51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland

51st Infantry Brigade
Insignia of 51st Infantry Brigade
Active	World War I 1914 - 1918 1952 - Present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	All Arms and Services
Role	Training and Administration Military Aid to the Civil Community Military Aid to the Civil Power
Part of	1st (United Kingdom) Division
Garrison/HQ	Forthside Barracks, Stirling
Nickname(s)	The Army In Scotland The Fighting 51st
Engagements	World War I Cyprus Emergency
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier G Deakin CBE

The Army In Scotland

51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland is an Adaptable Force Brigade of the British Army. It is the regional administrative formation responsible for all the units of the Army Reserve based in Scotland and an Adaptable Force Brigade under Army 2020. It is the largest Brigade in the United Kingdom in terms of geographic area. Although it takes its name and identity from, and is directly descended from the 51st Highland Division, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908 and which fought during the First and Second World Wars, it is also the modern descendant of the 52nd Lowland Division.

The British 51st Infantry Brigade began as a formation of the 17th (Northern) Division during the First World War. It spent the entirety of the war with the Division on the Western Front.

This brigade was not raised during the Second World War.

The dominant historical threads behind the current 51st Scottish Brigade come from the famed 51st Highland Division. It existed initially from August 1908 - March 1919, and then was reformed in the Territorial Army in the interwar period. Deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force, the 51st Division was attached to the French Southern Group of Armies and fought a lone battle as the remainder of the BEF was forced to retreat toward Dunkirk. For some time, it was forced to hold a line four times longer than that which would normally be expected of a division. During this period, the 154th Brigade was detached and withdrawn successfully. However, the 152nd and 153rd Brigades were trapped at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux, and surrendered on 12 June. Later the Division was reformed from the second line 9th Highland Division and fought with the Eighth Army in the Western Desert campaign. It was later part of Second Army in the North-West Europe campaign.