38th (Irish) Brigade

38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade 38th (Irish) Brigade
Current insignia of 38 (Irish) Brigade.
Active	1914–1919 1942–1947 2007–Present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Regional Point of Control
Size	Brigade
Part of	Regional Command
Brigade HQ	Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn
Motto(s)	"Ubique et Semper Fidelis"
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier Christopher D. Davies
Notable commanders	The O'Donovan
Insignia
Identification symbol	Insignia of the 78th Battleaxe Division.

The 38th (Irish) Brigade, is an infantry brigade formation of the British Army that served in both world wars. It was composed of Irish line infantry regiments and served with distinction in the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns. A similar formation, the 38th Brigade had served in World War I, but contained no Irish connection.

First Formation (1914)

38th Brigade was organised as part of 13th (Western) Division, which came into existence as a result of Army Order No 324 of 21 August 1914 authorising the formation of six new volunteer infantry divisions (the 'First Kitchener Army' or 'K1'). The division was organised by Western Command and the brigades began to assemble on Salisbury Plain.

Composition

The following units served with the brigade:

• 6th (Service) Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
• 6th (Service) Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment
• 6th (Service) Battalion, Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment)
• 6th (Service) Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
• 38th Machine Gun Company (joined 24 October 1916)
• 38th Supply and Transport Column, Army Service Corps (January 1917 – 1 August 1918)
• 38th Trench Mortar Battery ('G' Battery joined from 39th Brigade on 7 October 1917; renamed 38th Battery on 18 February 1918)
• 38th Small Arms Ammunition Section (joined by March 1918)

Service

The brigade sailed from Avonmouth in June 1915 and landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in July. It was evacuated to Egypt in December 1915. In February 1916 it moved to Mesopotamia and fought in that theatre until the end of the war. It was disbanded in 1919.

Second Formation (1942)

The 38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade came into existence on 13 January 1942 by the re-designation of the 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), a Home Defence formation organised in October 1940. The 210th Brigade had been serving in Dorset County Division. When that division was disbanded on 24 November 1941, 210 Brigade transferred to the 1st Infantry Division. By then, all of 210 Brigade's English home defence battalions had been posted away and were replaced by the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers, the 6th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles. Of the three battalions, only the 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers had seen active service, fighting in the Battle of France where they were forced to retreat to Dunkirk and were subsequently evacuated to England.

In June 1942, the brigade was transferred from the 1st Infantry Division to the 6th Armoured Division and it landed in North Africa with the division on 22 November 1942, as part of the British First Army. In March 1943, it exchanged with the 1st Guards Brigade and joined the 78th Battleaxe Infantry Division and fought with distinction throughout the rest of the Tunisian Campaign. In late April, the 38th (Irish) Brigade played a lead role in the capture of the German defensive positions in the mountains north of Medjez-el-Bab and the campaign ended in mid-May, with almost 250,000 Axis soldiers surrendering. The brigade were the first marching troops to enter Tunis on 8 May 1943. [[Fichier:The British Army in Sicily 1943 NA5399.jpg|vignette|Universal Carriers and troops of the 6th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, move up to Catenanuova, Sicily, August 1943.]] After a short rest, the brigade again saw action in the Allied invasion of Sicily (in particular the capture of Centuripe), and in the Italian Campaign, spearheading the British Eighth Army's advance to the Volturno Line, and later at the Battle of Monte Cassino and at Lake Trasimene. Shortly afterwards, the brigade was sent to rest in Egypt. While there, the 6th Inniskillings was disbanded and the men transferred to the 2nd Battalion, another Regular Army unit, which had arrived from 13th Brigade of the 5th Division, and the surplus men were transferred to fill gaps in the other battalions of the brigade. [[Fichier:The British Army in Italy 1944 NA15654.jpg|droite|vignette|Universal Carriers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers pass a wrecked German Nebelwerfer rocket launcher near Ceprano, Italy, 28 May 1944.]] The rest was short-lived, however, and the brigade soon returned to Italy where it was involved in fighting north of Florence, followed later by Operation Grapeshot. During May 1945, it was (briefly) detached to both 46th Infantry and 6th Armoured Divisions and the brigade then was allotted occupation duties in Carinthia in southern Austria, before being formally disbanded in April 1947.

