The 89th Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Army during World War I. It was raised as part of 'Kitchener's Army' and was assigned to the 30th Division. After the original formation was converted into a reserve brigade, the number was transferred to the Earl of Derby's brigade of 'Liverpool Pals'. The brigade landed in France at the end of 1915 and then served on the Western Front for the rest of the war, seeing action at the Somme, Arras, and Ypres. Virtually destroyed during the German spring offensive of 1918, it was reconstituted in time to take part in the final battles of the war.
Original 89th Brigade
On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army. The newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'.War Office Instructions No 32 (6 August) and No 37 (7 August).Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8. The K2 and K3 battalions, brigades and divisions followed soon afterwards. So far, the battalions had all been formed at the depots of their parent regiments, but recruits had also been flooding in to the Special Reserve (SR) battalions (the former Militia). These were deployed at their war stations in coastal defence where they were training and equipping reservists to provide reinforcement drafts to the Regular Army fighting overseas. The SR battalions were soon well above their establishment strength and on 8 October 1914 the War Office (WO) ordered each SR battalion to use the surplus to form a service battalion of the 4th New Army ('K4'). In November K4 battalions were organised into 18 brigades numbered from 89 to 106 and formed into the 30th–35th Divisions.Becke, Pt 3b, Appendix I.James, Appendixes II & III.
Initially, the K4 units remained in the coast defences alongside their parent SR battalions. On 19 November 1914 the composition of 89th Brigade in 30th Division was finalised as:James, pp. 46, 62, 101. 15th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, formed at Darlington 11th (Service) Battalion, Green Howards, formed at West Hartlepool 16th (Service) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, formed at Durham 17th (Service) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, formed at Barnard Castle
The brigade concentrated at Darlington, and on 4 December Brigadier-General H.P. Leach was appointed to command it. The units began training for active service, but the lack of uniforms, weapons, equipment and instructors that had been experienced by the K1–K3 units was even greater for those of K4, and by April 1915 their training was still at an elementary stage. On 10 April 1915 the War Office decided to convert the K4 battalions into reserve units, to provide drafts for the K1–K3 battalions in the same way that the SR was doing for the Regular battalions. The K4 divisions were broken up and the brigades were renumbered: 89th Brigade became 1st Reserve Brigade.War Office Instruction No 96 of 10 April 1915.
New 89th Brigade
Meanwhile, the K5 units had been forming since late 1914. These were largely raised by local initiative rather than at regimental depots, and were known as 'Pals battalions'. The first six K5 divisions (37–42) and their constituent brigades were given the numbers of the disbanded K4 formations on 27 April 1915. Thus 110th Brigade of 37th Division became the new 89th Brigade in 30th Division. This division had been raised largely by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby from the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, and was sometimes known as 'Lord Derby's Own', or more disparagingly as the 'Derby Family Retainers'. The divisional sign was based on the Stanley family crest, and two of the earl's brothers served in it, including the Hon Ferdinand Charles Stanley, who commanded 89th Brigade. The brigade's original infantry units were 'Liverpool Pals' battalions, which had been recruited by the Earl of Derby after a meeting at the Old Watch Factory in Prescot on 29 August 1914, the first 'local' battalions to be formed and thus the senior units of K5:Becke, Pt 3b, Appendix 2.30th Division at Long, Long Trail.James, p. 52.King's (Liverpool Regiment) at Long, Long Trail.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 326–8.Liddle, p. 111.Middlebrook, Somme, p. 20.War Office Instruction No 56 of September 1915, Appendix IX. 17th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (1st City) 18th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (2nd City) 19th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (3rd City) 20th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (4th City)
After initial training at the Earl of Derby's estate at Knowsley Park, the brigade moved to Belton Park outside Grantham soon after it was renumbered. Training was hampered by the same lack of equipment as the other Kitchener units, but on 14 September 1915 30th Division moved to Larkhill on Salisbury Plain for final battle training. On 31 October it was ordered to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) fighting on the Western Front. Before leaving it was inspected by the Earl of Derby. It began entraining for the embarkation ports on 6 November and on 12 November it completed its concentration at Ailly-le-Haut-Clocher in the Somme sector.
