The Essex Brigade, later 161st Brigade and 161st Infantry Brigade, was a volunteer infantry formation of the British Army in existence from 1888 until 1941, and again from 1947. It served at Gallipoli and in Palestine during the First World War and returned to Egypt in the early part of the Second World War before transferring to the British Indian Army and redesignated 161st Indian Infantry Brigade. In both peacetime and during the wars, the brigade was an integral part of the 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division and contained mostly battalions of the Essex Regiment.
Precursors The Cardwell Reforms introduced the concept of 'localisation of the forces', whereby the country was divided into county sub-districts organised round the newly linked Line infantry battalions, to which the Militia and Volunteer Corps of the county were attached. The County of Essex was covered by Brigade No 44 based on the depot of the 44th Foot, later the Essex Regiment, at Warley Barracks.Army Lists
Under a short-lived mobilisation scheme around 1880, the volunteers in Essex were organised into two local Brigades:
Local Brigade No 5 HQ: Brightlingsea 4 Batteries of 1st Essex Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVC) at Stratford 2nd Essex Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVC) at Chelmsford 3rd Essex RVC at Plaistow
Local Brigade No 6 HQ: Southend-on-Sea 4 Batteries of 1st Essex AVC at Stratford 1st Essex RVC at Ilford 4th Essex RVC at Silvertown
In 1883, the RVCs formally became Volunteer Battalions (VBs) of their linked county regiment.
Volunteer Brigade The more complete mobilisation scheme introduced by the Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 saw all the Volunteer units assigned to garrisons or mobile brigades. The four VBs of the Essex Regiment constituted the Essex Volunteer Brigade and in the event of war were expected to mobilise at an 'entrenched camp' based on the regiment's depot at Warley Barracks.Beckett, pp. 135, 185–6.Dunlop, pp. 60–1.Burrows, p. 11. 1st Volunteer Battalion, Essex Regiment 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Essex Regiment 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Essex Regiment 4th Volunteer Battalion, Essex Regiment Supply Detachment (later termed an Army Service Corps Company) Bearer Company (later Royal Army Medical Corps)
Initially, the brigade was commanded by the officer commanding 44th Regimental District (the Essex Regiment's depot), but afterwards Lt-Col P.C. Yorke, recently retired from the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, was appointed. The brigade historian recorded that Yorke was a 'smart and keen soldier' who did a lot for the brigade in its early days, but whose term of command was short because he died in office. He was replaced by Colonel J.F. Hornby, late of the 12th Lancers, who held the post until the reorganisation of the volunteer infantry brigades in 1906.Burrows, p. 12. He was followed by Colonel Harry Cooper, CMG, CBE, who had seen active service in Canada, Ashanti, Burma, Sudan and South Africa, and went on to serve at General Headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France during the First World War.Burrows, p. 18. Brigade headquarters was established at Epping Place, Epping, the home of the brigade major, Maj H.W.W. Wood.Burrows, p. 23.
During the Second Boer War, detachments of volunteers from the brigade served with the City Imperial Volunteers and in the 112-strong Special Service Company serving alongside the Regulars of the 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment in the first part of the war, followed by a second company of 101 men in 1901–02.Burrows, pp. 12–14, 23.Leslie
Territorial Force Under the Haldane Reforms, the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the Territorial Force (TF), the Volunteer battalions becoming numbered battalions of their parent units. The Essex Brigade now formed part of the East Anglian Division of the TF. Brigade HQ was at Brentwood.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 125–31. The units of East Anglian Division trained together for the first time at camp near Thetford in 1911.Burrows p. 26.
First World War Mobilisation The East Anglian Division was a week into its fortnight's annual training at Clacton when the order to mobilise arrived on 4 August 1914. The units immediately proceeded to their designated war stations defending the East Anglian coast, with 7th Essex at Felixstowe. They were relieved on 9 August to return to Walthamstow to mobilise, and by 10 August the division was concentrated around Brentwood, with 7th Battalion HQ at the 'Golden Fleece' inn. It later moved to the cavalry barracks in Norwich, and then Costessey Hall.Burrows, pp. 30–4.
Although recruiting was brisk, the Essex men were enlisted for Home Service and only afterwards asked if they wished to volunteer for Overseas Service, which many did not. Hence the reserve or 2nd-Line battalions filled up quickly, while the 1st-Line battalions remained under strength. However, in August 1914, the Essex Brigade formed a service battalion of volunteers from all four battalions. This was put at 24 hours notice for service in France, but was stood down in November and the men returned to their battalions.Burrows, pp. 33–5. In January 1915, the 2nd-Line battalions formed a 2nd Essex Brigade, which was later numbered 206th (2nd Essex) Brigade but never went overseas.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 91–8.
The East Anglian division was employed on coast defence until May 1915, when it concentrated around St Albans to prepare for overseas service. At this time, it was numbered, becoming the 54th (East Anglian) Division, and the Essex Brigade became 161st (Essex) Brigade. On 8 July, it heard that it was to be employed at Gallipoli.Burrows, p. 32.
