127th ( Manchester ) Brigade The 127th ( Manchester ) 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 support group . Formation . After the creation of the Territorial Force in 1908 , four battalions of the Manchester Regiment were organised into a Manchester 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 Manchester Brigade ) concentrated at Cairo . Order of Battle . During World War I the Manchester 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 Manchester 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 127th ( 1st Manchester ) 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 199th ( 2 / 1st Manchester ) Brigade in 66th ( 2nd East Lancashire ) Division . The 127th Brigade participated in the Battle of Krithia Vineyard ( 6 – 13 August ) 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 killed in May 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 / 8th Manchesters transferred to 126th 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 , 127th Brigade ' s attack was completely successful . The rest of 42nd Division then passed through to continue the attack . 125th Brigade ' s follow - up 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 . 126th Brigade led the division ' s attack over footbridges laid by the engineers over the River Selle . 1 / 5th and 1 / 6th Manchesters of 127th Brigade then followed up to an intermediate objective . The division then had to wheel right , and was held up . But in the afternoon the attack was resumed and 127th Brigade pushed on to the final objective , which 1 / 6th Manchesters took after dark without much difficulty . 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 captured Hautmont and the high ground to its west . By 10 November the most forward troops of 42nd Division 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 127th Infantry Brigade once again mobilised as a 1st Line formation . Order of Battle . 127 Brigade was constituted as follows during World War II : Commanders . The following officers commanded 127 Brigade during World War II : Dunkirk . 127 Brigade landed in France on 24 April 1940 , where 8th Bn Manchesters were sent on to Malta and the brigade received the Regular 1st Bn Highland Light Infantry in exchange . When the German attack on France and the Low Countries began , 127 Bde was assigned to ' Macforce ' , a scratch force commanded by the Director of Military Intelligence with the British Expeditionary Force , Lt - Gen Noel Mason - Macfarlane . Macforce assembled on 17 May with the role of covering the crossings over the River Scarpe As German pressure increased , the BEF was forced to withdraw and 126 Bde returned to 42nd Division on 20 May . It was evacuated from Dunkirk on 30 May . Conversion . On 1 November 1941 , 42nd Division was converted into 42nd Armoured Division , and 127 Bde was renamed 42nd Support Group . Apart from 1st Bn East Lancashires , its infantry battalions were replaced by artillery regiments . On 1 June 1942 the support group was disbanded , its headquarters becoming the Royal Artillery HQ for the division .