The 130th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army. During World War I the brigade served in British India throughout the war and did not see service together as a complete unit. In World War II served in North-western Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.
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Formation
In 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, two battalions of the Devonshire Regiment and two of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry were grouped into the Devon and Cornwall Brigade, part of the Wessex Division.
First World War
Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the Wessex Division was sent to India, in late September, to replace Regular Army battalions in the garrison there. One battalion of the brigade, the 5th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry remained in the United Kingdom and served with the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division. In May 1915 the divisions of the Territorial Force, and their component brigades, were given numbers. The Devon and Cornwall Brigade became the 130th (1/1st Devon and Cornwall) Brigade and the battalions became '1/5th Devons', to distinguish them from their 2nd Line units being formed, as the '2/5th Devons'. In India, the original battalions were transferred to British Indian Army brigades.
First World War Order of Battle
Between the wars
The brigade was recreated, as the 130th (Devon and Cornwall) Infantry Brigade, in 1920 when the Territorial Force was reformed as the Territorial Army. It again formed part of the 43rd Division, controlling battalions from Devon and Cornwall as it did before the Great War. In 1921 the 4th and 5th battalions of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry were amalgamated as the 4th/5th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. They were replaced by the 6th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, previously serving as Army Troops attached to the division.
In 1939, the Territorial Army was doubled in size as the possibility of another European conflict became inevitable and the original 130th Brigade was renumbered the 134th Infantry Brigade of the 45th (Wessex) Infantry Division, formed as a duplicate of 43rd (Wessex). A new 130th Infantry Brigade was formed, consisting of the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment and the 4th and 5th battalions of the Dorset Regiment.
Second World War
The reformed 130th Infantry Brigade served with the division throughout the Second World War and spent from 1939 until June 1944 in intensive training throughout the United Kingdom, particularly in Kent. They were training for the invasion of France and landed in Normandy in late June 1944. They fought in the Normandy Campaign, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge and the Rhine Crossing.
Order of battle
The 130th Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:
Commanders
The following officers commanded the 130th Infantry Brigade during the war:
Post-War
The 130th (West Country) Infantry Brigade formed part of the 43rd Division in the post-Second World War Territorial Army, controlling battalions from Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. It was disbanded in 1961.