History of 39 Infantry Brigade |
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The original 39 Brigade was formed in the First World War, when it was part of 13 (Western) Division, which was raised on the authority of Army Order No. 324, issued on 21st August 1914. It was one of the first New Army Divisions raised by Lord Kitchener. The first group of six Divisions is referred to as K1 or the First Kitchener Army, but should not be thought of as an 'Army' in the traditional sense, but rather as an administrative grouping. |
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At this time the Army was organised into eight administrative areas, the Scottish, Irish, Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern and Aldershot Commands and London District. The focus for Aldershot was then involved in the deployment of the British Expeditionay Force and London District was insufficiently large to take on the task of raising new formations, leaving the six large command headquarters to raise new divisions. |
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The three brigades that made up the Division were 38, 39 and 40 Brigades. The Division sailed from Avonmouth on 18 June 1915 for Alexandria and during the war it was to see service at Galliopoli and in Mesopotamia. |
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At this time 39 Brigade was made up of the following fighting units:
9th (Service) Battalion The Royal Warwicksire Regiment
7th (Service) Battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment
9th (Service) Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment
7th (Service) Bn, the North Staffordshire Regiment |
| Its' parent formation, the 13th (Western) Division was the only wholly British Division to have served in Mesopotamia. It was formally disbanded on 17 March 1919. |
| The custom of military formations employing a sign or emblem as a form of identity stretches back into history. At the beginning of the 1914-1918 War all transport headquarters and staff armlets bore the numbers of their parent Corps and Division. |
| These numbers gradually began to have a greater meaning since the territorial affiliation of the New Army Division produced a greater esprit de corps. |
| The need to reinforce gaps caused by enormous casualties meant that it was not always possible to retain these regional links. Londoners were found serving in the Irish division and North countrymen in the Western Division. |
| Although the morale of the new Armies remained, the esprit de corps which had sprung mainly from territorial links, began to fade away. The divisional sign was devised to redress this situation. They had to be easy to draw and recognise and were usually designed by the Divisional Commanders and his staff. |
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Some retained a territorial link, the red rose of 55 (West Lancaster) Division is an example, others a cypher, but they more often sprang from the imagination of an individual. The horseshoe, with its superstitious association of good luck, was incorporated into many of these signs including that of 13 (Western) Division. 13 (Western) Division was raised in August 1914 and consisted of 38, 39 and 40th Brigades. |
| The Divisional sign, carried on all wheeled transport was worn by the men, was a black horseshoe. This choice was made for the luck it was supposed to bring and in association with the nickname given to the Division by the popular press at the time, "The Iron Division". 39 Brigade remained in the Middle East until it was finally demobilised on 31 August 1919 at Constantinople. |
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During 1939-1945 the number 39 was not allocated to any division or brigade involved in the conflict. It was not to reappear until 1 March 1951 when Headquarters 39 Independent Infantry Brigade, as part of the newly reformed 3rd division, was established in Old Park Barracks, Dover and then only by chance. It was then made up of:
1st Battalion The Buffs
1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
1st Battalion The Border Regiment |
| It was originally intended that 9 Brigade would be the Headquarters located at Dover. However under the allocation of numbers by the then new Western Union Military Organisation, it was found that the Portuguese had already laid claim to it. Hence 39 was selected from amongst the list available after a gap of thirty two years. |
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There was an individual Brigade sign at the time; that of the division, a black triangle point uppermost with a smaller red triangle point downwards superimposed was adopted. From Dover the Brigade deployed to Suez in 1952 and in the following year to Kenya, where it was to remain until the move to Northern Ireland in January 1956. |
| While in Kenya, Brigadier The Lord Thurlow decided that he wanted an original sign which would reflect the area of operations. The result was a design showing a leopard with Mount Kenya in the background. It was produced in great numbers and considerable stocks remained when the headquarters left Kenya. |
| Brigadier O G Brook assumed command of the Brigade when it reformed in Northern Ireland. Due to the relatively short tour of duty in Kenya, he decided that it was not entirely appropriate to retain the mountain and leopard sign. As his racing colours were tangerine and blue the Brigade sign became an equilateral triangle of blue, edged with tangerine. In July 1964 a change was made to a blue pennant with a superimposed tangerine 39 and thus it remained until September 1971. |
| The Brigade Commander, Brigadier F E Kitson, felt the situation confronting the Brigade at that time called for something to replace the existing pennant, that had no historical significance or emotive content. |
| A research into historical records completed the circle back to 39 Brigade of 13 (Western) Division with the horseshoe and a return to a sign that could provide a focus and promote esprit de corps. |
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| Both Commanders since the outbreak of violence in 1969 were late of Rifle Brigade, a fact which heavily influenced the final decision of a black horseshoe on a dark Brunswick green field which was sent to the Ministry of Defence for their blessing in October 1971. Since October 1971, 39 Brigade and the emblem of the black horseshoe have withstood some of the most violent terrorism seen in the search for peace in the Province. |
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