BEF policy was to even up the experience between its New Army and Regular Army formations by exchanging brigades and then distributing the experienced Regular battalions through the New Army divisions. In this way 21st Brigade from 7th Division replaced 91st Brigade in 30th Division on its arrival in France, and on 25 December it exchanged 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, for 18th King's in 89th Bde. 30th Division was part of the concentration of forces preparing for the 'Big Push' of 1916, the Battle of the Somme. Before the battle 89th Bde was joined by its integral support units: 89th Brigade Machine Gun (MG) Company, disembarked at Le Havre on 11 March 1916 and joined the brigade at Sailly-Laurette on 13 March. 89th Trench Mortar Battery (TMB), formed by 16 June 1916 from: 89/1 Bty formed by 15 March 1916 89/2 Bty formed 12 April 1916
First day on the Somme For its first offensive action, 30th Division formed the extreme right of the BEF and was to attack alongside the French Army; its task was the Capture of Montauban. After a seven-day bombardment, the attack went in at 07.30 on 1 July 1916. 89th Brigade, with 17th and 20th King's leading, set off from their four lines of assembly trenches. They advanced in quick time, with rifles slung, over the of No man's land, finding the barbed wire well cut by the bombardment. To ensure good liaison, Lieutenant-Colonel B.C. Fairfax of 17th King's and Commandant Le Petit of the neighbouring 3rd Battalion, 135th French Infantry Regiment, stepped over the parapet together as the second wave advanced, and they went forward arm-in-arm. The companies of the last wave advanced ahead of schedule, and thereby missed the German counter-bombardment that came down on their assembly trenches a few minutes later. The German defenders were not out of their dugouts in time to man their front trench, and about 300 were captured in the dugouts by 2nd Bedfords, 'mopping up' behind the leading battalions, which pressed on through 'German's Wood' to 'Casement Trench' and 'Alt Trench'. After a pause to allow the British barrage to lift (the attackers were ahead of schedule) 89th Bde pressed on to its first objective, the newly dug 'Dublin Trench' a reserve line some beyond the front. The brigade found the trench unoccupied, and the 135th French Regiment also entered 'Dublin Redoubt'. The troops began to consolidate the captured line, using picks and shovels brought up by carrying parties of the supporting battalion. In fact Dublin Trench was so battered by Allied artillery that it was unrecognisable, and in places the British dug new positions by joining up shellholes beyond it (which saved casualties when the Germans began shelling the original trench). In a little over an hour 30th Division had easily taken its first objective. 90th Brigade then passed through to complete the Capture of Montauban by 11.30. The division's final objective for the day was a brickworks beyond Montauban, the chimney of which was a German observation post. It was subjected to heavy artillery fire and then assaulted by No 4 Company of 20th King's, from Dublin Trench. They took the place within a few minutes, capturing a German regimental HQ. 30th Division had taken all of its objectives – one of the BEF's few successful actions on the otherwise disastrous First Day on the Somme. Although there were still 8 hours of daylight, and the division sent patrols ahead into Bernafy Wood (finding it unoccupied), it was not allowed to advance further, because the other British formations were held up. It was several days before Bernafy Wood was captured, by which time 30th Division had been relieved in the line.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 334–6.Middlebrook, Somme, pp. 146, 179–83, 211–3.
Thereafter, the brigade took part in the following actions: Battle of the Somme Capture of Trônes Wood (7–13 July) Battle of the Transloy Ridges (10–18 October)
1917 German retreat to the Hindenburg Line (14 March–5 April) Battle of Arras: First Battle of the Scarpe (9–13 April) Second Battle of the Scarpe (23–24 April) Third Battle of Ypres: Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July–2 August)
At Pilckem Ridge, the opening phase of the Ypres offensive, II Corps was given the toughest objective, the capture of the Gheluvelt Plateau. Within the corps, 30th Division had the hardest task of all, but it had not recovered from its severe losses on the Somme and at Arras. Although General Headquarters had suggested replacing it with a fresher division, this had not been done. The infantry attacked at 03.50 on 31 July 1917 behind a creeping barrage, but despite 14 days of bombardment, the Germans' rearward positions were still intact, and their guns behind the Gheluvelt Plateau remained unsuppressed. 21st and 90th Brigades made slow progress, held up by machine guns, and lost the barrage. They could not get beyond their first objective (the Blue Line). Two battalions of 89th Bde were tasked with advancing in combination with 18th (Eastern) Division on the third and fourth objectives. Learning that the second objective (the Black Line) had not been reached, part of 18th (E) Division was recalled, but the battalions of 89th Bde and two from 54th Bde had already set off. Trying to pass through the tangled fallen trees and shellholes of Sanctuary Wood and delayed by constant German shellfire, they missed the barrage, which had already lifted onto the third objective before they reached the Blue Line at 08.00. Attempts to get across the open ground beyond were unsuccessful, and casualties were heavy. The failure of 30th Division meant that the neighbouring 8th Division was also held up. By 13.30 the whole of II Corps' attack was deadlocked, and it consolidated its meagre gains. Heavy rain set in at the end of the day, effectively ending the Battle of Pilckem Ridge.Edmonds, 1917, Vol II, pp. 152–6, 165–6, Sketch 14.Liddle, pp. 37, 51–2.Wolff, pp. 157–8.
30th Division was criticised for its performance by the chief of staff of Fifth Army, and after the failure on the opening day of the Ypres offensive, 30th Division was not used for an attack again in 1917.
1918