46th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

The 46th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both World War I and World War II with the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division.

46th Brigade
46th Infantry Brigade
15th (Scottish) Division insignia, World War I.
Active1914–1919
1939–1946
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
SizeBrigade
EngagementsWorld War I
World War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Victor Fortune
Colin Muir Barber

First World War

The brigade was raised, as 46th Brigade, in 1914 as part of Kitchener's New Armies shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. With the 15th (Scottish) Division, the brigade saw active service on the Western Front in Belgium and France.

Order of battle

The brigade command the following units in World War I:[1]

Second World War

The brigade number was reformed just before World War II, in late August 1939, as the 46th Infantry Brigade. The brigade was raised as a 2nd Line Territorial Army (TA) formation and was part of the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, which was the duplicate of the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division. The brigade itself was formed as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 157th Infantry Brigade, being composed of the 2nd Battalion, Glasgow Highlanders and the 10th and 11th Battalions of the Highland Light Infantry (HLI). As the war progressed, however, the two HLI battalions were posted elsewhere and replaced by Scottish units from other formations.

Churchill tanks of the 4th (Armoured) Battalion, Coldstream Guards, 6th Guards Tank Brigade, and infantrymen of the 2nd Battalion, Glasgow Highlanders during the advance to the Siegfried Line, 8 February 1945.

It remained in the United Kingdom training for most of the war, crossing the channel to Normandy, France on 13 June 1944. The brigade went on to serve in the Battle of Normandy in Operation Epsom, later the Second Battle of the Odon, Operation Bluecoat, the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine, followed by Operation Veritable and the assault crossing of the Rhine, Operation Plunder.

Order of battle

The 46th Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:

Notes

  1. In May 1916 the 7th and 8th Battalions of the King's Own Scottish Borderers merged to form the 7th/8th Battalion.

References

  1. "15th (Scottish) Division". The Long Long Trail. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
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