162nd (East Midland) Brigade

East Midland Brigade 162nd (East Midland) Brigade 162nd Infantry Brigade 162nd Independent Infantry Brigade
54th (East Anglian) Division badge, Second World War
Active	April 1908 – 30 September 1919 February 1920 – 31 August 1944 January 1947 – 1 May 1961
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Brigade
Part of	54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division
Peacetime HQ	Bedford, Bedfordshire
Engagements	World War I Gallipoli Campaign Landing at Suvla Bay Sinai and Palestine Campaign First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza Battle of Jaffa (1917) Berukin Battle of Sharon World War II

World War I

The East Midland Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, it commanded infantry battalions recruited in the East Midlands of England: Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. The brigade was an integral part of the East Anglian Division.

It was numbered as the 162nd (East Midland) Brigade (and the division as 54th (East Anglian) Division) and saw active service in World War I at Gallipoli in 1915, Egypt in 1916 and in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in 1917 and 1918.

Disbanded after the war, the brigade was reformed in the Territorial Army as the 162nd Infantry Brigade and continued to be part of the 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division. In World War II the brigade remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war and did not see service and was disbanded in August 1944.

The 54th (East Anglian) Division was not reformed after World War II, but the brigade was reformed in 1947 as 162nd Independent Infantry Brigade before being finally disbanded in 1961.

The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades. One of the divisions was the East Anglian Division and the East Midland Brigade formed one of its constituent brigades.