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119th Brigade (United Kingdom)

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Welsh Bantam Brigade
119th Brigade
Active10 December 1914–27 April 1915
27 April 1915–2 May 1918
14 June 1918–May 1919
9 November 1943–12 April 1944
Country United Kingdom
Branch New Army
TypeInfantry
RoleInfantry and deception
Size3–4 Battalions
Part of40th Division
PatronWelsh National Executive Committee
Commanders
Notable
commanders		C. Cunliffe-Owen
F.P. Crozier

The 119th Brigade (119th Bed), originally the Welsh Bantam Brigade, was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army during World War I. Part of Lord Kitchener's 'New Armies', it served in the 40th Division on the Western Front. The brigade number was reactivated for deception purposes during World War II.

Original 119th Brigade

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Alfred Leete's recruitment poster for Kitchener's Army.
Main article: 100th Brigade (United Kingdom)

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 newly-appointed 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. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'.[1][2] The K2, K3 and K4 battalions, brigades and divisions followed soon afterwards. The flood of volunteers overwhelmed the ability of the army to absorb and organise them, and by the time the Fifth New Army (K5) was authorised on 10 December 1914, many of the units were being formed by groups of men from particular localities or backgrounds who wished to serve together. Starting from London and Liverpool, the phenomenon of 'Pals battalions' quickly spread across the country, as local recruiting committees offered complete units to the War Office (WO). Thus 119th Brigade of 40th Division, formed on 10 December 1914, consisted of:[3][4][5][6]

The battalions underwent their initial training close to their homes. Training for active service was held up for all the K5 units by the lack of equipment and instructors.[10] On 10 April 1915 the WO decided to convert the K4 battalions into reserve units, to provide drafts for the K1–K3 battalions after they went overseas. The K4 divisions were broken up and the first six K5 divisions (37–42) and their constituent brigades were given the numbers of the disbanded K4 formations on 27 April 1915. 119th Brigade became 100th Brigade in 33rd Division. The later K5 formations then took up the vacant numbers.[11][12][13]

New 119th Brigade

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One of the organisations recruiting for Kitchener's Army was the 'Welsh National Executive Committee' (WNEC). On 28 September 1914 David Lloyd George addressed a meeting of representatives from all over Wales, at which the committee was formed to seek permission to form a complete Welsh Army Corps of two divisions. The WO accepted the WNEC's proposal on 10 October and enrolment began. At the time a large number of otherwise medically fit volunteers were being turned away because they did not meet the minimum height requirement of the prewar Regular Army, of 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm). Alfred Bigland, the Member of Parliament for Birkenhead, persuaded Kitchener that this pool of potential manpower should be tapped, and he was given authority to raise a battalion of 'Bantams' (named after the small but pugnacious fighting cock). Three Bantam battalions were quickly raised at Birkenhead for the Cheshire Regiment, many of them coal miners who had travelled long distances to enlist, including from Wales, and the scheme spread to other areas.[14][15][16] The WNEC accordingly began recruiting Welsh Bantams in December 1914. Initially these were into battalions already authorised for the three brigades of 1st Welsh Division, but soon afterwards it was realised that a complete Welsh Army Corps was over-ambitious. Only the 1st Welsh Division would be completed (as the 38th (Welsh) Division), but a fourth brigade would be created from the bantams: the Welsh Bantam Brigade with the following order of battle:[17][18][19]

On 27 April 1915 a new 40th Division was authorised to replace the disbanded K4 formation: the Welsh Bantam Bde was assigned to it and when the military authorities took over its administration from the WNEC on 27 August it formally adopted the identity of the disbanded 119th Brigade.[11][17][30]

Training

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The battalions began their training scattered over Wales:[31]

