The division was mobilised on 4 August 1914, the day after the outbreak of the First World War. Most of the men of the division volunteered for overseas service and the ones who didn't were formed into 2nd Line units, the 2nd South Midland Brigade, part of the 2nd South Midland Division.
145th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps(formed 11 January 1916, moved to 48th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 22 March 1918)
145th Trench Mortar Battery (formed 14 June 1916)[2]
Between the wars
The brigade and division were disbanded in 1919, along with the rest of the Territorial Force, which later reformed in 1920 and was renamed as the Territorial Army. Both the 48th Division and the 145th Brigade was subsequently reconstituted, now as 145th (South Midland) Infantry Brigade, and comprised the same four battalions it had before the Great War, remaining this way for most of the inter-war period.[3]
Sometime between the wars, the 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment was transferred to 144th (Gloucester and Worcester) Infantry Brigade, replacing the 6th Battalion which subsequently joined the 145th Brigade. In 1938, when British infantry brigades were reduced from four to three battalions, the 6th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment was transferred to the Royal Tank Regiment, converting into an armoured role as 44th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment (44 RTR),[4] later becoming part of 21st Army Tank Brigade. In 1939 the brigade was redesignated the 145th Infantry Brigade.
Second World War
The Second World War began on 3 September 1939, although the division had been mobilised two days earlier, along with the rest of the Territorial Army due to the German invasion of Poland. Soon after mobilisation the division began training and preparing for overseas service.[5]
In early January 1940 the 145th Brigade, commanded at the time by actingBrigadierArchibald Cecil Hughes, and the rest of 48th Division, was sent to France in early January 1940 to join the rest of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) which was stationed on the Franco-Belgian border, alongside the French Army. The 145th Brigade landed in France on 18 January 1940[6] and was the last brigade of 48th Division to land. Soon after arrival of the division, it became part of BEF policy to integrate Regular Army units into Territorial Army formations[7] and so the 4th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment was exchanged for the 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, a Regular battalion, from the 8th Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division.[5]
The brigade, with the rest of the 48th Division, fought in the battles of Belgium and France, and at the battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal and had to retreat to Dunkirk be evacuated to England after the German Army threatened to cut off the entire BEF from the main French Armies. Following its withdrawal from France (where the 4th Ox and Bucks was surrounded and virtually destroyed as a fighting force near Watou) the brigade was reformed, as with most units that had fought in France, with large numbers of men who had been conscripted. With the rest of the division, the brigade was stationed in Cornwall on home defence, anticipating a possible German invasion which, fortunately, never arrived due to the attempt to gain air superiority which failed during the Battle of Britain.
In late December 1942 the division and brigade were reduced to a Lower Establishment and became a training formation in the United Kingdom. However, 7 November 1943, the 145th Brigade HQ was disbanded, and its component units were transferred elsewhere.[1] Neither the brigade nor the 48th Division were reformed when the Territorial Army was reconstituted in 1947.
Order of battle
The 145th Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:[6]
It became 145 (South) Brigade in 2007 and had its headquarters in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. It administered the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. It also directly commanded Regular Army and Territorial Army (TA) soldiers and Army cadets. These comprised one TA infantry battalion (7 Rifles), two University Officers' Training Corps (Oxford and Southampton Universities) and four Army County Cadet Forces. The Brigade moved into a new headquarters building, named Roebuck House, in November 2011. The building will be officially opened in 2012. With the disbandment of 4th Division, the brigade came under the control of the new Support Command on 2 April 2012.[8] Under Army 2020, the Brigade was renamed Headquarters 11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East in October 2014.[9]