Order of Battle 161st Brigade comprised the following units during the war: 1/4th Battalion, Essex Regiment 1/5th Battalion, Essex Regiment 1/6th Battalion, Essex Regiment 1/7th Battalion, Essex Regiment 161st Brigade Machine-Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 23 April 1916, moved to 54th Battalion Machine Gun Corps 19 April 1918) 161st Trench Mortar Battery (formed 17 May 1917)
Insignia During the war, the brigade adopted shoulder flashes coloured red and black, divided vertically, with the red worn to the front on each arm. The four battalions adopted distinctive shapes for these patches:Burrows, illustration. 4th Battalion: circle 5th Battalion: triangle 6th Battalion: horizontal rectangle 7th Battalion: square
Gallipoli 161st Brigade sailed from Devonport, Devon between 21 and 26 July 1915 and assembled at Mudros. The rest of 54th Division landed at Suvla Bay on 10 August in a last attempt to restart the stalled Gallipoli Campaign, but was misused and stalemate ensued.North, pp. 145–73.Mortlock, pp. 85–96. 161st Brigade (less 1/4th Essex) landed during the night of 11/12 August and relieved 163rd (Norfolk and Suffolk) Brigade who were to make an attack.Burrows, p. 41.Westlake, Gallipoli, pp. 167–8. The Essex battalions arrived still understrength, and armed with obsolete long Lee–Enfield rifles – many soldiers exchanged these for modern SMLE weapons picked up from casualties.Burrows, p. 35. On the afternoon of 14 August, the brigade advanced over open ground to relieve the Norfolks and Suffolks after their disastrous attack.The Vanished Battalion. The Essex Brigade's historian records that 'Though they were met with a fusillade as they advanced steadily over the plain there was no hesitation'. They reached the line and spent all night consolidating the position.Burrows, p. 48.North, pp. 175–6.
On 17/18 August, the brigade (now completed by the arrival of 1/4th Battalion) relieved the 10th (Irish) Division at Kiretch Tepe. Intermittent shellfire on these positions caused considerable casualties before the brigade was relieved on 22 August. The brigade then moved to the Lala Baba sector, and from 1 to 10 September interchanged with parties of the 4th Australian Brigade, some holding positions known as 'Table Top', and 'Rhododendron Spur', others working on new trenches.Burrows, pp. 49–70, 1.
Throughout September and October 1915, 54th Division made preparations to complete the capture of Hill 60 sector, described by one of the officers as 'notoriously one of the most unpleasant spots on the peninsula'. The main task was assigned to 163rd Brigade, which was strengthened by 1/7th Essex, the 1/8th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment being transferred to 161st Brigade in exchange for three months. However, although a mine was exploded under Hill 60, the main operation was cancelled because of the weak state of 54 Division: during September to November 1915, 161st Brigade lost 2 officers and 33 other ranks killed and 8 officers and 103 men wounded, but in the same period 45 officers and 1,659 other ranks were admitted to hospital sick.Burrows, pp. 70–1.
On the night of 26/27 November, the 161st (Essex) Brigade was relieved by Gurkhas and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, the relief being delayed by a severe rainstorm that flooded the trenches. After a few days in the rest area, 54 Division marched down to the beach and embarked for Mudros, where the battalions reverted to their former brigades. It did not return to the peninsula, which was later evacuated, and instead the division sailed to Alexandria.Burrows, pp. 75, 99.
Egypt As soon as it arrived in Egypt, 161st Brigade became involved in the Senussi Campaign, marching out on 28 December to replace the New Zealand Rifle Brigade guarding the coast railway from Alexandria to Da'aba. The Essex battalions were relieved from this duty on 4 March 1916 by the 2nd County of London Yeomanry and moved into the No 1 (Southern) Section of the Suez Canal Defences.Burrows, pp. 101–3.
The Brigade Machine Gun Company was formed at Shallufah on 22–23 April by taking two officers and the machine-gun (MG) detachment from each battalion. The 8 Vickers machine guns thus collected were increased to 16 and the Essex men transferred to the Machine Gun CorpsBurrows, pp. 128–9.
In August, the troops were moved northwards to counter a Turkish thrust at the canal, resulting in the Battle of Romani. 161st Machine Gun Company was the only unit of 54th Division engaged in this action, though 1/5th and 1/7th Essex were in the area. On 5 August, supporting 52nd (Lowland) Division round Mount Rowston, the company took part in the decisive action of the battle, resisting a stiff attack in which it suffered several casualties, and won a number of gallantry awards.Burrows, pp. 109–10, 130–3
Sinai and Palestine During 1916, the units of 54 Division were steadily brought up to strength by the arrival of drafts, and in mid-January 1917 the division assembled for the opening of the Palestine Campaign. It took the whole of February for 161st Brigade to cross the Sinai Desert in stages. It was then involved in all three Battles of Gaza, in March, April and November 1917.Burrows, pp. 112, 127–8, 133, 138.
At the First Battle of Gaza (26 March 1917), the main attack was made by 53rd (Welsh) Division with 161st Brigade in support. Towards the end of the day, the Essex Brigade was ordered to take Green Hill: despite heavy fighting the attack was a complete success and the brigade held the whole position by nightfall. However, confusion set in, and 53rd Division withdrew during the night. The men of 161st Brigade were enraged by the order to withdraw. The following day patrols showed that the Turks had not reoccupied the position; 1/7th Bn was sent up to support the patrols, but a violent Turkish counter-attack finished the battle. The battalion's casualties at Green Hill were 228, of whom 68 were missing after the fighting withdrawal.Burrows, pp. 143–77.