From 12 July 1915 the battalions began moving to a new hutted camp at Prees Heath near Whitchurch, Shropshire. Retired Lieutenant-Colonel Rodney Style, formerly of the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), was appointed on 22 July to command the brigade with the rank of Brigadier-General. After two months' training at Prees Heath 119th Bde moved in September to Aldershot where 40th Division was assembling. The brigade moved into the training area at Blackdown Camp in December. 40th Division had been intended to be a second Bantam division (after 35th Division), but the supply of recruits was insufficient and the other two brigades were hybrids, with just two Bantam battalions each. Worse, many of the men enlisted by these battalions were not simply undersized but actually unfit for service, unlike 119th Bde's 'hardy, well-knit Welshmen'. 120th and 121st Brigades had to be completely reorganised with normal battalions, holding up the division's training for several months. Once this reorganisation was completed in late February 1916 the training was intensified. In the spring there was a rumour that it would be deployed to Ireland to help suppress the Easter Rising, but this did not happen. Instead in mid-May it was warned to prepare to move to the Western Front. Brigadier-Gen Style had been replaced earlier in the month by an officer with recent battle experience, Brig-Gen Charles Prichard from the Northamptonshire Regiment. Mobilisation was completed between 27 and 31 May and the battalions began entraining on 1 June for embarkation at Southampton Docks. They disembarked at Le Havre in France and by 9 June the division had completed its concentration in the Lillers area near Béthune.[17][32][33][34][35][36][37]

Operations

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After joining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) the division's units were sent to the front to be attached by companies to battalions of 1st Division for their introduction to trench warfare.[33][38]

During this time 119th Bde was joined by its auxiliary units:[17][32]

  • 119th Brigade Machine Gun (MG) Company, Machine Gun Corps – formed at Grantham, disembarked at Le Havre 17 June 1916 and joined at Bruay on 19 June
  • 115th Trench Mortar Battery (TMB) – formed within the brigade by 25 June 1916; personnel seconded from the infantry battalions; equipped with 3-inch Stokes mortars[39]

40th Division then took over the Calonne sector from 1st Division on 3 July. Although both armies were concentrating on the Somme Offensive further south, units in the Calonne sector still saw casualties mount up during the summer, from enemy bombardments, snipers and trench mortars. The units were also expected to carry out regular trench raids: 18th WR of 119th Bde carried out the division's first in July. But by 15 August the brigade had only made one more (by 12th SWB two days earlier), and this lack of activity may have contributed to the replacement of Brig-Gen Prichard on that day by Charles Cunliffe-Owen, previously Commander, Royal Artillery, of Australian Corps. Under Cunliffe-Owen the brigade's raiding increased considerably, but he was being groomed for higher command and only stayed with 119th Bde for three months before he left. He was succeeded by a noted 'fighting general',[40] Brig-Gen Frank Crozier, previously commanding officer of 9th Royal Irish Rifles in 36th (Ulster) Division.[17][32][36][33][41][42][43]

Crozier was warned when he took over 119th Bde that it was the worst in the division. His followed Napoleon's dictum 'There are no bad soldiers, only bad colonels', and his thorough training of the brigade was accompanied by a through weeding out of battalion commanders and staff officers he considered unfit for their positions.[44][45]

Hindenburg Line

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During the bitter winter of 1916–17 40th Division remained in the mud of the old Somme battlefield, continuing its training where possible, with emphasis on Lewis guns and the new 'fighting platoon' tactics.[46][47][48] Trench-raiding by both sides resumed when the weather improved in March 1917 – 40th Division was ordered to penetrate into the German lines at least once a week. On 17 March 12th SWB raided the enemy line under cover of bad weather, and reported it only lightly held. That day the Germans had begun withdrawing from in front of 40th Division. This was part of a large-scale retreat to the prepared positions of the Hindenburg Line (Operation Alberich). The division immediately began cautiously following up, with patrols out in front, in contact with German rearguards. It passed through Péronne on 18 March. On 21 March Brig-Gen Crozier was ordered to form a 'flying column' for the pursuit. This consisted of 17th WR, the corps mounted troops, a section of Royal Field Artillery with a proportion of the Divisional Ammunition Column, a platoon from the divisional pioneers (12th Green Howards) a section of 137th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, and 119th Bde HQ and signals. To their disappointment, they were not allowed to go any faster than the daily objective lines laid down by the staff.< The division continued its deliberate advance until the evening of 24 March when it was leapfrogged by another division taking the lead. 40th Division was then set to repairing the roads and railways that had been destroyed by the retreating enemy. Crozier found that his little Welsh miners excelled at this work. Once communications had been restored, XV Corps, to which 40th Division belonged, closed up to the Hindenburg Line during the first three weeks of April.[17][32][49][50][51][52]

