The 215th Brigade was part of the 72nd Division, a Home Service division raised in late 1916. It had the dual role of training men for overseas drafts and providing forces for home defence. The brigade was previously known as the 8th Provisional Brigade.[1][2] The brigade was commanded from 1 November 1916 to 17 January 1918 by Brigadier-General P.W.Hendry.[1] On 21 December 1917 orders were issued to break up 72nd Division. Disbandment began in January 1918 and its last elements dispersed on 8 April 1918.[2]
A new brigade was formed under the title of 215th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), for service in the United Kingdom, on 10 October 1940 when the No 15 Infantry Training Group was redesignated. It was composed of newly raised infantry battalions.[3] Home brigades had a purely static defence role.[4][5] The brigade briefly served under 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division (10 February–16 March 1941) and then became an integral part of the new Durham and North Riding County Division. The county division ceased to function on 1 December 1941, and the brigade headquarters was disbanded on 22 December 1941.[3][6]
A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN1-847347-39-8.
George Forty, "British Army Handbook 1939-1945", Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1998, ISBN0-7509-1403-3.
J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN1-85117-007-3.
J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN1-85117-009-X.
Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN978-1-84342-474-1.
United Kingdom
British Army