Order of battle

The 38th Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:

• 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers
• 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles
• 6th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (disbanded 5 August 1944)
• 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (from 26 July 1944)

Formations served under

Formations that the brigade served under included:

• 1st Infantry Division 25 November 1941 – 7 June 1942
• 6th Armoured Division 9 June 1942 – 16 February 1943
• 'Y" Division 16 Feb 43 – 15 March 1943
• 78th Infantry Division 15 March 1943 – 28 March 1943
• 46th Infantry Division 29 March 1943 – 6 April 1943
• 78th Infantry Division 7 April 1943 – 10 May 1945
• 6th Armoured Division 10 May 1945 – 13 May 1945
• 46th Infantry Division 13 May 1945 – 18 May 1945
• 78th Infantry Division 18 May 1945 – 31 August 1945

21st century

The 38th (Irish) Brigade reformed on 1 August 2007, as part of a new combined divisional / brigade structure called HQ Northern Ireland and 38 (Irish) Brigade after the disbandment of HQ Northern Ireland and has its headquarters at Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn.

The 38 Brigade subsequently came under command of the 2nd Division, the regional division for Scotland, the North of England and Northern Ireland, on 1 January 2009. It is now the Regional Brigade responsible for administering the Army Reserve within Northern Ireland. This was the culmination of a drawdown of military headquarters in Northern Ireland, which had seen the disbandment of 3 Infantry Brigade, 8 Infantry Brigade, 39 Infantry Brigade and 107 (Ulster) Brigade.

Today the Army Reserve soldiers from the brigade have served on operations supporting the Regular Army in the Balkans, on Operation TOSCA in Cyprus, on Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan and Operation TELIC in Iraq. At home the Brigade has the key role of providing the Civil Contingency Reaction Force for Northern Ireland. The Brigade is also regionally aligned with the Republic of Ireland as part of defence engagement.

Current formation

Previously, 2nd Battalion The Rifles - A Regular Infantry Battalion based in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. and 8th Battalion The Rifles (The Rifles' Reserve Infantry Battalion of the North East, Yorkshire and West Midlands, has bases in North East, South and West Yorkshire, Birmingham and Shropshire) were part of the brigade. As a result of the Field Army restructuring in August 2019, these regiments moved to 51st Brigade. Furthermore, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland has shifted to a Specialised Infantry Battalion and will move to Aldershot.

• Headquarters 38th (Irish) Brigade & 38 Brigade Signal Troop, Royal Corps of Signals, at Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn
• Northern Ireland Garrison Support Unit (Provides logistical support in the country)
• Regimental Headquarters, Royal Irish Regiment, at Palace Barracks, Holywood
• Queen's University Officers' Training Corps

The regular units which fall under the administrative command of the brigade include:

• Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, at Palace Barracks, Holywood (converting to Specialised Infantry under Specialised Infantry Group)
• 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, at Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn (light infantry, under 51 Infantry Brigade)
• 5th Regiment Army Air Corps, at Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove (air reconnaissance under 1st Aviation Brigade)

References

• Lt-Col H.F. Joslen, Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945, London: HM Stationery Office, 1960/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2003, ISBN 1843424746.
• Ford, Ken (2003) [1999]. Battleaxe Division. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. p. 273 pages. ISBN 0-7509-3199-X. 
• Doherty, Richard (1994) [1993]. Clear The Way! History of the 38th (Irish) Brigade. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Academic Press. p. 336 pages. ISBN 0-7165-2542-9. 
• O'Sullivan, Edmund (2007) [2007]. All My Brothers. Slough, UK: Edmund O'Sullivan & Family. p. 232 Contains an eyewitness account of serving in the 2nd Battalion of the London Irish Rifles from October 1939 March 1946 including O'Sullivan's involvement in Irish Brigade battles in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy, including at the Battle of Cassino in May 1944. 
• Joslen, Lt-Col H.F. (2003) [1st pub. HMSO:1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1. 

External links

• 38 (Irish) Brigade
• The Long, Long Trail
• Irish Brigade The Story of the 38th (Irish) Brigade during the Second World A website containing information and eyewitness accounts. The site also has [1], the story of the Irish Brigade written by TPD Scott, who commanded the brigade from February 1944 until the end of the war.
• The Long, Long Trail