126th ( East Lancashire ) Brigade The 126th ( East Lancashire ) Brigade was a formation of the British Army during World War I and World War II . It was assigned to the 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Division and served in the Middle East and on the Western Front in WWI . In WWII it was at Dunkirk and was then converted into an armoured brigade . Formation . On the creation of the Territorial Force in 1908 , two battalions from the East Lancashire Regiment and two from the Manchester Regiment were organised into an East Lancashire Brigade within the East Lancashire Division . World War I . On the outbreak of World War I , the men volunteered for overseas service and the division embarked at Southampton and sailed for Egypt on 10 September 1914 , the first TF division to leave England for foreign service . The division began disembarking at Alexandria on 25 September and the bulk ( including the E . Lancs Brigade ) concentrated at Cairo . Order of battle . During World War I the East Lancashire Brigade was constituted as follows : Commanders . The following officers commanded The East Lancashire Brigade during World War I : Egypt and Gallipoli . The East Lancashire Division remained in Egypt training and manning the Suez Canal defences until 1 May 1915 when it embarked at Alexandria for Gallipoli . The East Lancashire Brigade first went into action at the Third Battle of Krithia In late May 1915 the division was numbered as 42nd ( 1st East Lancashire ) Division – taking the lowest number of any TF division in recognition that it was the first to go overseas – and the brigades were also numbered , the East Lancashire becoming 126th ( 1st East Lancashire ) Brigade . The battalions adopted the prefix ' 1 / ' ( becoming 1 / 4th East Lancs , for example ) to distinguish them from their 2nd Line duplicates then training in the UK as the 198th ( 2 / 1st East Lancashire ) Brigade in 66th ( 2nd East Lancashire ) Division . The 126th Brigade participated in the Battle of Krithia Vineyard ( 6 – 13 August ) , where Lt William Forshaw of 1 / 9th Manchesters won a Victoria Cross , and then for the rest of 1915 was engaged in trench warfare . After the evacuation from Gallipoli , the division returned to Egypt in January 1916 with less than half the strength with which it had set out . It remained in the Canal Defences for the whole of 1916 , rebuilding its strength , and taking part in the Battle of Romani ( 4 – 5 August ) . Western Front . In January 1917 , 42nd Division was ordered to France , the move being completed by mid - March . It spent the remainder of the war on the Western Front . During 1917 it formed part of Fourth Army in ' quiet sectors ' ( though the brigade commander was wounded in September that year ) and taking part in some minor operations along the Flanders coast . In 1918 the division became part of IV Corps in Third Army , in which it remained for the rest of the war . When British infantry brigades were reduced to three battalions in February 1918 , 1 / 4th East Lancs and 1 / 9th Manchesters transferred to the 66th ( 2nd East Lancashire ) Division where they merged with their 2nd line battalions . 126th Brigade received 1 / 8th Manchesters from 127th Brigade in 42nd Division . At the same time , the machine gun company left to join a new divisional machine gun battalion . During the German Spring Offensive ( Operation Michael or the First Battles of the Somme 1918 ) , the troops of 42nd Division took part in the Battle of Bapaume ( 24 – 25 March ) , First Battle of Arras ( 28 March ) and the Battle of Ancre ( 5 April ) . Then , during the Allied Hundred Days Offensive , it participated in the Battle of Albert ( 21 – 23 August ) and the Second Battle of Bapaume ( 31 August – 3 September ) during the fighting on the Somme . When the Hindenburg Line was breached during the Battle of the Canal du Nord on 27 September , 126th Brigade was holding the forward outpost line , but withdrew before Zero Hour for the rest of 42nd Division to attack through it . 125th Brigade ' s attack was only partially successful , but the advance was renewed after dark , and the following afternoon 126th Brigade passed through 127th to take Welsh ridge , the final objective . Third Army ' s advance in Picardy culminated in the Battle of the Selle on 20 October . On 42nd Division ' s front , 1 / 5th East Lancashires ( with its band playing ) and 1 / 10th Manchesters of 126th Brigade led the attack over footbridges laid by the engineers over the River Selle . The Official History records that " ' Very fierce fighting took place on the strongly held railway line , and it was two and a half hours before it was finally mopped up by the companies detailed for the purpose . The portion to the north of the attack up to the edge of Solesmes was dealt with by a company of the Manchester ' . " The rest of the division then moved on towards the final objective . After the Selle , 42nd Division was withdrawn into reserve and halted around Beauvois - en - Cambrésis from 24 October until the advance was resumed on 3 November . On 7 November the 42nd Division was tasked to take the high ground west of Hautmont and if possible to capture the town . The division was held up by enfilade fire from the right , and 126th Brigade did no more than occupy some of the high ground . 125th Brigade was therefore ordered to pass through it the next morning and advance to the objective . But the 126th , ' in an endeavour to atone for its slowness on the 7th ' , pushed on and reached Hautmont before 125th could catch up . By 10 November the most forward troops were on the Maubeuge – Avesnes - sur - Helpe road . This was the end of the fighting , because the Armistice with Germany came into the effect the following day . In December the division moved into quarters in the Charleroi area and by mid - March 1919 most of its troops had gone home for demobilisation . World War II . The 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Division and its components were reformed in the Territorial Army in 1920 . On the outbreak of World War II 126th Infantry Brigade once again mobilised as a 1st Line formation . However , 4th Bn Border Regiment was quickly posted away , and the brigade received the Regular 1st Bn East Lancashires in its place . Order of Battle . 126 Brigade was constituted as follows during World War II : Commanders . The following officers commanded 126 Brigade during World War II : Dunkirk . 126 Brigade landed in France on 15 April 1940 . During the Battle of France the division helped to hold the line of the River Escaut and the canals , until the British Expeditionary Force was forced to withdraw . When 42nd Division was evacuated from Dunkirk , 126 Bde remained behind , transferring to 1st Division for the final part of the battle and only being evacuated on 2 June . Back in England it rejoined 42nd Division . Conversion . On 1 November 1941 , 42nd Division was converted into 42nd Armoured Division , and 126 Bde was renamed 11th Armoured Brigade . Its infantry battalions became tank battalions of the Royal Armoured Corps as 107th Regiment RAC ( King ' s Own ) , 110th Regiment RAC ( Border Regiment ) and 111th Regiment RAC ( Manchester Regiment ) .