The 9th Infantry Brigade was a

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...

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 mar ...

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. B ...

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 active service during both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World Wars 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 opposing ...

History

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland

A 9th Infantry Brigade was formed in 1799 for the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, and was commanded by Major-General Robert Manners. It comprised: *1st Battalion, 9th Regiment of Foot *2nd Battalion, 9th Regiment of Foot * 56th Regiment of Foot *2 squadrons of the 7th Light Dragoons. The brigade took part in the clash at on 10 September 1799, the Battle of Bergen on 19 September, the Battle of Egmond aan Zee on 2 October and the

Battle of Castricum The Battle of Castricum (October 6, 1799) saw a Franco-Dutch force defeat an Anglo-Russian force near Castricum, Netherlands. The battle was fought during the War of the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France between French and Dutch forc ...

on 6 October.

Second Boer War

A 9th Infantry brigade was formed during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

, under the command of Major-General Reginald Pole-Carew from November 1899 until February 1900. They took part in the Battle of Modder River on 28 November 1899, as part of a force sent to relieve the

Siege of Kimberley The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try ...

. A battalion of the

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 ...

served in the brigade.

First World War

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 ...

, 9th Brigade's composition was as follows: * 1st Battalion,

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution ...

* 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers * 1st Battalion,

Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...

(''until November 1915'') * 1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers (''until April 1916, then to 8th Brigade'') * 1/10th (Scottish) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (''from November 1914 to January 1916'') * 12th (Service) Battalion,

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) wa ...

(''from November 1915 to February 1918'') * 13th (Service) Battalion,

King's (Liverpool Regiment) The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which were ...

(''joined from 8th Brigade in April 1916'') * 9th Brigade Machine Gun Company (''formed in February 1916, joined the 3rd MG Battalion,

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 tanks ...

in March 1918'') * 9th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined by May 1916'') The brigade served with the 3rd Division throughout the war, except for a brief a period in early 1915 when it exchanged places with the 85th Brigade of 28th Division.

Commanders

The commanders of the 9th Infantry Brigade during the First World War were: *Brigadier-General F. C. Shaw (At mobilization) *Brigadier-General W. Douglas Smith (12 November 1914) *Brigadier-General H. C. Potter (9 March 1916) *Brigadier-General H. C. R. Green (26 July 1916) *Brigadier-General H. C. Potter (5 August 1916)

Second World War

General Montgomery Inspects Royal Ulster Rifles, May 1944 H38645

The 9th Infantry Brigade together with 7th Infantry Brigade and 8th Infantry Brigade formed the 3rd Infantry Division, which, at the outbreak of 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 opposi ...

in September 1939, was commanded by

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Bernard Montgomery. With the division the brigade was sent to France in October 1939, shortly after the outbreak of war, as part of the British Expeditionary Force, which evacuated from Dunkirk. After the evacuation, the Brigade spent four years training in the UK, in preparation for an eventual assault landing in Europe. The 3rd Infantry Division was the first British division to land at Sword on D-Day and fought through the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, the Netherlands and later the invasion of Germany. During the often intense fighting from Sword to Bremen, the Division suffered 2,586 killed. The brigade comprised:Joslen, p. 247 * 2nd Battalion,

* 1st Battalion,

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's O ...

* 2nd Battalion,

Royal Ulster Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County D ...

References

Sources

* {{British infantry brigades of the Second World War Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II