40th Division now faced the line of fortified villages that formed the outpost screen for the Hindenburg Line. It was here that German resistance stiffened and 119th Bde fought its first offensive actions, 12th SWB taking 'Fifteen Ravine', the WR taking a ridge named 'Welsh Ridge' and 19th RWF taking La Vacquerie and renaming it 'Fusilier Ridge'. The brigade then spent the next five months in this area, consolidating and developing the new British front line, and patrolling No man's land (in which Crozier took a personal role). Crozier also continued to remove unsuitable commanding officers until he had a team that he trusted.[17][32][53][54][55]

Bourlon Wood

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Later in the year, 119th Brigade took a leading part in the capture of Bourlon Wood (23–25 November) during the Battle of Cambrai. Despite the formation's lack of experience of fighting with tanks, 40th Division's attack was the most successful on 23 November. Once inside the wood, Crozier found that both flanks were in the air, but stocked his positions with food and ammunition to hold out against fierce counter-attacks. Although 119th Brigade was relieved by the Guards Division after epic fighting, the cavalry failed to move through to continue the battle.[56][57][58]

After the losses of 1917 the Welsh Bantam Brigade had almost disappeared and in February 1918 it was reorganised. 19th Royal Welsh Fusiliers sent a draft to one of its Regular battalions and was then disbanded, as were 12th South Wales Borderers and 17th Welsh; the remaining men of these battalions were transferred to entrenching battalions. Only 18th Welsh of the original brigade remained; this was joined by 13th East Surrey Regiment and 21st Middlesex Regiment (from 120th Brigade and 121st Brigade respectively in 40th Division). The Brigade Machine Gun Company left to join the Divisional Machine Gun Battalion. [17][32][59]

German Spring Offensive

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119th Brigade took part in the following further actions during the German spring offensive of 1918: [17][32]

After suffering heavy losses in these actions, 40th Division was withdrawn from the Line and temporarily formed into two Composite Brigades. No 2 Composite Brigade formed under Brig-Gen Crozier on 27 April 1918 consisted of:[17][60]

2 Composite Brigade was engaged in digging the Poperinghe Line in case of further German breakthroughs. It was withdrawn on 2 May, and in common with the rest of the division the units were reduced to training cadres and sent to England.[17][61]

Reconstitution

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In June 1918, 40th Division was reconstituted from 'Garrison Guard' battalions composed of men of Medical Category 'B1'. The division was officially revived on 14 June, when 119th Brigade (still under Crozier) had the following composition: [17][32] [62][63]

The division was sent to hold the West Hazebrouck Line, a reserve position that was being prepared in case of a further German breakthrough. 119th Brigade, together with a company of Royal Engineers and seven labour companies, was assigned the northern part of this line.[67][68] By dint of 'weeding out' the least fit men and by hard training, the reconstituted formation was made ready for frontline service; the battalions officially dropped the 'Garrison' part of their titles on 13 July 1918.[17][32][69][70] On 18 July, 119th Brigade was the first part of the division to re-enter the frontline, taking over a trench sector under command of 1st Australian Division until the end of the month.[71] The brigade was back in the line in August, taking a full part in trench raids, encouraged by Crozier's offer of a £5 reward for the first German prisoner brought in, and £1 for each subsequent capture.[72][73]

Advance to Victory

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On 27 August the reconstituted division made its first attack, with 119th Brigade contributing 13th Inniskilling Fusiliers and a company of 12th North Staffords.[74] For the next few weeks the brigade followed the retreating Germans towards the River Lys with fighting patrols and some small sharp actions were fought. The brigade then took a full part in the 'Final Advance' of October–November 1918 from the Lys to the Scheldt. After dark on 8 November Crozier crossed the Scheldt by pontoon bridges with 13th East Lancashires and 12th North Staffords and by the following morning 119th Brigade had occupied a line across the railway on the higher ground beyond.[17][75][76] After this, 40th Division was withdrawn from the Front, and hostilities ended on 11 November with the signing of the Armistice with Germany.[17][77][78]

Disbandment

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After the Armistice, the division was engaged in road repair and refresher courses for men returning to civilian trades. Demobilisation proceeded rapidly during January and February 1919, and its units were reduced to cadre strength by March. The final cadres disappeared during May.[17]

Commanders

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The following officers commanded the Welsh Bantam Brigade/119th Brigade during World War I: [17]

  • Brigadier-General R.C. Style (from 22 July 1915)
  • Brigadier-General C.S. Prichard (from 8 May 1916)
  • Brigadier-General C. Cunliffe-Owen (from 16 August 1916)
  • Lieutenant-Colonel E.A. Pope, 12th SWB (acting, 16–20 November 1916)
  • Brigadier-General F.P. Crozier (from 20 November 1916)

Brigade-majors

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The following officers served as Brigade major of 119th Bde during World War I:

Insignia

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41st Division's insignia.

