| South Scottish Brigade 155th (South Scottish) Brigade 155th Infantry Brigade 155th Independent Infantry Brigade | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1902-1919 1920–1946 1947-1955 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Territorial Army |
| Type | Infantry,Mountain andAir Landing |
| Size | Brigade |
| Part of | 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division |
The155th (South Scottish) Brigade was aninfantrybrigade of theBritish Army that saw active service in both theFirst and theSecond World Wars. Assigned to the52nd (Lowland) Division, the brigade saw active service in theMiddle East and on theWestern Front during the First World War. During the Second World War, now the155th Infantry Brigade, it continued to serve with the 52nd Division inOperation Dynamo, and later inNorth-western Europe from late 1944 until May 1945.
TheScottish Border Brigade (originally theSouth of Scotland Brigade) was a Volunteer Infantry Brigade of theBritish Army formed in 1888.
The enthusiasm for theVolunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer units composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the RegularBritish Army in time of need.[1][2] TheStanhope Memorandum of 1888 proposed a comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime, these brigades provided a structure for collective training.[3][4] Under this scheme the Volunteer Battalions in the Scottish Border areas would assemble atHawick.[5]
From 1888, the South of Scotland/Scottish Border Brigade had the following composition:[5]
In the early 1890s, the two Black Watch battalions were replaced by:
After a further reorganisation in 1902, the 1st and 2nd VBs of theRoyal Scots Fusiliers (atKilmarnock andAyr respectively) replaced the two battalions of the Royal Scots.
The Brigade Headquarters (HQ) and place of assembly was at Hawick andColonelViscount Melgund (later 4th Earl of Minto) was appointed brigade commander on 11 July 1888. From 1900, the brigade commander was the Officer Commanding the 25th Regimental District (the KOSB district) atBerwick-upon-Tweed, then from 1906 it was commanded by retired Colonel P.D. Trotter.[5]
After the Volunteers were subsumed into the newTerritorial Force (TF) under theHaldane Reforms of 1908,[6][7] theSouth Scottish Brigade (as it was now designated) formed part of theLowland Division of the TF with the following composition:[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the Lowland Division was mobilised for full-time war service. In 1915, the division was numbered as the52nd (Lowland) Division and the brigade the155th (1/1st South Scottish) Brigade and the battalions received the '1/' prefix (1/4th Royal Royal Scots Fusiliers) to distinguish them from their 2nd Line units being formed as the194th (2/1st South Scottish) Brigade, part of65th (2nd Lowland) Division. During the First World War the brigade served in theMiddle Eastern theatre and later on theWestern Front.
After the war, the brigade and division were both disbanded as was the Territorial Force. The Territorial Force was, however, reformed in 1920 as theTerritorial Army and the 52nd Division was reconstituted as was the brigade, which was redesignated as the155th (South Scottish) Infantry Brigade. The brigade was reformed with the same units as it had before the First World War.[17]
In 1921, the 4th and 5th battalions of theRoyal Scots Fusiliers were amalgamated into the 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers[18] and it was later transferred to the156th (Scottish Rifles) Infantry Brigade, later redesignated 156th (West Scottish) Infantry Brigade. The 155th Brigade later received the 4th/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Battalion,Royal Scots (the amalgamated 4th and 5th battalions) and the 7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion, Royal Scots (the amalgamated 7th and 9th) both arrived from 156th Brigade and was redesignated155th (East Scottish) Infantry Brigade.
In the late 1930s, there was an increasing need for anti-aircraft defences throughout Britain and many infantry battalions were converted into anti-aircraft or searchlight units of theRoyal Artillery orRoyal Engineers. In 1938, all infantry brigades of the British Army were reduced from four to three battalions and, in the same year, the 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Scots was converted into an anti-aircraft role, becoming the4th/5th Battalion, Royal Scots (52nd Searchlight Regiment).[19] In 1939 the brigade was finally redesignated155th Infantry Brigade.
During theSecond World War, the 155th Infantry Brigade served with the 52nd Division duringOperation Aerial in France in 1940 to cover the withdrawal of theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) which was beingevacuated from France. The 52nd Division was itself evacuated from France on 17 June 1940, and spent many years on anti-invasion duties, training to repel an expectedGerman invasion of Britain. From May 1942 to June 1944, the division was trained inmountain warfare yet was never used in the role. They were then trained in airlanding operations but were, again, never utilised in the role. In October 1944, they were sent to Belgium as a standard infantry division to join the21st Army Group and were attached toFirst Canadian Army and fought in theBattle of the Scheldt where the 52nd Division gained an excellent reputation. The brigade was attached to7th Armoured Division duringOperation Blackcock in 1945 and ended the war by the River Elbe.
156th Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:[20]
The following officers commanded 155th Brigade during the war:[20]
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