127th (Manchester) Brigade

Manchester Brigade 127th (Manchester) Brigade 127th Infantry Brigade
42nd (East Lancashire) Division insignia, First World War
Active	1908–1919 1920–1941
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Territorial Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Brigade
Part of	42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division
Engagements	Gallipoli Campaign Battle of Romani Battle of Passchendaele Battles of the Somme (1918) Hundred Days Offensive (1918) Battle of France Dunkirk evacuation
Commanders
Notable commanders	Brigadier-General Sir Herbert Lawrence Brigadier Sir John Smyth, VC
Insignia
Identification symbol	42nd Division insignia, Second World War

The 127th (Manchester) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service during both the First and Second World Wars. It was assigned to the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division and served in the Middle East and on the Western Front in the First World War. In the Second World War, as the 127th Infantry Brigade, it fought in France and was evacuated at Dunkirk. Once back in the United Kingdom, the brigade was converted into an armoured support group.

Throughout its existence the brigade was composed mainly of battalions of the Manchester Regiment.

After the creation of the Territorial Force in 1908, four Volunteer battalions, the 5th (Wigan), 6th (Hulme), 7th (Manchester) and 8th (Ardwick), of the Manchester Regiment were organised into the Manchester Brigade within the East Lancashire Division.

On the outbreak of the First World War, the men volunteered for overseas service and the division embarked at Southampton and sailed for Egypt on 10 September 1914, the first TF division to leave England for foreign service. The division began disembarking at Alexandria on 25 September and the bulk (including the Manchester Brigade) concentrated at Cairo.

During the war, the Manchester Brigade was constituted as follows: