The 43rd Infantry Brigade was a

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 ...

during the First and Second World Wars, and later, as 43 (Wessex) Brigade, a regional headquarters from 1985 to 2014.

First World War

The brigade was created 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 ...

as part of the

14th (Light) Division The 14th (Light) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener during the First World War. All of its infantry regiments were originally of the fast marchin ...

, 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 ...

Order of Battle

* 6th (Service) Battalion,

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Some ...

''(left June 1918)'' * 6th (Service) Battalion,

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd (Cornwall Light ...

''(disbanded February 1918)'' * 6th (Service) Battalion,

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...

''(disbanded February 1918)'' * 10th (Service) Battalion,

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and t ...

''(disbanded February 1918)'' * 43rd Machine Gun Company,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

''(formed 16 February 1916, moved to 16th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 1 March 1918)'' * 43rd Trench Mortar Battery ''(formed 24 April 1916)''

Second World War

It was reformed in Britain on 16 August 1943, for Lines of Communication security force duties in North Africa during 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 ...

. Landing in North Africa on 23 September 1943, it was redesignated on 9 November 1943 as the '40th Infantry Division' for deception purposes, after moving to

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

Order of Battle

* 31st Battalion,

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before bein ...

(''19 August 1943 to 27 October 1943'') * 30th Battalion,

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. T ...

(''19 August 1943 to 5 November 1943'') * 30th Battalion,

Dorset Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 1 ...

(''19 August 1943 to 16 June 1944, "120th Infantry Brigade" from 9 November 1943'') * 30th Battalion,

(''26 September 1943 to 12 April 1944, "119th Infantry brigade" from 9 November 1943'') * 30th Battalion,

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

(''26 September 1943 to 27 October 1943'') * 30th Battalion,

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

(''21 October 1943 to 19 May 1944, "121st Infantry Brigade" from 9 November 1943'') The battalions "were given brigade designations; and every effort was made to appear to be a division. This included the adoption of a divisional sign featuring the diamond and acorn ased onthe Great War 40th Division; these were made up locally and worn on uniform by the personnel of the 'division' – in reality, three battalions of low medical category men armed with personal weapons only and with a skeleton complement of transport." (Chappell, p. 23) The brigade was disbanded, still in Sicily, on 30 June 1944.

Post war

Cold War

In 1985 the 43rd (Wessex) Brigade was formed as one of the new one-star Headquarters, principally as a National Defence Brigade commanding the Territorial Army in the south west of England, part of

South West District South West Delhi is one of the eleven administrative districts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Kapashera serves as the administrative headquarters of South West Delhi. South West Delhi is bounded by the districts of West De ...

. The Brigade assisted with recruiting and public relations in its area, which encompassed Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire, the Channel Islands and Isles of Scilly. Its responsibilities included the annual

Ten Tors Ten Tors is an annual weekend hike in early May, on Dartmoor, southwest England. Organised by the British Army, starting in 1960, it brings together teams of six young people each, with the 2,400 young participants hiking to checkpoints on ten ...

walking challenge on Dartmoor. * 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Brigade (0199)British Army, ''1991 Master Order of Battle'', Ministry of Defence, London. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 13 October 2021. ** Brigade Headquarters, at

Wyvern Barracks Wyvern Barracks is a military installation on Topsham Road in Exeter. History The site was established as an artillery barracks for the Board of Ordnance under the name of Topsham Barracks around 1800. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Royal Wessex Yeomanry The Royal Wessex Yeomanry (RWxY) is a Reserve armoured regiment of the British Army Reserve consisting of five squadrons. Formerly part of 43 (Wessex) Brigade, the regiment joined 3rd (UK) Division in July 2014, to provide armoured (main battle ...

(V), in

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

(Home Defence (Reconnaissance)) ***

Royal Gloucestershire Hussars The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars was a volunteer yeomanry regiment which, in the 20th century, became part of the British Army Reserve. It traced its origins to the First or Cheltenham Troop of Gloucestershire Gentleman and Yeomanry raised in ...

Band of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry (V) ** 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, at Picton Barracks, Bulford Camp (Mechanised Infantry (Wheeled)) ** 4th (Volunteer) Battalion (1st Rifle Volunteers), The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment (V), HQ at Wyvern Barracks, Exeter (Light Infantry, Home Defence) – formed in 1987 *** Devonshire Band of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment (V), in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

6th (Somerset and Cornwall) Battalion, The Light Infantry 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

(V), in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

** 1st Battalion (Rifle Volunteers), Wessex Regiment (V), in

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

(Light Infantry) *** The Hampshire and Dorset Band of the Wessex Regiment (V) ** 266 (Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery) Observation Post Battery, Royal Artillery (V), in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

(to 7th Parachute Regiment, RHA and 47th Field Regiment, RA) (18 x L118 105mm light guns) ** 155th (Wessex) Transport Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport (V), in

Sutton, pp. 527–570 ** 211th (Wessex) Field Hospital,

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

(V), in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

(Field Hospital ) ** 219th (Wessex) Field Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps (V), in

Keynsham Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located between Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. It has a population of 16,000. It was listed in the Domesday Book as ''Cainesham'' (as it is pronounced), which is believed to mean the home of Sai ...

(Field Hospital )

Modern day

In 1995 the restructuring programme within the

saw an increase in the brigade's responsibility to include regional and budgetary aspects working to a new superior headquarters: 3rd Division. The

Strategic Defence Review The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was a British policy document produced in July 1998 by the Labour Government that had gained power a year previously. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of t ...

of 1998 further increased the brigade's responsibility and as from 1 April 1999 it came under the command of Headquarters 4th Division, and moved from

Bulford Camp Bulford Camp is a military camp on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Established in 1897, the site continues in use as a large British Army base. The camp is close to the village of Bulford and is about northeast of the town of Amesbury. Th ...

in September 1999 to establish the new Headquarters 43rd (Wessex) Brigade. *

* The Rifle Volunteers * Exeter University Officer Training Corps (UOTC) * Bristol University Officer Training Corps (UOTC) * Affiliated Commander for ACF and CCF in the South West of England The 43 (Wessex) Brigade was transferred to 4th Division on 1 April 2007, and then came under Support Command in late 2011. The brigade was disbanded at

Jellalabad Barracks Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about ...

, Tidworth, in December 2014 under the

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 ...

plan. Units and personnel from the brigade merged with Royal Artillery regiments to form 1st Artillery Brigade and Headquarters South West.

Order of Battle on disbandment

*The

(RHQ Bovington) (TA) *6th Battalion

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerly ...

(HQ Exeter) (TA) * 155 (Wessex) Transport Regiment (HQ Plymouth) (TA) *Bristol University Officers Training Corps (HQ Bristol) (TA) *Exeter University Officers Training Corps (HQ Exeter) (TA) *243 Field Hospital (Wessex) (RHQ Keynsham) (TA)

References

{{British infantry brigades of the Second World War 43 Military units and formations established in 1914 1914 establishments in the United Kingdom 2014 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I