The 90th 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 a brigade of 'Manchester 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 90th 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 alongside their parent SR battalions. On 19 November 1914 the composition of 90th Brigade in 30th Division was finalised as:James, pp. 58–9, 91, 90–100. 13th (Service) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, formed at York 9th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, formed at York 11th (Service) Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, formed at Hull 11th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, at Harrogate
On 28 November Brigadier-General A.J.A. Wright was appointed to command the brigade. 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: 90th Brigade became 2nd Reserve Brigade.War Office Instruction No 96 of 10 April 1915.
New 90th 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 111th Brigade of 37th Division became the new 90th 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. The brigade's original infantry units were 'Manchester Pals' battalions, which had been recruited by the Lord Mayor and City of Manchester on 28 August 1914:Becke, Pt 3b, Appendix 2. 30th Division at Long, Long Trail.James, p. 52.Manchester 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. 16th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (1st City) 17th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (2nd City) 18th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (3rd City) 19th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (4th City)
After initial training at Heaton 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, Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF) for 19th Manchesters in 90th Bde. The brigade was also joined by its support troops in early 1916, giving the following order of battle:James, p. 64. 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers 16th Manchester Regiment (1st City) 17th Manchester Regiment (2nd City) 18th Manchester Regiment (3rd City) 90th Brigade Machine Gun (MG) Company – disembarked at Le Havre on 11 March and joined at Bray on 13 March 90th Trench Mortar Battery (TMB) – formed as 90/1 and 90/2 TMBs by 26 April, and combined into single battery by 16 June
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 would go in at 07.30 on 1 July 1916, led by 21st and 89th Bdes: 90th Bde was then to pass through and complete the capture of the village. The first stage of the attack was a complete success, and the leading battalions achieved their objectives ahead of schedule. The battalions of 90th Bde had been in their assembly trenches in a valley west of Maricourt since 02.30. As arranged, its first two battalions, 16th and 17th Manchesters, moved forward at 08.30 in lines of companies, each company in line of half platoons in file, followed by 2nd RSF in support. Lieutenant-Colonel R.K. Walsh of 2nd RSF commanded the attack. They advanced under the shelter of Railway Valley, covered by a smokescreen laid by 89th and 21st Bdes. The Germans put down a barrage, but it was not heavy, and the effects were lessened by the soft ground, pulverised by shelling, though Lt-Col H.A. Johnson of 17th Manchesters was wounded. However, a lone machine gun, bypassed in the German front line, had already taken a heavy toll of the neighbouring 18th (Eastern) Division: now it swung round and enfiladed 90th Bde, causing severe casualties. Nevertheless, 90th Bde continued its advance 'with remarkable steadiness and enthusiasm', according to the Official History. It reached Train Alley and the line of 21st Bde 15 minutes before its scheduled time, and the troops had to wait until its covering barrage reached final intensity and lifted forwards. The leading waves sheltered in Train Alley while the remainder of the brigade lay down in the open. While they waited a Lewis gun team of 16th Manchesters located and eliminated the troublesome German machine gun. Although 18th (E) Division was still held up, XIII Corps HQ permitted 90th Bde to make its attack. When at last the artillery lifted the first wave left the trench and swept up the open slope towards Montauban, followed by the rest of the brigade. Owing to the heavy casualties (all the company commanders of the leading wave had been hit), the companies had become intermingled and the attack resembled two dense lines about apart. However, 30th Division had arranged for 4th Mortar Company of 5th Special Battalion, Royal Engineers (RE), to take their twelve 4-inch Stokes mortars up to Glatz Redoubt once it had been captured by 21st Bde. From there these chemical troops fired a smoke barrage to screen 90th Bde's attack. The attack was opposed by a single machine gun in Montauban; a well-sited trench in front of the village proved to be unoccupied, and at 10.05 the Manchesters and RSF swept into the ruins, which were empty apart from a fox. The front line pressed on through the ruins, the second line hurrying up behind. By the time the last of the smokescreen dissipated at 11.00, 90th Bde had entered Montauban Alley, beyond the northernmost houses, and captured there 100 or so Germans, who mostly surrendered without a fight. From the ridge here the brigade could see across Caterpillar Valley, where several hundred Germans were streaming away towards Bazentin le Grand. The artillery observation officers brought down fire on these fugitives, while 16th Manchesters rushed the enemy batteries in the valley and brought back three field guns. The brigade having achieved its objective, 2nd RSF and 201st (County Palatine) Field Company, RE, set about consolidating the position, while troops of 89th Bde passed through to take the division's third objective, a brickworks with a prominent chimney that the Germans had used as an observation post. Although 30th 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 and a German counter-attack was anticipated. Although German shelling caused casualties to the RSF and RE working on defences, the expected German counter-attack did not materialise. 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, 212–3, Map 10.
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)