7th Provisional Brigade

226th Infantry Brigade 226th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home)
Dorset County Division insignia
Active	May 1915–1919 11 January – 1 December 1941
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry Brigade
Role	Training and Home Defence
Part of	First World War: Southern Army 71st Division (attached) 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division (attached) Second World War: Dorset County Division

The 226th Infantry Brigade was a Home Service formation of the British Army that existed under various short-lived titles in both the First and Second World Wars.

On the outbreak of the First World War, the Territorial Force (TF) immediately mobilised for home defence, but shortly afterwards (31 August 1914), its units were authorised to raise 2nd battalions formed from those men who had not volunteered for, or were not fit for, overseas service, together with new volunteers, while the 1st Line went overseas to supplement the Regulars. Early in 1915 the 2nd Line TF battalions were raised to full strength to form new divisions, and began to form Reserve (3rd Line) units to supply drafts. The remaining Home Service men were separated out in May 1915 to form brigades of Coast Defence Battalions (termed Provisional Battalions from June 1915).

7th Provisional Brigade was one of these formations, with the following composition:

Also attached:

These units had fluctuating strengths. For example, in November 1915 the 82nd Provisional Bn consisted of 1550 men, but drafts to the 2nd and 3rd Line TF units and 63rd Provisional Battalion (in 5th Provisional Brigade) reduced this to 1100, including just under 200 men of the National Guard. The Battalion War Diary complains that many of the TF men being received from the Gloucesters and Worcesters 'especially those sent from Bristol have ailments which will prevent them ever becoming efficient soldiers'. The National Guard (or National Reserve) men would have been in Medical Category C.

The Provisional Brigades were dispersed in defence positions along the East Anglian coast. In July 1916, 7th Provisional Bde was at Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze, forming part of Southern Army of Home Forces.

The Military Service Act 1916 swept away the Home/Foreign service distinction, and all TF soldiers became liable for overseas service, if medically fit. The Provisional Brigades thus became anomalous, and at the end of 1916 their units became numbered battalions of their parent units. Part of their role was physical conditioning to render men fit for drafting overseas. 7th Provisional Brigade became 226th Mixed Brigade in December 1916, with its units redesignated as follows: