The 61st Infantry Brigade was an

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 ...

raised for active service in 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 the

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

First World War

The brigade was raised in September 1914 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 ...

from men volunteering for Lord Kitchener's

New Armies The New Armies (Traditional Chinese: 新軍, Simplified Chinese: 新军; Pinyin: Xīnjūn, Manchu: ''Ice cooha''), more fully called the Newly Created Army ( ''Xinjian Lujun''Also translated as "Newly Established Army" ()), was the modernised a ...

, originally as the 61st Brigade, as part of Kitchener's Second New Army and was composed entirely of service battalions from

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

and

rifle regiment A rifle regiment is a military unit consisting of a regiment of infantry troops armed with rifles and known as riflemen. While all infantry units in modern armies are typically armed with rifled weapons the term is still used to denote regiments t ...

s. The brigade was assigned to the

20th (Light) Division The 20th (Light) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Kitchener's Army, raised in the First World War. The division was formed in September 1914 as part of the K2 Army Group. The division landed in France July 1915 and ...

. The brigade saw service in the

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...

of the Western Front with the division throughout the war.

Harry Patch Henry John Patch (17 June 1898 – 25 July 2009), dubbed in his later years "the Last Fighting Tommy", was an English supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe, and the last surviving trench combat soldier of the First World War from ...

, later to become the last surviving combat veteran of the trenches, served with the 61st Brigade in 1917 when he was just 19 years old with the 7th (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 ...

in the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) where he was wounded by shrapnel in September. He would survive both world wars and lived until 2009 when he died, on 25 July, at the age of 111.

Order of battle

61st Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: * 7th (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 Som ...

* 7th (Service) Battalion,

* 7th (Service) Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry ''(disbanded February 20, 1918)'' * 11th (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 ...

''(left January 1915, became divisional pioneers)'' * 12th (Service) Battalion,

King's Regiment (Liverpool) 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 ...

''(from January 1915)'' * 61st 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 tanks ...

''(formed 3 March 1916, moved to 20th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 15 March 1918)'' * 61st Trench Mortar Battery ''(formed 16 July 1916)''

Second World War

The brigade number was reactivated again 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 opposi ...

, now as the 61st (Lorried) Infantry Brigade, in Italy on 21 May 1944. The brigade comprised three battalions of the

Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Ri ...

, the 2nd, 7th and 10th, the former being of the

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 ...

and the latter two of the Territorial Army (TA). From May 1944 to August 1945 the brigade was part of the 6th Armoured Division, itself part of the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces ...

and fought in the Italian Campaign. It fought in the Liri Valley, Arezzo, the advance to Florence, on the Gothic Line and the Argenta Gap and the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, Operation Grapeshot.

Order of battle

The 61st Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: * 2nd Battalion,

* 7th Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) * 10th Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) * 1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps ''(from 6 March to 22 July 1945)'' * 1st Battalion,

Welch Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...

''(from 29 June 1945)'' * 2nd Battalion,

Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Al ...

''(from 19 July 1945)'' * 1st Battalion,

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot a ...

''(from 19 July 1945)''

Commanders

The following officers commanded the brigade:

First World War

* 18 September 1914: Brig.-Gen. O'Donnel Colley Grattan * 6 July 1915: Brig.-Gen. Charles Ross * 13 November 1915: Brig.-Gen. William Frederick Sweny (wounded, 2 June 1916) * 3 June 1916: Lt.-Col. Clarence John Hobkirk (acting) * 19 July 1916: Brig.-Gen. W. F. Sweny (sick, 24 July 1916) * 27 July 1916: Brig.-Gen. Walter Edward Banbury * 12 March 1918 – 27 March 1919: Brig.-Gen. James Kilvington CochraneMajor A. F. Becke, ''

History of the Great War The ''History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence'' (abbreviated to ''History of the Great War'' or ''British Official History'') is a series of concerning the war effort of the Britis ...

: Order of Battle of Divisions'', Part 3a (1938) p. 96.

Second World War

* 21 May 1944 – 25 May 1944: Lt. Col. D. Darling * 25 May 1944 – 11 January 1945:

Brig. Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thou ...

Clements Gore * 11 January 1945 – 5 February 1945: Lt. Col. Richard Fyffe * 5 February 1945 – 27 July 1945: Brig. Adrian Clements Gore]

Recipients of the Victoria Cross

* Private (rank), Private Wilfred Edwards, 7th (Service) Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, Great War * Serjeant David Jones, 12th (Service) Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool), Great War

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:61 Infantry Brigade Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II