Initially, 40th Division used a white diamond as its formation sign; later the diamond was superimposed on a bantam cock (which had already been used by the bantam 35th Division) even though only 119th Bde was composed of bantams by then. After the fighting in Bourlon Wood the division added an acorn and two oak leaves on the diamond. This final version was issued as a cloth arm badge in late 1917 or early 1918.[81]

Subformations of 40th Division adopted various coloured diamonds as their insignia. 119th Brigade used a diamond quartered in red, blue, yellow and green for HQ and brigade troops such as 119th MG Company and 119th TMB. However, the individual battalions within 119th Bde wore various coloured geometric shapes on the upper sleeve:[82][83]

  • 19th RWF: a horizontal rectangle bisected horizontally red over blue
  • 12th SWB: a green horizontal rectangle
  • 17th WR: a dark blue triangle
  • 18th WR: a yellow tape across the base of the shoulder strap for ORs, at the top of the sleeve for officers

World War II

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119th Brigade was never reformed, but the number was used for deception purposes during World War II. 30th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, a line of communication unit serving in 43rd Brigade in Sicily and composed mainly of men below Medical Category 'A', was redesignated '119th Infantry Brigade' and acted as if it were a full brigade in an equally fictitious '40th Infantry Division' from November 1943 until April 1944.[84]

Memorial

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40th Division's memorial is an altar in Bourlon Church dedicated on 27 May 1928 to those who died in Bourlon Wood in November 1917.[85]

