98th Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Army created to command 'Kitchener's Army' units during World War I. It served on the Western Front from 1916, seeing action on the Somme, at Arras and Ypres, during the German spring offensive and the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive.
Original 98th 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 four K4 battalions in the Plymouth Garrison were ordered to be formed into 98th Brigade in 33rd DivisionJames, pp. 57, 73, 87. 9th (Service) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry 12th (Service) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment 13th (Service) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment 13th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters
On 7 December Brigadier-General Joseph Maria Gordon, a former Chief of the General Staff of the Australian Army, 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 WO 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: 98th Brigade became 10th Reserve Brigade.
New 98th Brigade Meanwhile, the flood of volunteers 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 the units were being organised under the auspices of local organisations up and down the country. The concept of a 'battalion of pals' serving together originated with the 'Stockbrokers Battalion' of the Royal Fusiliers raised in the City of London and was taken up enthusiastically as 'Pals battalions'. A battalion of the Middlesex Regiment was raised from old boys of various Public Schools on 1 September, followed by another four Public Schools Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers raised at Epsom in Surrey on 11 September 1914 by the Public Schools and University Men's Force of 66 Victoria Street, London.WO Instruction 59 of July 1915, Appendix IX.Frederick, pp. 287–9.James, pp. 92–3.James, p. 50.Wyrall, p. 211.Hurst pp. 13–4.
From 10 December the four Royal Fusilier battalions constituted 118th Brigade of 39th Division under the command of Brigadier-General Robert Gordon-Gilmour, CVO, CB, DSO, retired from the Grenadier Guards, a veteran of the Anglo-Zulu War, the Gordon Relief Expedition and the Second Boer War.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 31–9.Burke's: Gilmour of Liberton. However, after the K4 units were converted into reserves, their numbers were reassigned to K5 formations on 27 April 1915. The short-lived 39th Division thus became 32nd Division. At the same time, 118th Bde was transferred to 33rd Division (formerly 40th Division) and renumbered as 98th Brigade.Becke, Pt 3b, Appendix 2.Seton-Hutchinson, pp. 2–3.
Training After initial training at Epsom the brigade concentrated at Clipstone Camp in Nottinghamshire by 26 June 1915. On 1 July the battalions were formally taken over by the WO. All the infantry of the division were concentrated at Clipstone by 13 July and on 3 August they moved to Salisbury Plain for final battle training, with 98th Bde at Tidworth Camp.Hurst .
Brig-Gen E. P. Strickland was appointed to command the brigade when it went on service, with Major R. H. Hermon-Hodge, Grenadier Guards, as his brigade major.Burke's: 'Wyfold'. 98th Brigade landed in France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in November 1915, but 18th and 20th Royal Fusiliers were immediately exchanged with two battalions from 19th Bde, a Regular Army brigade that had been transferred into 33rd Division to exchange experience. In December the reorganised division took over the trenches on the La Bassée front from Givenchy to 'Mad Point', just north of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, scene of bitter fighting the previous autumn, but now considered a 'quiet' sector suitable for newly-arrived formations to learn the routines of trench warfare, including trench raiding and crater fighting. After only a short period the two remaining Public Schools battalions in 98th Bde were transferred to GHQ Troops on 27 February 1916 and disbanded on 24 April, when the majority of their personnel were commissioned as officers.Seton-Hutchinson, pp. 4–5.Wyrall, Vol I, pp. 215–6. From then until the end of the war the make-up of the brigade was a mixture of Regular, Special Reserve (SR) and Territorial Force (TF) units, with no New Army elements.
Order of Battle As originally constituted: 18th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (1st Public Schools) 19th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (2nd Public Schools) 20th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (3rd Public Schools) 21st (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (4th Public Schools)
As reorganised:Seton-Hutchinson, pp. 78–84. 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment – from 19th Bde 27 November 1915Wyrall, Vol I, p. 200; Appendix. 2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders – from 19th Bde 27 November 1915James, p. 108. 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (SR) – from 19th Bde 27 February 1916James, p. 51. 1/4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment (TF) – from 15th (Scottish) Division 28 February 1916; to 58th (2/1st London) Division 15 February 1918James, pp. 55–6. 98th Brigade Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (MGC) – joined 28 April 1916; joined No 33 Machine Gun Battalion, MGC 9–19 February 1918 A/98 Trench Mortar Battery (TMB) – formed by 27 January 1916; became 98/1 TMB 23 March 1916; amalgamated by 30 June 1916 98/2 TMB – formed by 23 April 1916; amalgamated by 30 June 1916 98th TMB – formed by 30 June 1916 98th Brigade Depot Battalion – formed before each major attack from a proportion of officers and men of each unit engaged, to replace immediate casualtiesWyrall, Vol II, p. 124fn.
