146th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

1st West Riding Brigade
146th (1st West Riding) Brigade
146th Infantry Brigade

49th Division insignia, Second World War
Active 1908–1919
1920–1945
1946–1967
Country  United Kingdom
Branch Territorial Army
Type Infantry
Size Brigade
Part of 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division
49th (West Riding) Armoured Division
Nickname(s) "The Polar Bears" (Second World War)
Engagements World War I
World War II
Insignia
Identification
symbol		 World War II

The 146th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (Territorial Army from 1920) with the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division. The brigade saw active service during both World War I and World War II, and during the early part of the Cold War. The brigade was active from 1908 until 1967 when it was finally disbanded.

History

Formation

The brigade was raised in 1908 upon the creation of the Territorial Force, formed by the amalgamation of the Volunteer Force and the Yeomanry, as the 1st West Riding Brigade, composed of four Volunteer battalions of the Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), including two of the Leeds Rifles. The brigade was assigned to the West Riding Division.

First World War

On the outbreak of the Great War in early August 1914, the division was immediately mobilised and most men volunteered for overseas service.

In mid-May 1915 the brigade and division would become the 146th (1/1st West Riding) Brigade and 49th (West Riding) Division respectively. The battalions adopted the '1/' prefix (1/5th West Yorks) to differentiate them from their 2nd Line duplicates, which were forming up as 185th (2/1st West Riding) Brigade, of the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division. The 2nd Line units were raised from those men who did not originally volunteer for overseas service, although many of them did end up seeing active service.

The brigade served on the Western Front from July 1915 to the end of the war in November 1918. Two men from the brigade were awarded the Victoria Cross: Corporal Samuel Meekosha of the 1/6th Battalion and Corporal (later Captain) George Sanders of the 1/7th (Leeds Rifles) Battalion.

First World War order of battle

Interwar

Both the brigade and division were disbanded shortly the war when the Territorial Force was itself disbanded. However it was reformed in the 1920s as the Territorial Army and the brigade was reformed with all four battalions of the West Yorkshire Regiment and continued to serve with the 49th Division, now as the 147th (1st West Riding) Infantry Brigade.

In the late 1930s, however, many infantry battalions of the Territorial Army were converted to anti-aircraft and searchlight units and so, in 1936, the 8th (Leeds Rifles) Battalion, West Yorks was transferred to the Royal Artillery and converted into the 66th (Leeds Rifles, The West Yorkshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery[2] and was transferred to 31st (North Midland) Anti-Aircraft Group, 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division (2nd AA Division was itself formed by redesignation of the HQ of 46th (North Midland) Division).[3] In 1937 the 6th Battalion was also converted to a different role. Transferring to the Royal Engineers, they became 49th (The West Yorkshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers[4] and became part of the 31st (North Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, alongside the former 8th (Leeds Rifles) Battalion, West Yorks. In April 1938 the 7th (Leeds Rifles) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment was transferred to the Royal Tank Regiment and converted into 45th (Leeds Rifles) Royal Tank Regiment.[5]

In late 1936 the 4th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment joined the brigade from the 46th (North Midland) Division which had been converted into the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division.[6] Later, the brigade also received the 4th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and the Hallamshire Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment which transferred in from the 148th (3rd West Riding) Infantry Brigade of the 49th Division. The 5th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, the only original battalion in the brigade, was transferred to 147th (2nd West Riding) Infantry Brigade in 1938 when all brigades were reduced from four to three battalions. In 1939 the brigade was redesignated as the 146th Infantry Brigade

Second World War

The brigade was mobilised between late August and early September 1939. Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War the brigade, with most of the 49th Division and 24th Guards Brigade (temporarily attached to the division), saw active service in the Norwegian Campaign in early 1940, which ended in disaster and evacuation.

After briefly returning to the United Kingdom, the brigade and division was later stationed in Iceland,[7] and adopted as its insignia the Polar Bear on an ice floe. In April 1942 they were transferred back to the United Kingdom.

Infantrymen of the Hallamshire Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment in the village of Fontenay-le-Pesnel, Normandy, France, 25 June 1944.

The brigade remained there, training in many different roles, until early June 1944 when they were sent to Normandy under command of XXX Corps, shortly after the initial landings on 6 June where they fought throughout Operation Overlord in the Battle for Caen during Operation Martlet, Second Battle of the Odon and later, after the breakout and now attached to First Canadian Army, in Operation Astonia, the capture of Le Havre, and the Battle of the Scheldt. The brigade, with the rest of the 49th Division, saw their final battle in the Liberation of Arnhem in April 1945 and the fierce battles that led up to it. During the fighting on the Continent, the 49th Infantry Division was nicknamed "the Polar Bears" because of their divisional insignia. On 28 September 1944 Corporal John William Harper of the Hallamshire Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.[8]

Second World War order of battle

146th Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: [9]

Commanders

The following officers commanded 146th Brigade during the war: [10]

Victoria Cross recipients

References

  1. ↑ http://www.1914-1918.net/49div.htm
  2. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20051227060911/http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/volmil-england/vinf-no/yw-Leed2.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/webeasycms/hold/uploads/bmh_document_pdf/2-Anti-Aircraft-Division-1936-38-.pdf
  4. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20060105001917/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/volmil-england/vinf-no/yw-w6.htm
  5. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20051226183130/http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/volmil-england/vinf-no/yw-Leeds.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/webeasycms/hold/uploads/bmh_document_pdf/49_Infantry_Division__1939_.pdf
  7. ↑ "John Crook's service in Iceland.". Independent Radio Drama Productions. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  8. ↑ The Polar Bears - Monty's Left Flank: From Normandy to the Relief of Holland with the 49th Division, Patrick Delaforce
  9. ↑ Joslen, p. 331.
  10. ↑ Joslen, p. 331.

Bibliography

External links

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