Country United Kingdom Type Infantry Peacetime HQ Cardiff | Branch British Army Size Brigade | |
Active 1 April 1908–17 April 1915 | ||
The South Wales Brigade was a Territorial Force infantry brigade of the British Army. Formed in 1908, it was not part of any division, instead serving as Army Troops, though attached to the Welsh Division in peacetime. It was dissolved in early 1915 as its constituent battalions were posted to other formations.
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History
The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades. Three more infantry brigades also existed outside the divisional structure: the Black Watch Brigade, the Lothian Brigade and the South Wales Brigade.
The brigade headquarters was at Cardiff and, as the name would suggest, it was organized with four battalions recruited in South Wales:
It was an Army Troops formation but it was attached to the Welsh Division in peacetime.
World War I
The brigade was mobilized on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War. On 29 October, the Brecknockshire Battalion joined the Home Counties Division as an extra battalion for garrison duty at Aden. It sailed from Southampton with the division for India, arriving at Bombay (Mumbai) on 3 December. It departed Bombay again on 9 December, arriving at Aden on 16 December. Also on 29 October, 1/6th Welsh left the brigade for Lines of Communication duties on the Western Front. It joined the 84th Brigade, 28th Division on 5 July 1915.
The rest of the brigade, now just two battalions, moved to Tunbridge Wells in November 1914 and to Scotland in February 1915 on Tay and Forth Defences. On 17 April 1915, 1/4th and 1/5th Welsh left the brigade and joined the 159th (Cheshire) Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Division at Bedford. With that, the brigade passed out of existence.