11 Brigade (United Kingdom)


The 11th Brigade is a brigade of the British Army which is transitioning to the tactical recce-strike role. The brigade was formerly the 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade, providing training and guidance for foreign militaries.
Originally formed in the Second Boer War, the brigade was engaged during both World Wars, and deployed to Afghanistan.

History

Second Boer War

British Army brigades had traditionally been ad hoc formations known by the name of their commander or numbered as part of a division. However, units involved in the Second Boer War in 1899–1900 were organised into sequentially numbered brigades that were frequently reassigned between divisions. The Army Corps sent from Britain in 1899 comprised six brigades in three divisions while the troops already in South Africa were intended to constitute a fourth division. The rapid deterioration of the situation led the War Office to announce on 11 November 1899 that a 5th Division was to be formed and sent out. This consisted of the new 10th and 11th Brigades and concentrated at Estcourt on 8 January 1900 for the campaign for the Relief of Ladysmith.

Order of Battle

The 11th Brigade was constituted as follows:
As well as Spion Kop and Tugela Heights, the brigade served at Trichard's Drift, Tabanyama, Vaal Krantz, Wessel's Nek, Waschbank, Botha's Pass, Alleman's Nek, Volkrust, Wakkerstroom, and the advance on Standerton. However, after the defeat of the main Boer field armies and the development of guerrilla warfare, all the divisions and brigades were broken up to form ad hoc 'columns' and garrisons.
After the Boer War, 11th Brigade became a permanent formation in 1902, stationed at Portsmouth. By 1907 it was part of 6th Division in Eastern Command. In the Expeditionary Force established by the Haldane reforms, 11th Brigade at Colchester became part of 4th Division, and remained so until the outbreak of World War I.

First World War

When war broke out in August 1914 the 11th Infantry Brigade mobilised as part of the 4th Division. It was one of the British units sent overseas to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force and fought on the Western Front for the next four years.

Order of Battle

During World War I the brigade had the following composition:
During the war the brigade participated in the following actions:
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
During World War I the brigade was commanded by the following officers:
The 11th Infantry Brigade was originally part of the 4th Infantry Division as it was during the First World War, serving with it during the Battle of France and was evacuated from Dunkirk in late May 1940. It remained with the division in the United Kingdom up until 6 June 1942 when it was reassigned to join 78th Infantry Division which was being newly formed to take part in Operation Torch, the Allied landings in French North Africa, as part of the British First Army. The brigade landed in North Africa at Algiers in November 1942 and fought with 78th Division throughout the Tunisian campaign which ended with the Axis surrender in May 1943. It then served with 78th Division throughout the campaigns in Sicily and Italy.

Order of Battle

During World War II the brigade comprised the following units:
During World War II the brigade was commanded by the following officers:
In January 1946, following the end of the campaign in Europe, the brigade was dissolved and its units dispersed to other brigades and commands. In 1950, the brigade was reformed in West Germany.
The organisation of the brigade during the 1950s was as follows:
On 1 April 1956, the 4th Infantry Division was reformed in the BAOR, and its brigades: 10th, 11th, and 12th was reformed by conversion of the old 61st Lorried Infantry Brigade based in Minden. In 1958, following the 1957 Defence White Paper, the brigade was redesignated as 11th Infantry Brigade Group. As a brigade group, it picked up not just infantry but supporting elements such as artillery. It was shifted to the 2nd Division. And in 1964, the brigade was transferred to the 1st Division, sitting alongside the 7th Armoured Brigade Group. In February 1961, the brigade groups were reorganised again, to comprise a signal squadron, armoured regiment, three infantry battalions, field artillery regiment, engineer squadron, and one AAC reconnaissance flight.
The brigade's structure following its conversion to a brigade group was as follows:
In November 1965, the brigade groups became 'brigades' once again, dropping their support units. In October 1966, just after the publication of the 1966 Defence White Paper, the 7th Armoured and 11th Infantry brigades experimented with a new brigade organisation with two armoured regiments and two 'mechanised' battalions equipped with the new FV432 armoured personnel carrier. With the increasing availability of the new vehicle, all of the infantry battalions within the BAOR were to become mechanised.
The brigade's structure just before conversion was as follows:
As a result of the above defence white paper and experimentations, the BAOR was completely reorganised with the 11th Infantry Brigade becoming an armoured formation in the end of 1970. The new formation, 11th Armoured Brigade, was reformed, thus ending the infantry lineage.