143rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

Warwickshire Brigade 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade 143rd Infantry Brigade 143rd Infantry (Reserve) Brigade 143rd (West Midlands) Brigade
Insignia of the 143rd Brigade
Active	1908–1919 1920–1946 1984–2014
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Territorial Army Regular Army
Size	Brigade
Part of	48th (South Midland) Infantry Division Support Command
Garrison/HQ	Copthorne Barracks, Shrewsbury
Engagements	World War I World War II

The 143rd Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both World War I and World War II. In the First World War the brigade served on both Western Front and later the Italian Front. During the Second World War the brigade fought in Belgium and France before being evacuated to England where it remained for the rest of the war and was finally disbanded in 1946. Raised again in the 1980s, this brigade disbanded under Army 2020 in November 2014.

The Warwickshire Brigade, as this brigade was originally known, was first raised in April 1908 under the Haldane Reforms when the Territorial Force was created, which was formed by the amalgamation of the Yeomanry and Volunteer Force. The brigade was assigned to the South Midland Division, one of fourteen divisions of the peacetime Territorials. The Warwickshire Brigade was composed of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Volunteer battalions of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

The brigade and division were mobilised on 5 August 1914, a day after the British declaration of war on Germany, thus beginning the Great War. When asked to serve overseas (as soldiers in the TF were not obliged to serve overseas), most of the men of the brigade volunteered for Imperial Service and those who did not were left to be formed into 2nd Line battalions and brigades, forming the 2nd Warwickshire Brigade (2/5th-2/8th Royal Warwickshires) of the 2nd South Midland Division, later the 182nd (2/1st Warwickshire) Brigade, 61st (2nd South Midland) Division. The 1st Line battalions adopted the '1/' prefix (1/5th-1/8th Royal Warwickshires) to distinguish them from the 2nd Line, which adopted the '2/'.