The 167th (1st London) Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Territorial Army that saw active service in both the First and Second World Wars. It was the first Territorial formation to go overseas in 1914, garrisoned Malta, and then served with the 56th (London) Infantry Division on the Western Front. In the Second World War, it fought in the North African and Italian campaigns in the Second World War.
Origin
The Volunteer Force of part-time soldiers was created following an invasion scare in 1859, and its constituent units were progressively aligned with the Regular British Army during the later 19th Century. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training.
The West London Brigade was one of the formations organised at this time. Brigade Headquarters was at 93 Cornwall Gardens in Kensington and the commander was retired Lt-Gen Lord Abinger (subsequent commanders were also retired, Regular officers). The assembly point for the brigade was at Caterham Barracks, the Brigade of Guards' depot conveniently situated for the London Defence Positions along the North Downs. The brigade's original composition was:
West London Brigade
1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
2nd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
3rd Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps
2nd Volunteer Battalion, Middlesex Regiment
11th (Railway) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps
17th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps
Supply Detachment, Army Service Corps
Bearer Company, Medical Staff Corps
The West London Brigade was redesignated the 1st London Brigade in the reorganisations following the Second Boer War.
Territorial Force
This organisation was carried over into the Territorial Force (TF) created under the Haldane Reforms in 1908, the 1st London Brigade joining the 1st London Division. All of the Volunteer Battalions in the Central London area became part of the all-Territorial London Regiment and were numbered sequentially through the London brigades and divisions:
1st London Brigade
1st (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (former 1st VB, Royal Fusiliers) 2nd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (former 2nd VB, Royal Fusiliers) 3rd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (former 11th Middlesex RVC, 3rd VB, Royal Fusiliers) 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (former 1st Tower Hamlets RVC, 4th VB, Royal Fusiliers, from East London Brigade)
The 3rd Middlesex RVC and 2nd VB Middlesex Regiment became the 7th and 8th Battalions Middlesex Regiment respectively in the Home Counties Division, while the 17th Middlesex RVC became the 19th Battalion, London Regiment (St Pancras) in the 2nd London Division.
Brigade HQ was at Friar's House, New Broad Street (the HQ of 1st London Division). On the outbreak of war in August 1914 the brigade commander was Colonel The Earl of Lucan, a former Regular officer.
First World War
The division was mobilised on the outbreak of the First World War in early August 1914 and, when asked to serve overseas (as, according to the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, Territorial soldiers were not obliged to serve overseas), most of the men of the division volunteered. Those who didn't, together with the many recruits, were formed into 2nd Line battalions, the 2/1st London Brigade, part of 2/1st London Division, which later became 58th (2/1st London) Division. The battalions adopted the prefix '1/' (1/4th Londons, for example) to distinguish them from the 2nd Line battalions, which adopted the '2/' prefix (2/4th Londons).
However, between November 1914 and April 1915, most of the battalions of the division were sent overseas either to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front or to overseas postings such as Malta (in the case of the 1/1st London Brigade) so as to relieve to Regular Army troops for service in France and Belgium and so, as a result, the 1st London Division was broken up.