On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army. The new Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. Men flooded into the recruiting offices and the 'first hundred thousand' were enlisted within days. This group of six infantry divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'.[1][2] Recruits continued to arrive in large numbers,and Army Order No 382 of 11 September authorised a further six divisions (15th – 20th), which became the Second New Army (K2). 20th (Light) Division began forming at Aldershot with the 59th, 60th and 61st Brigades, initially composed entirely of service battalions from light infantry and rifle regiments.[3][4]
Order of battle
61st Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: [3][4]
61st Company, Machine Gun Corps(joined 3 March 1916, moved to 20th Divisional Machine Gun Battalion 15 March 1918)
61st Trench Mortar Battery (formed as 61/1 and 61/2 by 4 May 1916, became single battery by 12 June 1916)
Service
The 20th (Light) Division crossed to France in July 1915 and completed its concentration in the area west of Saint-Omer by 26 July. Thereafter it served on the Western Front in the following operations:[3][4]
Harry Patch, later to become the last surviving veteran of the trenches, served with 7th DCLI in 61st Brigade at Ypres in 1917 when he was 19 years old. He was wounded by shrapnel in September. He survived both world wars and lived until 2009 when he died, on 25 July, aged 111.[citation needed]
Following the Armistice with Germanydemobilisation of 20th (L) Division began in January 1919 and the division and its formations ceased to exist on 28 May 1919.[3]
Insignia
Top row, left to right, top row: 6th 12th King's, 7th SLI, 7th DCLI, 7th KOYLI; bottom row: brigade HQ, 61st MG Co and 61st TM Bty.
The formation sign of 20th (L) Division was a white circle bearing a black cross with a red bull's-eye at the centre.[5] In the summer of 1917 the division adopted a comprehensive scheme for battalion identification signs worn on both sleeves. These were black geometric shapes, with 61st Bde using squares. Underneath, one, two, three or four bars indicated the battalion's seniority. Before the adoption of the divisional scheme the 7th SLI wore a Rifle green horizontal rectangle on the right sleeve.[6]
Commanders
The following officers commanded the brigade during the war:[3]
18 September 1914: Brig.-Gen. O'Donnel Colley Grattan
The brigade was reactivated in Italy during the Second World War, composed of three motor battalions of the Rifle Brigade, the 2nd, 7th and 10th, the former being of the Regular Army and the latter two of the Territorial Army (TA). Formed on 21 May 1944 as 'M' Brigade under Eighth Army, it was renamed the 61st Infantry Brigade on 29 May when it joined 6th Armoured Division. On 20 March 1945 it was renamed 61st (Lorried) Infantry Brigade and the motor battalions were reorganised as lorried infantry.[7]
Order of battle
A patrol comprising 'C' Company of 10th Rifle Brigade sets off in the Arno valley, Italy, 17 July 1944.
The brigade was constituted as follows during the war:[7]
Maj A. F. Becke, History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3a: New Army Divisions (9–26), London: HM Stationery Office, Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007 orig year. 1938, ISBN 1-847347-41-X.
Clive Elderton & Gary Gibbs, World War One British Army Corps and Divisional Signs, Wokingham: Military History Society, 2018.
Mike Hibberd, Infantry Divisions, Identification Schemes 1917, Wokingham: Military History Society, 2016.
Instructions Issued by The War Office During August, 1914, London: HM Stationery Office, 1916.
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/London: London Stamp Exchange ISBN 0-948130-03-2/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, orig-year. 1990. ISBN 1-843424-74-6.
