The 168th (2nd London) Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army that saw service during both the First and the Second World Wars. Throughout its existence, serving under many different titles and designations, the brigade was an integral to the 56th (London) Infantry Division. It served on the Western Front during the First World War and in the Italian Campaign during the Second World War. It was finally disbanded in the 1960s.
Origin The Volunteer Force of part-time soldiers was created following an invasion scare in 1859, and its constituent units were progressively aligned with the Regular British Army during the later 19th Century. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training.Beckett, pp. 135, 185–6.Dunlop, pp. 60–1.
The East London Brigade was one of the formations organised at this time. The Commanding Officer of the Grenadier Guards and his Adjutant were ex officio the brigade commander and Brigade major, while the Grenadier Guards' orderly room at Wellington Barracks acted as Brigade Headquarters. The assembly point for the brigade was at Caterham Barracks, the Guards' depot conveniently situated for the London Defence Positions along the North Downs. The brigade's original composition was:Monthly Army Lists, 1889–1914.
East London Brigade 1st London Rifle Volunteer Corps (London Rifle Brigade) 2nd London Rifle Volunteer Corps (City of London Rifles) 3rd London Rifle Volunteer Corps 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps 15th Middlesex (The Customs and Docks) Rifle Volunteer Corps 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps (Post Office Rifles) Supply Detachment, Army Service Corps Bearer Company, Medical Staff Corps
Territorial Force This organisation was carried over into the Territorial Force (TF) created under the Haldane Reforms in 1908, the East London Brigade becoming the 2nd London Brigade in 1st London Division. The commander and staff continued to be provided by the Grenadier Guards up to the outbreak of war in 1914. All of the Volunteer Battalions in the Central London area became part of the all-Territorial London Regiment and were numbered sequentially through the London brigades and divisions:Martin.Money Barnes, Appendix IV.Westlake.
2nd London Brigade 5th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade) 6th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (City of London Rifles) 7th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment 8th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Post Office Rifles)
The 1st Tower Hamlets became the 4th Londons and transferred to the 1st London Brigade, while the 2nd Tower Hamlets and 15th Middlesex combined to form the 17th Londons (Poplar and Stepney Rifles) and transferred to the 5th London Brigade in the 2nd London Division.
First World War The division was mobilised soon after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. According to the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 soldiers of the Territorial Force were only able for overseas service and, when asked to volunteer for overseas service, the overwhelming majority of the men of the brigade (and the division) chose to do so. The men who didn't, together with the many new recruits, were formed into new 2nd Line battalions and brigades, the 2/2nd London Brigade, assigned to the 2/1st London Division, both later to become 174th (2/2nd London) Brigade and 58th (2/1st London) Division respectively. The battalions were also redesignated, adopting the '1/' prefix (1/5th Londons) to distinguish them from the 2nd Line battalions, which became '2/', 2/5th Londons.
However, the 2nd London Brigade was broken up, as was the 1st London Division, in November 1914 when most of its battalions were posted elsewhere, either to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front or to relieve troops of the Regular Army around the British Empire for service in France and Belgium.
In February 1916, however, the division was reformed in France, to be known as the 56th (1/1st London) Division and the brigade was reconstituted, now numbered as the 168th (1/2nd London) Brigade, with battalions from other brigades and divisions, the 1/4th London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) originally coming from 167th (1/1st London) Brigade, the 12th, 13th and 14th Londons the latter two originally coming from 140th (1/4th London) Brigade, 47th (1/2nd London) Division, and the 12th from 3rd London Brigade.
With the rest of the division, the brigade was destined to see service in the trenches of the Western Front for the rest of the war, seeing first action at the Gommecourt salient, fighting in late June/early July 1916 alongside the 46th (North Midland) Division in an diversionary attempt to distract the German Army's attention away from the impending Somme offensive. The attack was a failure, and served only to cause heavy casualties on both attacking divisions, with 56th Division suffering nearly 5,000 losses.
The division also fought on the Hindenburg Line in March 1917, followed by the battles of Arras, Langemarck, Passchendaele (also known as Third Ypres), Cambrai (which saw the first use of large numbers tanks in warfare), Second battles of the Somme, Albert, and the Hundred Days Offensive, which saw the First World War eventually ending on 11 November 1918. Throughout its two years of combat, the 56th (1/1st London) Division had suffered well over 35,000 casualties, with the great majority of them being in the infantry, commonly nicknamed the "Poor Bloody Infantry".
