1st Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)


The 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade is an infantry brigade of the British Army with a long history including service during both World War I and World War II. It is based at Tidworth Camp. Previously, it has been designated 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Mechanised Brigade, and under the initial Army 2020 reforms assumed the title of 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade.

Early history

Following the end of the Second Boer War in 1902, the army was restructured and the 1st Guards Brigade was established permanently as part of the 1st Division in the 1st Army Corps, stationed at Aldershot Garrison.

First World War

Initially designated as the 1st Brigade, the brigade was part of 1st Division during the First World War. Upon creation of the Guards Division in August 1915, the brigade lost 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards and 1st Battalion, Scots Guards, both to 2nd Guards Brigade, and was redesignated without the Guards reference in its title as the 1st Brigade. It was with the 1st Division on the Western Front throughout the war. It saw action at the Battle of Mons and subsequent Great Retreat, the First Battle of the Marne, the First Battle of the Aisne, the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Loos, the Battle of Aubers Ridge, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Passchendaele, the Battle of Pozières and the Battle of Épehy, part of the final Hundred Days Offensive, which broke the back of the German Army, leading to an Armistice.

Order of battle

The brigade was composed as follows during the war:
Remaining active during the interwar period as the 1st Brigade, the brigade, still part of the 1st Infantry Division, was sent to France in September 1939 during World War II as part of the British Expeditionary Force and it later took part in the Battle of France in May–June 1940 and the subsequent Battle of Dunkirk and were evacuated to England, spending the next few years on home defence anticipating a German invasion of England.
at Bachy, France, December 1939.
On 11 April 1942, the brigade was redesignated and reorganised as 1st Independent Brigade Group , with its own support units, until August when it was transferred to the 78th Infantry Division. In late 1942, it took part in the North African Campaign in Operation Torch: the Allied landings in French North Africa, arriving in Algiers in November 1942.
The brigade participated in the Run for Tunis and was transferred to the 6th Armoured Division in early 1943 and saw action in the Tunisia Campaign at the Battle of Fondouk, Battle of El Kourzia and Battle of Tunis in April and May 1943. Subsequently, the 1st Brigade served on the Italian Front for the rest of the war under command of various divisions, seeing action in the Battle of Monte Cassino and the Battle of Liri Valley in May 1944. The brigade then fought on the Gothic Line and in the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy.

Order of battle

The 1st Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:
Between 11 April 1942 and 7 August 1942 the following units formed the 1st Independent Brigade Group :
After the War, the brigade, having lost its 'Guards' title, was transferred to Palestine for internal security duties and then to Egypt for a few months before going back to Palestine in April 1946. Two years later, as the British mandate over Palestine ended, the brigade and division returned to Egypt. In October 1951, British forces pulled out of Egypt outside of the Suez Canal Zone, and later the brigade returned to the United Kingdom, though it was in Cyprus during the EOKA insurgency for a period in 1957-8. It then became part of the UK Mobile Force allocated to the reinforcement of Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland. In that role, Territorial Army components would have been included on mobilisation, including the 1st Battalion The Wessex Regiment and the 74th Engineer Regiment.
After the end of the Cold War, it was reassigned as part of the new 3rd Division and subsequently became a Mechanised Brigade. In 1996, it was deployed to the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, with Multi-National Division ; in 2000, it was deployed to Sierra Leone and, in 2002, to Kosovo.
The brigade was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick XVIII. It was deployed again in 2014, commanded by Brigadier Rupert Jones.

Current formation

Under Army 2020, it was renamed as 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade and remained at Tidworth Camp, forming part of the Reaction Force. A parliamentary reply stated that the 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade will form up as a Strike Brigade by 2020.
The Brigade consists of the following units:
The following officers commanded the brigade during the Second World War:
Recent commanders have included: