38th ( Irish ) Infantry Brigade The 38th Brigade , now 38 ( Irish ) Brigade , was organised as a British Army formation during World War II . It was composed of Irish battalions and served with distinction in the Tunisian and Italian campaigns . History . The original 38th Brigade , formed in 1914 , was one of the brigades of 13th ( Western ) Division , one of the volunteer formations raised as part of Kitchener ' s Army . It was composed of Lancashire battalions and fought in the Gallipoli and Mesopotamian campaigns . It was disbanded in 1919 . 38 Brigade was reformed as 38th ( Irish ) Brigade on 13 January 1942 by converting the 210th Independent Infantry Brigade ( Home ) , a Home Defence formation organised in 1940 . 210 Bde had been serving in Dorset County Division . When that division was disbanded on 24 November 1941 , 210 Bde transferred to 1st Infantry Division . By then all of 210 Bde ' s English home defence battalions had been posted away and were being replaced by frontline Irish battalions . In June 1942 the 38th Brigade transferred to 6th Armoured Division and it landed in North Africa with that formation on 22 November 1942 . In March 1943 it joined 78th ( Battleaxe ) Infantry Division and fought with distinction in the Tunisia Campaign , Sicily , and Italy as part of this highly regarded division until the end of World War II , though during May 1945 it was detached to both 46th Division and 6th Armoured Division . The brigade then was alloted occupation duties in Carinthia in southern Austria , and was eventually formally disbanded in April 1947 . 38 ( Irish ) Brigade reformed on 1 August 2007 , as part of a new combined divisional / brigade structure called HQ Northern Ireland and 38 ( Irish ) Brigade after the disbandment of HQ Northern Ireland and has its Headquarters at Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn . The Brigade subsequently came under command of the 2nd Division , the regional division for Scotland , the North of England and Northern Ireland , on 1 January 2009 . It is now the Regional Brigade responsible for administering the Territorial Army within Northern Ireland . This was the culmination of a drawdown of military headquarters in Northern Ireland , which had seen the disbandment of 3 Infantry Brigade , 8 Infantry Brigade , 39 Infantry Brigade and 107 ( Ulster ) Brigade . Today the Territorial soldiers from the Brigade have served on operations supporting the Regular Army in the Balkans , on Operation TOSCA in Cyprus , on Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan and Operation TELIC in Iraq . At home the Brigade has the key role of providing the Civil Contingency Reaction Force for Northern Ireland . With this combination , it therefore had pre - war Regular , Territorial and war - time raised units within its structure . World War II Commanders . The following officers commanded 38 ( Irish ) Bde : Formations Served Under . Source : Current Structure . Units supporting 38 ( Irish ) Brigade : Insignia . The current Brigade insignia is a green shamrock on a circular , sand - coloured , background . This insignia was adopted to differentiate it from the World War II design which is now too similar to the design of the tactical recognition flash ( TRF ) worn by the Royal Irish Regiment