Order of battle The brigade was composed as follows during the war: 1/5th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade) (left November 1914) 1/6th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (City of London Rifles) (left November 1914) 1/7th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (left November 1914) 1/8th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) (left November 1914) 1/4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) (from February 1916) 1/12th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (The Rangers) (from February 1916, left January 1918) 1/13th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Kensington) (from February 1916) 1/14th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Scottish) (from February 1916) 168th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 16 March 1916, moved to 56th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 1 March 1918) 168th Trench Mortar Battery (formed 13 June 1916)
In early 1918, due to a manpower shortage, it was decided to reduce British infantry brigades serving in France and Belgium from four to three battalions. As a consequence, on 31 January 1918, the 1/12th Londons were transferred to the 175th (2/3rd London) Brigade, 58th (2/1st London) Division where they absorbed the 2/12th Battalion and, once again, became the 12th Battalion.
Between the wars The Territorial Force was disbanded after the Great War and later reformed in 1920 and renamed in the same year as the Territorial Army. The division and the brigade were also reformed as 168th (2nd London) Infantry Brigade, with the same composition it had before the First World War and would remain this way for much of the inter-war period.
In 1921, however, the 7th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment and 8th (City of London) Battalion were amalgamated to create the 7th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Post Office Rifles). The 8th Battalion was replaced in the brigade by the Honourable Artillery Company Infantry Battalion. The following year they dropped the 'battalion' from their title, becoming simply, for example, 6th City of London Regiment (City of London Rifles).
In the late 1930s the need to increase the anti-aircraft defences of the United Kingdom, particularly so for London and Southern England, was addressed by converting a number of Territorial Army infantry battalions into anti-aircraft or searchlight units, of either the Royal Engineers or Royal Artillery. As a result, in 1935, the 6th City of London Regiment (City of London Rifles) was also converted, transferring to the Royal Engineers and becoming 31st (City of London Rifles) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers, joining 28th (Themes and Medway) Anti-Aircraft Group, part of 1st Anti-Aircraft Division, converted from the Headquarters of 47th (2nd London) Infantry Division. In the same year the 7th London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) was transferred to the Royal Engineers and converted into 32nd (7th City of London) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers, becoming part of 27th (Home Counties) Anti-Aircraft Group of the 1st Anti-Aircraft Division. With the disbandment of 47th (2nd London) Infantry Division in early 1936 the 56th Division was redesignated as The London Division and the brigade became simply the 2nd London Infantry Brigade. To replace those battalions converted were the 13th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Kensington) and the 14th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Scottish), both previously from 140th (4th London) Infantry Brigade of the now disbanded 47th Division.
In 1938 all British infantry brigades were reduced from four to three battalions and so the Honourable Artillery Company Infantry Battalion was transferred elsewhere to become an Officer Cadet Training Unit. In the same year the London Regiment was disbanded and the battalions all became part of their own parent regiments: the London Rifle Brigade became part of the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) and was redesignated the London Rifle Brigade, the 13th Londons became part of the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) and became the Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment, the 14th Londons became part of the Gordon Highlanders and became the London Scottish. Again in 1938 the Kensingtons was converted into a machine gun battalion and left the brigade, coming under command of London District, and was replaced in the brigade by the Queen's Westminsters (King's Royal Rifle Corps), previously from the 140th (4th London) Infantry Brigade from the now disbanded 47th Division. The battalion had previously been the 9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria's) and, in 1922, 9th London Regiment (Queen Victoria's) The final change of 1938 saw the brigade, in line with the rest of the London Division, reorganised and converted into a motorised infantry brigade/division, although with very little equipment.
Second World War The brigade, together with the rest of the division and most of the rest of the Territorial Army, was mobilised between late August and early September 1939. On 1 September 1939 Poland was invaded by the German Army, and two days before the Second World War officially began, when both Britain and France declaring war on Germany. Inadequately armed and equipped, the brigade began home defence and training duties and, as some units were understrength, had to be brought up to their War Establishment strength through large drafts of militiamen (essentially conscripts who had only just completed basic training in late October 1939).
The division was not sent to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, but instead moved to Kent in April 1940, joining XII Corps. When most of the BEF was forced to retreat to Dunkirk during the disastrous Battle of France in mid-1940 the division assumed a defensive posture and alternated between coastal defence duties and training to repel an expected German invasion which never arrived, due mainly to events that happened in the Battle of Britain and the German invasion of the Soviet Union in mid-1941.