Heavy Armoured Brigade (Egypt) 4th Armoured Brigade 4th Armoured Brigade Group 4th Mechanized Brigade 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East 4th Light Brigade
Current insignia of the 4th Infantry Brigade & HQ North East.
4th Light Brigade, provides light infantry mass, offering significant utility in operate tasks and with the ability to surge ground manoeuvre units by air or sea to reinforce UK forces or partners[1].Previously known as 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East, and before that as 4th Mechanized Brigade and before that 4th Armoured Brigade is a brigade formation of the British Army, currently based in Catterick, North Yorkshire as part of 1st (United Kingdom) Division.[2] The brigade, now known as the 'Black Rats', was formed in 1939 and fought in the Second World War, in the Western Desert Campaign and in North Africa. The Black Rats were subsequently involved in the invasion of Sicily and fighting in Italy before taking part in the Battle of Normandy and the advance through Belgium, Holland and into Germany.[3]
More recently, the Brigade took part in the First Gulf War and completed a number of tours to the Balkans during the 1990s. The Black Rats have also since deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan as the lead formation.
The 4th Armoured Brigade left the 7th Armoured Division in North Africa in 1943, to return to join the Allied invasion force for Normandy. In June 1944, the brigade landed in Normandy as an independent brigade and fought during the Battle of Normandy during the Battle for Caen.[5]
The 4th Armoured Brigade was the first to cross the Rhine into Germany.[4]
Former BBC motorsports commentator Murray Walker served with 4th Armoured Brigade during the Second World War as a member of The Royal Scots Greys. After the war he started a motorcycle club, organising trials and scrambles for the soldiers within the Brigade.[6]
Cold War era
The brigade spent many years in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine. The brigade was one of two "square" brigades assigned to 2nd Division when it converted into an armoured formation in 1976.[7] After being briefly converted to "Task Force Charlie" in the late 1970s, the brigade was reinstated in 1981, assigned to 3rd Armoured Division[8] and was based at York Barracks in Münster.[9] The Brigade deployed to the First Gulf War on Operation Granby in 1990/91 and was involved in the liberation of Kuwait. It moved to Quebec Barracks at Osnabrück in 1993 to replace 12th Armoured Brigade as part of 1st (UK) Armoured Division.[10]
Post-Cold War
4th Armoured Brigade deployed to Bosnia in October 1995 as UNPROFOR HQ Sector South-West and subsequently as the leading UK element of the NATOImplementation Force (IFOR).[11] The Black Rats have since deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan, first on Operation Herrick 12 in 2010; and again in October 2012 for Operation Herrick 17, during which it was working in support of the Afghan Army's 3/215 Brigade and elements of the Afghan National Police.[12]
4th Infantry Brigade
Under Army 2020, the brigade lost its armour and converted to an infantry brigade. The structure of the brigade in 2020 was as follows:[13][14]
4th Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (Army Reserve), at Kimberley Barracks, Preston (Light Infantry) – paired with 1st Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (1 LANCS)