Service Somme On 10 July 1916, 33rd Division was sent south from First Army to reinforce Fourth Army fighting on the Somme. After detraining near Amiens the division marched up through Fricourt and Montauban. It was in Corps Reserve during the Battle of Albert (12–13 July) before it was assigned a role in the Battle of Bazentin Ridge on 15 July, when 100th Bde attacked into High Wood. 98th Brigade with a machine gun company was concentrated on the edge of Bazentin le Petit to attack 'Switch Trench'. The troops immediately came under shell and machine gun fire from High Wood, and the attack was a costly failure. 98th Brigade was then drawn into the bitter fighting that continued until 20 July.Macartney-Filgate, pp. 28–30.Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 36, 84.Seton-Hutchinson, pp. 14–19.Wyrall, Vol I, pp. 213–5.
After a period of rest, 33rd Division resumed the attacks on High Wood on 18 August. The divisional historian described 4th King's advances towards 'Wood Lane' as 'clever and determined',Seton-Hutchinson, p. 20. but although they 'walked right into the barrage' they lost heavily and did not reach Wood Lane.Macartney-Filgate, pp. 41–2.Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 194–5. After a number of temporary brigade commanders Brig-Gen J.D. Heriot-Maitland, CMG, of the Rifle Brigade, was appointed from 1 September 1916, and continued in command until the final days of the war. Captain R.M. Watson, DSO, of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and (from 1918) Capt F.C.V.D. Caillard, MC, Somerset Light Infantry, served as his brigade-major.Seton-Hutchinson, pp. 24, 34, 83, 126.
The fighting continued on the Somme into the Autumn. On 28 October 33rd Division captured 'Rainy' and 'Dewdrop' Trenches. 4th King's and 1st Middlesex cleared Dewdrop from either end, 'bombing' the garrison out with Hand grenades.Miles, 1916, Vol II, p. 468.Seton-Hutchinson, pp. 24–5.Wyrall, Vol II, pp. 14–5. Further attempts to gain ground were foiled by deep mud, and the troops began to suffer badly from Trench foot. The division endured the winter in the Somme sector, trench raiding being carried out once frost had hardened the mud. In March 1917 the division was withdrawn to train for the forthcoming Arras Offensive.Macartney-Filgate, pp. 66–8, 75.Seton-Hutchinson, pp. 27–32.Wyrall, Vol II, pp. 15–6.
Arras 33rd Division was engaged in actions against rearguards as the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917 in Operation Alberich.Falls, 1917, Vol I, p. 118. It was then put into the line for the Arras Offensive. By the time 33rd Division reached its concentration area the offensive had started well, but enemy resistance was hardening. 98th Brigade was engaged in a large attack (the Second Battle of the Scarpe) on 23 April. A lodgement had been made in the Hindenburg Line and the brigade was ordered to force its way southwards along the trench system, mainly with grenades, and meet up with 100th Bde attacking in the Sensée Valley. The attack went in before dawn and at first all went well, but the lifting morning mist showed that the Sensée Valley was completely dominated by machine gun positions and the advanced companies were in the air'. Both brigades were driven back almost to their starting positions and a company each of 1st Middlesex and 2nd Argylls had been cut off. 98th Brigade made a new attack at 19.00 to capture the high ground above the Sensée. The attack secured positions in the Hindenburg Support Line, which the brigade held against counter-attacks that night, including one attack that got close to brigade headquarters. Next morning they found that the enemy had retreated, and the cut off companies were relieved after a 40-hour fight.Falls, 1917, Vol I, pp. 384–9.Seton-Hutchinson, pp. 34–8.Wyrall, Vol II, pp. 55–8.