South Wales Brigade

The South Wales Brigade was a Territorial Force infantry brigade of the British Army. Formed in 1908, it was not part of any division, instead serving as Army Troops, though attached to the Welsh Division in peacetime. It was dissolved in early 1915 as its constituent battalions were posted to other formations.

For a similarly titled formation, see South Wales Mounted Brigade.

South Wales Brigade
Active1 April 1908–17 April 1915
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
SizeBrigade
Peacetime HQCardiff
ServiceWorld War I

History

The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades.[1] Three more infantry brigades also existed outside the divisional structure: the Black Watch Brigade, the Lothian Brigade and the South Wales Brigade.[2]

The brigade headquarters was at Cardiff[3] and, as the name would suggest, it was organized with four battalions recruited in South Wales:

It was an Army Troops[6] formation but it was attached to the Welsh Division in peacetime.[2]

World War I

The brigade was mobilized on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War.[3] On 29 October, the Brecknockshire Battalion joined the Home Counties Division as an extra battalion for garrison duty at Aden. It sailed from Southampton with the division for India, arriving at Bombay (Mumbai) on 3 December. It departed Bombay again on 9 December, arriving at Aden on 16 December.[7] Also on 29 October, 1/6th Welsh left the brigade for Lines of Communication duties on the Western Front.[5] It joined the 84th Brigade, 28th Division on 5 July 1915.[8]

The rest of the brigade, now just two battalions, moved to Tunbridge Wells in November 1914[3] and to Scotland in February 1915 on Tay and Forth Defences.[5] On 17 April 1915, 1/4th and 1/5th Welsh left the brigade and joined the 159th (Cheshire) Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Division at Bedford.[9] With that, the brigade passed out of existence.

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See also

References
  1. Westlake 1992, p. 3
  2. Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  3. Rinaldi 2008, p. 68
  4. James 1978, p. 68
  5. James 1978, p. 82
  6. "Miscellaneous Units and Unalloted Troops in Great Britain on The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918 by PB Chappell". Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  7. Becke 1936, p. 53
  8. Becke 1935, p. 108
  9. Becke 1936, p. 120

Bibliography
  • Becke, Major A.F. (1935). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 1. The Regular British Divisions. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-09-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Becke, Major A.F. (1936). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2A. The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-12-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • James, Brigadier E.A. (1978). British Regiments 1914–18. London: Samson Books Limited. ISBN 0-906304-03-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Rinaldi, Richard A (2008). Order of Battle of the British Army 1914. Ravi Rikhye. ISBN 978-0-97760728-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Westlake, Ray (1992). British Territorial Units 1914–18. Volume 245 of Men-at-Arms Series. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-168-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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