The 49th Infantry Brigade, later known as 49th (Eastern) Infantry Brigade during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, was a brigade 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 ...

First World War

The brigade started its existence as part of the

16th (Irish) Division The 16th (Irish) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised for service during World War I. The division was a voluntary 'Service' formation of Lord Kitchener's New Armies, created in Ireland from the 'National Volunteers', i ...

, 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 ...

in the First World War. The 16th Division served through the war on the Western Front.

Cold War

The 49th Brigade also served in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

during the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

from 1953 to 1955-6, incorporating the 1st Battalion, Royal Northumbrian Fusiliers, and the 1st Battalion, Royal Innskilling Fusiliers, joined by the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers, from January 1955. However the core of the brigade's present history descends from the

49th (West Riding) Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the divis ...

, which fought in both World Wars. In the Second World War, the division was involved in the Norwegian Campaign, the guarding of Iceland, and

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

, where it landed in Normandy under XXX Corps. It was part of the reformed Territorial Army (as an armoured formation for a time) from 1947 to 1967. The Brigade Headquarters was reformed as a regular HQ with TA units in 1982 as part of 2nd Infantry Division. It consisted of 5th and 7th Battalions,

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating i ...

, 5th Battalion,

Royal Regiment of Fusiliers The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (often referred to as the Royal Fusiliers or, simply, the Fusiliers) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. Currently, the regiment has two battalions: the 1st battalion, part of ...

, 3rd Battalion, The

Staffordshire Regiment The Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales') (or simply "Staffords" for short) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment was formed in 1959 by the amalgamation of the South Staffordshire Reg ...

, the Royal Yeomanry, equipped with Fox armoured cars,

100th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery 100 (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery was part of the Territorial Army and had sub-units throughout the South of England. It had three gun batteries all equipped with the L118 Light Gun. The regiment's original role was British Army of the Rhi ...

, with 105mm Light Guns, and 307 OP Battery RA (V). The Division was tasked with the wartime rear-area security of the

I (BR) Corps I Corps ("First Corps") was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the First World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-lived ...

sector, behind the forward armoured divisions, during any Soviet thrust into Western Europe.

1990s to disbandment

Following the end of the

, the Brigade was reorganised as 49 (East Midlands) Brigade on 1 April 1992, and then as 49 (East) Brigade on 1 April 1995 following the merger with 54 (East Anglia) Brigade. The brigade now has regional responsibility for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, Northamptonshire, Leicester, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Rutland. In April 2000 the Brigade came under command of the 4th Division based in Aldershot. As from 1 April 2007, the Brigade came under the command of the 5th Division based in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

and as of 2012 the Brigade came under the command of Support Command. Under

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

, 49 (East) Brigade was merged with

7th Armoured Brigade 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

to become

7th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East The 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team is a formation in the British Army with a direct lineage to 7th Armoured Brigade and a history that stretches back to the Napoleonic Wars. It saw active service in the Crimean War, the Second Boer War ...

on 13 February 2015.

Structure in 1989

Below is the structure of the brigade in 1989, just before the end of the

. * Headquarters 49th (Eastern) Infantry Brigade''''British Army, Master Order of Battle 1991. ** Headquarters 49th Infantry Brigade and Signal Troop,

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

(V), Chilwell *** ''49th Infantry Brigade Defence and Employment Section,

Royal Pioneer Corps The Royal Pioneer Corps was a British Army combatant corps used for light engineering tasks. It was formed in 1939, and amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps in 1993. Pioneer units performed a wide variety of tasks in all theatres of war, inc ...

(V)'' **

The Royal Yeomanry The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve light cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in ...

(V), in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

** ''

5th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

'' (V), in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

*** Warwickshire Band of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers ** ''

5th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment Fifth is the Ordinal number (linguistics), ordinal form of the number 5, five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth ...

'' (V), in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

** ''

7th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

'' (V), in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

** '' 5th (Shropshire and Herefordshire) Battalion, The Light Infantry'' (V), in

** ''3rd (Volunteer) Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's)'' (V), in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

** '' 100th (Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (V)'' (Field Artillery), in Grove Park, London

References

External links

* * David C Isby and Charles Kamps Jr, Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's Publishing Company, 1985 * Gregory Blaxland, The Regiments Depart: A History of the British Army 1945-70, William Kimber, London, 1971. {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 49