The Northumberland Brigade was formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force of the British Army with four battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers. The brigade was numbered as 149th (Northumberland) Brigade in 1915 and served with the

50th (Northumbrian) Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire ...

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 World War I. Due to losses suffered in the Ludendorf Offensive in 1918, it had to be comprehensively reorganized. Reformed as the Northumberland Brigade post-war, it was broken up before the outbreak of World War II.

History

Formation

Under the terms of the

Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 ('' 7 Edw. 7, c.9'') was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the auxiliary forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer and Yeomanry units into a new Territori ...

(''

7 Edw. 7 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 ...

, c.9''), the Northumberland Brigade was formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It was Headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne and consisted of four infantry battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers and a Transport and Supply Company: :4th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (T.F.) – HQ at

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

:5th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (T.F.) – HQ at Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne :6th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (T.F.) – HQ at Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon Tyne :7th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (T.F.) – HQ at

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

:Northumberland Brigade Company,

ASC ASC may refer to: Educational institutions * Anglican Schools Commission, Australia * Andres Soriano Colleges of Bislig, located in Surigao del Sur, Philippines * Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia Organizations Australia * Australian Singing ...

(T.F.) – at Newcastle upon Tyne It was assigned to the

Northumbrian Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire ...

World War I

The brigade was mobilized on the outbreak of the war and posted to the Tyne Defences. The battalions were given fractional designations (e.g. 1/4th Battalion) with the formation of the 2nd Line battalions in 1914. In April 1915, the brigade was posted to France and on 14 May was redesignated as 149th (Northumberland) Brigade (the division became

). The brigade served with the 50th Division on the

for the rest of the war. In 1915, it took part in the Second Battle of Ypres and the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

in 1916. In 1917, it took part in the Battle of Arras and the Third Battle of Ypres. As a result of the losses suffered in the Ludendorf Offensive ( First Battle of the Somme and Battle of the Lys), the brigade had to be comprehensively reorganized. On 15 July 1918, the Northumberland Fusiliers battalions were reduced to cadre and transferred to Lines of Communication duties; they were replaced by two battalions from Salonika (3rd Royal Fusiliers ex 85th Brigade, 28th Division and 13th Black Watch ex 81st Brigade, 27th Division) and another (2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers) that had been in France since August 1914. Thereafter, it took part in the

Battles of the Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 191 ...

and the Final Advance in Picardy.

Order of battle

The brigade commanded the following units during the war: * 1/4th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (''reduced to cadre and left 15 July 1918'') * 1/5th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (''reduced to cadre and left 15 July 1918'') * 1/6th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (''reduced to cadre and left 15 July 1918'') * 1/7th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (''left 10 February 1918 and joined

42nd (East Lancashire) Division The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignated as the 42nd (East ...

as Pioneers'') *1/5th Battalion, Border Regiment (''joined 5 May 1915, left for 151st Brigade on 20 December 1915'') *3rd Battalion,

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

(''joined 15 July 1918'') *13th ( Scottish Horse) Battalion, Black Watch (''joined 15 July 1918'') *2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers (''joined 15 July 1918'') *149th Machine Gun Company (''formed 6 February 1916, moved to 50th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps on 1 March 1918'') *149th Trench Mortar Battery (''formed 18 June 1916'')

Post-war

The 50th Division had crossed the

Sambre The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne ...

and reached Solre-le-Château on 10 November 1918 when it was relieved. Demobilization started in December and by 19 March 1919 the division had ceased to exist in France. The Northumbrian Division was reformed again in England on 1 April 1920 with the same composition as pre-war. The four original battalions were reformed in the Territorial Army on 7 February 1920. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the

50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw distinguished service in the Second World War. Pre-war, the division was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and the two ''Ts'' in the divisional ins ...

was reorganized as a Motor Division which saw a reduction from three to two brigades. * 4th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was converted to a motorcycle battalion in 1938, assigned to 50th Division. *

5th Battalion 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 th ...

, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was converted to a searchlight battalion on 1 November 1938 as ''5th Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (53rd Searchlight Regiment)'', assigned to

30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade The 30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1955, which defended Tyneside and Sunderland during the Second World War. Origins The formation was raised as 30th (Northumb ...

. *

6th Battalion 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 ...

, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was converted to '' 43rd Battalion (6th (City) Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers), Royal Tank Corps'' on 1 November 1938, assigned to

25th Army Tank Brigade The 25th Army Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the British Army that was active before and during the Second World War. It served with the British First Army and the British Eighth Army during the battles in North Africa and Ita ...

. *

7th Battalion 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, mythol ...

, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was converted to a machinegun battalion in Northumbrian Area, Northern Command and the brigade ceased to exist.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* * * * {{cite web , url=http://marksrussianmilitaryhistory.info/BRIT14.html , title=The British Army, 1914 , last=Conrad , first=Mark , year=1996 , access-date=11 July 2014 Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations in Northumberland Military units and formations established in 1908 Royal Northumberland Fusiliers