The 92nd Brigade (92 Bde) 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 31st Division. After the original formation was converted into a reserve brigade, the number was transferred to a brigade composed volunteer battalions raised in the city of Kingston upon Hull (the Hull Pals) for 'Kitchener's Army'. It first served in Egypt defending the Suez Canal between January and March 1916. It then left for the Western Front where it was at Serre on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, though its battalions escaped the worst of the disaster. It continued to serve on the Western Front for the rest of the war, including hard fighting at Oppy Wood, against the German spring offensive and in the final Hundred Days Offensive.

Original 92nd 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 5 November 1914 the composition of 92nd Brigade in 31st Division was finalised as:James, pp. 95, 111.KRRC at Long, Long Trail.RB at Long, Long Trail. 14th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, formed at Sheerness, Kent 15th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, formed at Sheerness 14th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade, formed at Southend-on-Sea, Essex 15th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade, formed at Southend

The brigade concentrated around Southend and Westcliff-on-Sea, and on 1 December Brigadier-General G.H.C. Colomb 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: 92nd Brigade became 4th Reserve Brigade.

New 92nd Brigade The flood of volunteers responding to Kitchener's call to action had overwhelmed the ability of the army to absorb and organise them, and by the time the Fifth New Army (K5) was authorised on 10 December 1914, many of its constituent units were being organised as 'Pals battalions' under the auspices of mayors and corporations of towns up and down the country.Bilton, Hull in the Great War, pp. 37–42.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 26–40.Jackson, pp. 14–7.Middlebrook, pp. 9–11. 113th Brigade of 38th Division consisted of four battalions (the Hull Pals) that had been raised at Kingston upon Hull on the initiative of Charles Wilson, 2nd Baron Nunburnholme, as Lord-Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire and President of the East Riding Territorial Association. This was unusual because most of the county Territorial Associations were fully engaged with recruiting and equipping their existing Territorial Force (TF) units and had no time for the early New Army units. By contrast, Lord Nunburnholme and the East Riding TA were simultaneously raising the 1st Hull Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery for the 11th (Northern) Division of K1, and in 1915 also raised the 124th (2nd Hull) and 146th (3rd Hull) Heavy Batteries and the 31st (Hull) Divisional Ammunition Column.Becke, Pt 3a, p. 21.Drake, pp. 44–7.

The four Hull Pals battalions were assigned to the East Yorkshire Regiment as the 10th–13th (Service) Battalions.War Office Instructions July 1915, Appendix VI.War Office Instruction No. 183, September 1915.Bilton, Hull Pals.Bilton, Hull in the Great War, pp. 38–9. 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 113th Brigade of 37th Division became the new 92nd Brigade in 31st Division, with the following organisation:Becke, Pt 3b, Appendix 2.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 11–19.31 Division at Long, Long Trail.James, p. 59.East Riding Regiment at Long, Long Trail. 10th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (1st Hull) – the 'Hull Commercials' 11th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (2nd Hull) – the 'Hull Tradesmen' 12th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (3rd Hull) – the 'Hull Sportsmen'; disbanded 8 February 1918 13th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (4th Hull) – the 'T'others'; disbanded 8 February 1918 92/1 and 92/2 Trench Mortar Batteries (TMBs) – formed on 11 April 1916; became a single battery by 12 June 1916 92nd Brigade Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps – joined on 20 May 1916; transferred to 31st Divisional Machine Gun Battalion 3 March 1918 11th (Accrington Pals) Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment – transferred from 94th Brigade 11 February 1918

Service

Local training for the Hull Pals ended in late May and early June when the units of 31st Division began to assemble at South Camp, Ripon, where brigade training began in earnest. Musketry training was finally begun in August, and in September the division moved to Hurdcott Camp at Fovant where the brigade received SMLE service rifles and carried out final intensive battle training on Salisbury Plain.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 61–5.

Egypt On 29 November 1915 the division received warning orders to join the British Expeditionary Force in France, and advance parties set out for the embarkation ports of Folkestone and Southampton. At the last minute, the destination was changed to Egypt, the advance parties were recalled, and on 7 December the troops embarked at Devonport.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 67–9.

The division reached Port Said between 24 December and 23 January 1916 and went into the Suez Canal defences at Qantara. On 26 February orders arrived to reverse the process and on 1 March the division began re-embarking at Port Said. It unloaded at Marseille between 6 and 16 March and then concentrated in the Somme area as part of the BEF. It remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 69–102.

Serre The brigade was first introduced to trench warfare on 21 March by groups being attached to the 36th (Ulster) Division in the line. On 28 March the 10th and 11th Bns relieved Ulster battalions in front of Beaumont-Hamel and Y Ravine, with 12th and 13th Bns in support. Although this was a quiet sector of the line, the battalions suffered their first casualties during this short tour, mainly from German Minenwerfers (trench mortars). Shortly afterwards 31st Division formed its own light trench mortar batteries (TMBs), with the Hull Pals contributing men to 92/1 and 92/2 TMBs for 92 Bde. 10th Battalion also provided working parties to assist the 252nd Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, digging the Hawthorn Ridge mine that was to be exploded to launch the forthcoming Battle of the Somme. Over the next weeks the battalions took their turns in the routine of trench holding, working parties, patrolling and trench raiding, with a constant drain on manpower from shelling and snipers.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 102–29.

92 Brigade was to be in support of 31st Division's assault on the first day of the Battle (1 July). It held the front line trenches during the British bombardment in the days leading up to the battle, suffering significant casualties from the German counter-bombardment (about 100 killed and wounded for 10th Bn alone). The night before the battle, working parties of 10th Bn were out in No man's land cutting lanes through the British barbed wire for the assaulting troops to pass through. It then withdrew into the support trenches, leaving D Company to hold the front line while the assault went in. 93 and 94 Brigades went 'over the top' at 07.30 on 1 July, 10 minutes after the explosion of the nearby Hawthorn Ridge mine had alerted the enemy. Their objective was the village of Serre. The advancing lines were almost annihilated by German machine guns and shellfire, and only a few parties got into the enemy front line, where they remained pinned down all day.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 129–36.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 441–8.Horsfall & Cave, pp. 59–71.Jackson, pp. 99–114.Middlebrook, pp. 122–31, 150–1.

31st Division found it impossible to get any support across the fire-swept No man's land for the rest of the day. 92 Brigade was ordered to renew the attack with two battalions during the night. Luckily, this order was cancelled: even if the brigade could have been brought up through the shattered communication and jumping-off trenches, which were full of dead and wounded, there were no British troops left in the German positions. D Company of 10th Bn had held the British trenches all day and were exhausted, but continued to hold them overnight, stationed in the reserve trench with an outpost in the front line. The brigade had been lucky, and only suffered a handful of casualties during the day.Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 137.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 448–9.Horsfall & Cave, p. 71.Middlebrook, pp. 195–7, 216–20, 236–41.

On 2 July the shattered division was pulled out of the line and sent north to a quiet sector for rest and refit, though there was the usual trickle of casualties associated with trench holding and raiding.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 139–45.

Ancre