Notes

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  1. ^ War Office Instructions No 32 (6 August) and No 37 (7 August).
  2. ^ Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8.
  3. ^ Becke, Pt 3b, Appendix 2.
  4. ^ Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 31–9.
  5. ^ 33rd Division at Long, Long Trail.
  6. ^ War Office Instruction No 56 of September 1915, Appendix IX.
  7. ^ James, p. 86.
  8. ^ a b James, pp. 93–4.
  9. ^ James, p. 95.
  10. ^ Becke, Pt 3b, p. 17.
  11. ^ a b Becke, Pt 3b, Appendices 1 & 2.
  12. ^ James, Appendix II, p. 127.
  13. ^ War Office Instruction No 96 of 10 April 1915.
  14. ^ Becke, Pt 3b, p. 57.
  15. ^ McGreal, pp. 21–48.
  16. ^ Taylor, pp. 23–7, 38–9.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 101–8.
  18. ^ Taylor, pp. 27–9, 38–9.
  19. ^ War Office Instruction No 138 of 14 June 1915.
  20. ^ a b James, p. 68.
  21. ^ a b Taylor, pp. 34–6.
  22. ^ a b Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Long, Long Trail.
  23. ^ a b James, p. 69.
  24. ^ a b Taylor, pp. 36–7.
  25. ^ a b South Wales Borderers at Long, Long Trail.
  26. ^ a b c d James, p. 83.
  27. ^ a b c Taylor, pp. 29–32.
  28. ^ a b c d Welsh Regiment at Long, Long Trail.
  29. ^ Taylor, pp. 32–4.
  30. ^ Taylor, pp. 39–40.
  31. ^ Taylor, p. 40.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h i 40th Division at Long, Long Trail.
  33. ^ a b c Atkinson, pp. 230–1.
  34. ^ Taylor, pp. 38–41, 66–70, 78.
  35. ^ a b c Taylor, pp. 73–4.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g h i Taylor, Appendix VI.
  37. ^ Whitton, pp. 1, 7–26.
  38. ^ Taylor, pp. 78–83.
  39. ^ Farndale, Annex G.
  40. ^ Obituary, The Times (London) 1 September 1937.
  41. ^ Atkinson, pp. 292–3.
  42. ^ Taylor, pp. 85–93, 105–15.
  43. ^ Whitton, pp. 27–30, 35–40.
  44. ^ Crozier, pp. 131–3.
  45. ^ Taylor, pp. 131–42.
  46. ^ Crozier, pp. 133–40.
  47. ^ Griffith, pp. 77–9.
  48. ^ Taylor, pp. 142–3.
  49. ^ Crozier, pp. 138–42.
  50. ^ Falls, 1917, Vol I, pp. 123, 134–5.
  51. ^ Taylor, pp. 143–4.
  52. ^ Whitton, pp. 51–60.
  53. ^ Crozier, pp. 131–53.
  54. ^ Taylor, pp. 144–9.
  55. ^ Whitton, pp. 75–85.
  56. ^ Crozier, pp. 177–81.
  57. ^ Cooper, pp. 151–4.
  58. ^ Whitton, pp. 121–46.
  59. ^ Crozier, p 189.
  60. ^ Whitton, pp. 268.
  61. ^ Whitton, pp. 272–3.
  62. ^ Whitton, pp. 274–6.
  63. ^ Crozier, pp. 213–5.
  64. ^ Royal Inninskilling Fusiliers at Long, Long Trail
  65. ^ East Lancashires at Long, Long Trail
  66. ^ North Staffords at Long, Long Trail
  67. ^ Whitton, pp. 274–5.
  68. ^ Crozier, p. 216.
  69. ^ Crozier, pp. 216–23.
  70. ^ Whitton, pp. 275–8.
  71. ^ Whitton, pp. 278–9.
  72. ^ Crozier, p. 217.
  73. ^ Whitton, pp. 280–1.
  74. ^ Whitton, p. 281.
  75. ^ Crozier, p. 227.
  76. ^ Edmonds, p. 547.
  77. ^ Whitton, p. 309.
  78. ^ Crozier, p. 229.
  79. ^ a b c Taylor, p. 141.
  80. ^ a b c Taylor, pp. 190–1.
  81. ^ Elderton & Gibbs, p. 51.
  82. ^ Hibberd, p. 45.
  83. ^ Taylor, p. 87.
  84. ^ Joslen, pp. 288, 310.
  85. ^ Taylor, pp. 222.

References

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  • C.T. Atkinson, The History of the South Wales Borderers 1914–1918, London: Medici Society, 1931.
  • 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, 1938/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-41-X.* Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3b: New Army Divisions (30–41) and 63rd (R.N.) Division, London: HM Stationery Office, 1939/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-84734-741-X.
  • Bryan Cooper, The Ironclads of Cambrai, London: Souvenir Press 1967/Pan 1970, ISBN 0-330-02579-1.
  • Brig-Gen F.P. Crozier, A Brass Hat in No Man's Land, London: Jonathan Cape, 1930/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-78151-946-2.
  • Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds & Lt-Col R. Maxwell-Hyslop, History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1918, Vol V, 26th September–11th November, The Advance to Victory, London: HM Stationery Office, 1947/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1993, ISBN 1-870423-06-2/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2021, ISBN 978-1-78331-624-3.
  • Clive Elderton & Gary Gibbs, World War One British Army Corps and Divisional Signs, Wokingham: Military History Society, 2018.
  • Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Western Front 1914–18, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986, ISBN 1-870114-00-0.
  • Mike Hibberd, Infantry Divisions, Identification Schemes 1917, Wokingham: Military History Society, 2016.* Brig E.A. James, British Regiments 1914–18, London: Samson Books, 1978, ISBN 0-906304-03-2/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-84342-197-9.
  • 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, 1990, ISBN 0-948130-03-2/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, ISBN 1-843424-74-6.
  • Stephen McGreal, The Cheshire Bantams: 15th, 16th and 17th Battalions of the Cheshire Regiment, Barnsley:Pen & Sword, 2006, ISBN 1-84415-524-2.
  • Michael Anthony Taylor, No Bad Soldiers: 119 Infantry Brigade and Brigadier-General Frank Percy Crozier in the Great War, Warwick: Helion, 2022, ISBN 978-1-91507084-5.
  • Lt-Col F.E. Whitton, History of the 40th Division Aldershot: Gale & Polden, 1926/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-84342-870-1.

External sources

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