Active 1914-1919
1939-1943 Branch Territorial Army Size Brigade | Country United Kingdom Type Infantry | |
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Part of 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division
66th Infantry Division
54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division | ||
The 198th (2/1st East Lancashire) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw service during the Great War with the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division. Reformed in World War II as 198th Infantry Brigade it served with 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war, before disbanding in late 1943.
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First World War
The brigade was raised as a duplicate of the East Lancashire Brigade. It was part of the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, from those men in the Territorial Force who originally had not agreed to serve overseas. However, the brigade ended up serving in the trenches of the Western Front, suffering horrendous casualties in March 1918 during Operation Michael, the opening phase of the German Army's Spring Offensive. As with the rest of the division, the brigade suffered extremely heavy casualties and had to be completely reformed. The brigade saw service during the Hundred Days Offensive and the war ended on 11 November 1918.
Order of battle World War I
Second World War
Both the brigade and division were disbanded in 1919, shortly after the end of the Great War. However, the brigade was reformed, now as the 198th Infantry Brigade, in the Territorial Army shortly before the outbreak of World War II in 1939, as part of the expansion of the Territorial Army when war with Nazi Germany seemed inevitable. It was again assigned to the 66th (East Lancashire) Division. However, the 66th Division was disbanded in June 1940 shortly after the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was evacuated from Dunkirk. After the disbandment of the 66th Division, the brigade was independent for six months before joining the 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division until it was disbanded near the end of 1943. The 8th King's Regiment (Liverpool) and the 6th Border Regiment were retrained as Beach groups for the upcoming invasion of France and the 7th Borders were transferred to the 222nd Brigade (later 213th Brigade) and the 198th Infantry Brigade ceased to exist and was not reformed in the Territorial Army after the war.
Order of battle World War II
Commanders