::''This article refers to the World War I Royal Marine formation renumbered 188th Brigade in 1916; for the World War I Territorial Force formation refer to

188th (2/1st Northumberland) Brigade The 188th (2/1st Northumberland) Brigade was formed in 1915 as a 2nd Line infantry brigade of the British Army's Territorial Force. It commanded four battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers in the Home Defence role. It was broken up in Novem ...

; for other uses refer to 188th Brigade (disambiguation)'' The 3rd (Royal Marine) was an infantry

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

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. It was assigned to the

63rd (Royal Naval) Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...

and served on the Western Front 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 ...

. The brigade then known as the Royal Marine Brigade, was raised in August 1914, from surplus naval reserves. On 2 August 1915, the brigade was reduced from four to two

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s and transferred to the 2nd Royal Naval Brigade. The Royal Marine Brigade was then disbanded. In May 1916, the Royal Marine Brigade was reformed. In July 1916, it was re-designated the 1st (Royal Naval) Brigade and then the 188th Brigade later the same month.

Formation

The infantry battalions did not all serve at once, but all were assigned to the brigade during the war. *8th (Anson) Battalion *1st Royal Marines *2nd Royal Marines *6th (Howe) Battalion *2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment *188th Machine Gun Company *188th Trench Mortar Battery

References

Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I {{UK-mil-unit-stub