166th (South Lancashire) Brigade


The 166th Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in the First World War and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the Second World War.

Origin

The brigade was first formed in the Volunteer Force in 1902 from elements of the Mersey Brigade and the Cheshire and Lancashire Brigade. Headquartered at Lancaster under the officer commanding 4th Regimental District, it comprised the 1at and 2nd Volunteer Battalions of the South Lancashire Regiment and the 3rd, 6th and 8th (Scottish) Volunteer Battalions of the King's (Liverpool Regiment), together with a transport company of the Army Service Corps and a bearer company of the Medical Staff Corps.
The brigade continued when the Volunteers were subsumed into the Territorial Force in 1908, with the following composition:
The brigade formed part of the TF's West Lancashire Division.

First World War

These later became 166th Brigade and 55th (West Lancashire) Division respectively, in 1915. The brigade served with the division on the Western Front during the Second World War.

Order of battle

The brigade had the following composition during the war:

Commanders

The following officers commanded the brigade during the First World War:
RankNameDate appointedNotes
Brigadier-GeneralA. L. MacFie3 October 1911Promoted brigadier-general 5 August 1914
Brigadier-GeneralL. F. Green-Wilkinson3 January 1916
Brigadier-GeneralF. G. Lewis25 April 1917Wounded 1 December 1917
Lieutenant-ColonelJ. L. A. MacDonald1 December 1917Acting
Brigadier-GeneralR. J. Kentish4 December 1917

Interwar

The brigade and division were both demobilised after the Armistice with Germany. When TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 the brigade was reformed as 166th Infantry Brigade, once again in 55th Infantry Division. The TF became the Territorial Army in 1921. During the interwar years the brigade had the following composition:
By 1939 war with Nazi Germany was becoming increasingly likely and, as a consequence, the Territorial Army was doubled in size with each formation forming a duplicate. The 55th Division was scheduled to raise the duplicate 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division with 166th Brigade to be transferred to help form the new division. By May 1939 the brigade had been redesignated 166th Infantry Brigade and its headquarters had been moved to Beacon Place, Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Second World War

The TA was mobilised on 1 September 1939, war was declared on 3 September, and next day the 166th Infantry Brigade was redesignated 176th Infantry Brigade and transferred to 59th Division when that formation was activated on 15 September.
A new 166th Infantry Brigade was formed on 15 August 1944 by the redesignation of 199th Infantry Brigade. This brigade had previously served with the 66th Infantry Division until that formation was disbanded in June 1940 and 199th Bde transferred to the 55th Division. It served in Northern Ireland from 24 July 1944 until it returned to the UK and rejoined 55th Division in June 1945, after the end of the war in Europe.

Order of battle

From when it was redesignated on 15 August 1944 166th Brigade had the following composition:
Neither 166th Brigade nor 55th Division were reformed in the postwar TA.

External sources