138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade

Lincoln and Leicester Brigade 138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade 138th Infantry Brigade
Formation Badge of the 46th Infantry Division, World War II.
Active	1908–1919 1920–1936 1939–1946
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Brigade
Part of	46th (North Midland) Division 46th Infantry Division
Engagements	World War I World War II
Commanders
Notable commanders	Gerard Bucknall

The 138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in World War I with the 46th (North Midland) Division. The brigade again saw active service in World War II, with the 46th Infantry Division.

The brigade was first raised as the Lincoln and Leicester Brigade in 1908 when the Territorial Force was created, by the merger of the Yeomanry and the Volunteer Force. The brigade was assigned to the North Midland Division (one of fourteen of the peacetime Territorials) and consisted of two Volunteer battalions, the 4th and 5th, of the Lincolnshire Regiment and two, the 4th and 5th, of the Leicestershire Regiment.

After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 most of the men volunteered for Imperial Service and, with the rest of the North Midland Division, trained in Luton for overseas service. In late February 1915 the division began landing in France and was the first complete Territorial division to arrive on the Western Front to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) (individual units had been sent throughout the winter of 1914 and early spring of 1915).

On 12 May 1915 the division was numbered the 46th (North Midland) Division the brigade was numbered the 138th (1/1st Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade. The battalions also adopted the '1/' prefix (1/5th Lincolns) to distinguish them from their 2nd Line duplicates training in the United Kingdom as 177th (2/1st Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade, part of 59th (2nd North Midland) Division, which consisted of the men of the brigade and division who had not volunteered for overseas service, together with the many recruits who came flooding in.