Fourth Retreat ( ko, 1•4 후퇴) or the Third Phase Campaign Western SectorThe Eastern Sector is the First and Second Battles of Wonju. (), was a battle ...

in January 1951) and the UN counter-offensive, the brigade was joined by the specially raised 16 Field Regiment

Royal New Zealand Artillery The Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery is the artillery regiment of the New Zealand Army. It is effectively a military administrative corps, and can comprise multiple component regiments. This nomenclature stems from its heritage as an off ...

in January 1951, and then a Canadian infantry battalion in February. The brigade's final action was the

Battle of Kapyong The Battle of Kapyong (or Gapyeong) ( ko, 가평전투, 22–25 April 1951), also known as the Battle of Jiaping (), was fought during the Korean War between United Nations Command (UN) forces—primarily Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand� ...

in April 1951, a famous last-stand victory. Both the Argylls and Middlesex Regiment were relieved and the brigade was disbanded, to be replaced by the fully constituted 28th British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade, part of

1st Commonwealth Division The 1st Commonwealth Division was the military unit that commanded Commonwealth land forces in the Korean War. The division was a part of the multinational British Commonwealth Forces Korea, with infantry units of the British Army, Canadian Arm ...

Component units

1914–1918

* 11th Battalion,

* 12th Battalion, Royal Scots * 6th Battalion,

* 10th Battalion,

1939–1940

* 5th Battalion,

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 ...

* 7th Battalion,

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

* 9th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders * 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders

1948 onwards

* 1st Battalion,

Royal Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

* 1st Battalion,

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

(to April 1951) * 1st Battalion,

(to April 1951) * 2nd Battalion,

* 3rd Battalion,

* 16th Field Regiment,

* 60th Indian Field Ambulance

Commanders

* 27 August 1914: Brigadier-General William Scott-Moncrieff * 7 January 1915: Brigadier-General Clarence Dalrymple Bruce * 26 September 1915: Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Ernest Walshe (''acting'') * 14 October 1915: Brigadier-General Henry Ernest Walshe * 17 March 1916: Brigadier-General Gerald Frederic Trotter * 2 May 1916: Lieutenant-Colonel W. J. B. Tweedie (''acting'') * 6 May 1916: Brigadier-General Spencer William Scrase-Dickens * 21 October 1916: Brigadier-General

Francis Aylmer Maxwell Brigadier-General Francis Aylmer Maxwell, (7 September 1871 – 21 September 1917) was a British Army officer in the Second Boer War and First World War. He was also a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in th ...

* 21 September 1917: Lieutenant-Colonel H. D. N. Maclean (''acting'') * 23 September 1917: Brigadier-General William Denman Croft *

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 ...

G.T. Gurney * Brigadier William Fraser * Brigadier D.A.H. Graham

Korean War

* Brigadier Basil Aubrey Coad

References

Bibliography

*Gregory Blaxland, The Regiments Depart: A History of the British Army 1945–70, William Kimber, London, 1971. *Brian Catchpole: ''The Korean War'' {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 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 established in 1939 Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Korean War Military units and formations disestablished in 1951 British Commonwealth units and formations Brigades of the Korean War