Light Infantry Brigade
Encyclopedia
The Light Infantry Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 light infantry
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...

 regiments.

After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry depots, each bearing a letter. Infantry Depot J at Farnborough, Hants was the headquarters for the six English light infantry regiments. In 1948, the depots adopted names and this depot became the Light Infantry Brigade, with all regiments being reduced to a single battalion at the same time.

The Light Infantry Brigade was formed on 14 July 1948 , combining the depots of the following regiments:
  • The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)
    The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)
    The Somerset Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. Its lineage is continued today by The Rifles.-Formation:...

  • The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
  • The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
  • The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
  • The King's Shropshire Light Infantry
    The King's Shropshire Light Infantry
    The King's Shropshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. The KSLI was amalgamated with three other county light infantry regiments in 1968 to became part of The Light Infantry...

  • The Durham Light Infantry


Under the Defence Review
1957 Defence White Paper
The 1957 White Paper on Defence was a British white paper setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected was the British aircraft industry...

 announced in July, 1957, the infantry of the line was reorganised, and by 1959 the Brigade was reduced to four battalions:
  • On April 1, 1958 the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry were transferred to the Green Jackets Brigade
    Green Jackets Brigade
    The Green Jackets Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the English rifle regiments. The designation "Green Jackets" was derived from their rifle green tunics indicating their status as rifles....

  • October 6, 1959 the Somerset Light Infantry and the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry were amalgamated as the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry
    Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry
    The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army.It was formed in 1959 by the merger of two regiments: The Somerset Light Infantry and The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry...



From 1958 all regiments adopted a common brigade cap badge, a silver bugle-horn.

On July 1, 1968 the Light Infantry Brigade was united with the Green Jackets Brigade, to form the Light Division. Nine days later, the four light infantry regiments were amalgamated into a single "large regiment" named The Light Infantry
The Light Infantry
The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. It was formed on 10 July 1968 as a "large regiment" by the amalgamation of the four remaining light infantry regiments of the Light Infantry Brigade:...

.
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