The 94th Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Army during World War I. It was raised as part of 'Kitchener's Army' and was assigned to the 31st Division. After the original formation was converted into a reserve brigade, the number was transferred to a brigade of 'Pals battalions' from Northern England. It was sent to Egypt at the end of 1915 but was recalled to France shortly afterwards and then served on the Western Front for the rest of the war. The brigade was shattered on the First day on the Somme, but later saw action at Arras and distinguished itself at the Capture of Oppy Wood. It was temporarily disbanded in early 1918 but was reconstituted from dismounted Yeomanry regiments in time to take part in the final battles of the war.
Original 94th Brigade
On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army. The newly-appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'.War Office Instructions No 32 (6 August) and No 37 (7 August).Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8. The K2 and K3 battalions, brigades and divisions followed soon afterwards. So far, the battalions had all been formed at the depots of their parent regiments, but recruits had also been flooding in to the Special Reserve (SR) battalions (the former Militia). These were deployed at their war stations in coastal defence where they were training and equipping reservists to provide reinforcement drafts to the Regular Army fighting overseas. The SR battalions were soon well above their establishment strength and on 8 October 1914 the War Office (WO) ordered each SR battalion to use the surplus to form a service battalion of the 4th New Army ('K4'). In November K4 battalions were organised into 18 brigades numbered from 89 to 106 and formed into the 30th–35th Divisions.Becke, Pt 3b, Appendix I.James, Appendixes II & III.
Accordingly the battalions of the Special Reserve Brigade in the Harwich Garrison each split off two recruit companies to form the nucleus of the new service battalions, and on 5 November these became 94th Brigade in 31st Division:James, pp. 53, 56, 60, 86, 88.Murphy, pp. 339–40. 10th (Service) Battalion, Norfolk Regiment 10th (Service) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment 9th (Service) Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment 12th (Service) Battalion, Essex Regiment – to 106th Bde, 35th Division, 28 November 1914 11th (Service) Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment – replaced 12th Essex 28 November 1914
On 28 November Brigadier-General J.R.M. Dalrymple-Hay was appointed to command the brigade. Initially the men of 94th Bde had to drill and provide working parties for the coast defences in old red coats with dummy rifles until uniforms and equipment arrived. In early 1915 an outbreak of Cerebrospinal meningitis in the brigade caused the battalions to be scattered, the Suffolks to their regimental depot at Bury St Edmunds, the Bedfords to Mill Hill in Middlesex and the Loyals to White City, London. Training for active service was held up for all the K4 units by the lack of equipment and instructors, and by April 1915 their training was still at an elementary stage. On 10 April 1915 the WO decided to convert the K4 battalions into reserve units, to provide drafts for the K1–K3 battalions in the same way that the SR was doing for the Regular battalions. The K4 divisions were broken up and the brigades were renumbered: 94th Brigade became 6th Reserve Brigade, which re-assembled at Colchester in May 1915.War Office Instruction No 96 of 10 April 1915.
New 94th Brigade
Meanwhile, the K5 units had been forming since late 1914. These were largely raised by local initiative rather than at regimental depots, and were known as 'Pals battalions'. The first six K5 divisions (37–42) and their constituent brigades were given the numbers of the disbanded K4 formations on 27 April 1915. Thus 115th Brigade of 38th Division became the new 94th Brigade in 31st Division. This brigade, formed on 10 December 1914, consisted of battalions raised in Northern England:Becke, Pt 3b, Appendix 2.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 11–9.31st Division at Long, Long Trail.War Office Instruction No 56 of September 1915, Appendix IX. 10th (Service) Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment (Grimsby) – raised by the Mayor and Town of Grimsby on 9 September 1914; did not transfer to 94th BdeFrederick, p. 226.James, p. 54.Middlebrook, pp. 10–1. 11th (Service) Battalion, East Lancaster Regiment (Accrington) – raised by the Mayor and Town of Accrington & District on 7 September 1914; transferred to 94th Bde from 'old' 112th BdeFrederick, p. 187.James, p. 74.East Lancashire Regiment at Long, Long Trail.Jackson, pp. 15–7. 12th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment (Sheffield) – raised by the Lord Mayor and City of Sheffield on 5 September 1914Frederick, pp. 324–5.James, p. 100.York & Lancaster Regiment at Long, Long Trail.Sparling, pp. 2–3. 13th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment (1st Barnsley) – raised by the Mayor and Town of Barnsley on 17 September 1914Cooksey, pp. 31–6. 14th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment (2nd Barnsley) – raised by the Mayor and Town of Barnsley on 30 November 1914Cooksey, pp. 50–1.
The battalions underwent their initial training close to their homes – the Sheffield City Battalion at Bramall Lane cricket and football ground and in Norfolk Park, and the 1st Barnsley Pals at Queen's Ground. In December the battalions went into hutted camps outside their towns, the Sheffield City at Redmires Camp and the two Barnsley battalions at New Hall, Silkstone. After the brigades were renumbered, the new 94th Bde concentrated in May at Penkridge Camp on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, where it was joined by the Accrington Pals in place of the Grimsby Chums. The 31st Division concentrated at South Camp, Ripon, in July 1915, then in September it moved to Hurdcott Camp where it carried out final intensive battle training in the Salisbury Plain Training Area.Cooksey, pp. 37–57, 81–90, 96–104.Jackson, pp. 18, 28–41, 62–71.Sparling, pp. 4–17.
Egypt On 29 November 1915 the division received warning orders to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, and advance parties set out for the embarkation ports of Folkestone and Southampton. At the last minute, the destination was changed to Egypt, the advance parties were recalled, and on 7 December the troops embarked at Devonport. The division reached Port Said between 24 December and 23 January 1916 and went into the Suez Canal defences at Qantara. On 26 February orders arrived to reverse the process and on 1 March the division began re-embarking at Port Said. It unloaded at Marseille between 6 and 16 March and then concentrated in the Somme area as part of the BEF. It remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war.Cooksey, pp. 105–41, 149–50.Jackson, pp. 71–8, 86–8.Sparling, pp. 18–31.
Soon after its arrival in France 94th Brigade was joined by its support troops: 94th Trench Mortar Battery (TMB) – formed as 93/1 and 93/2 TMBs by 12 April, and combined into a single battery by 14 June 94th Brigade Machine Gun (MG) Company – formed at Grantham, disembarked at Le Havre on 17 May and joined on 21 May
First day of the Somme 31st Division was part of the concentration of troops in the Somme sector preparing for that summer's 'Big Push', the Battle of the Somme. Despite all the preparation and high hopes, the First day on the Somme (1 July) was a disaster for 31st Division. Its task was to take the village of Serre and form a defensive flank for the rest of Fourth Army. 94th Brigade attacked on a two-battalion front with the 11th East Lancs and 12th Y&L leading, followed by a company of the divisional pioneer battalion, the 12th King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. The troops left their trenches at 07.20, 10 minutes before Zero, when the nearby Hawthorn Ridge mine was exploded and the final intense bombardment of the German positions began. 94th Trench Mortar Battery fired 1150 rounds during the 10 minutes. Thus alerted, the enemy put down a heavy artillery barrage on the British line and their machine gun teams came out of their dugouts. When the leading waves set off across No man's land at 07.30, they were almost annihilated by German fire: 94th Bde (particularly the 12th Y&L) was hit in its left flank from German trenches that were not being attacked, and which had not been adequately screened by a planned smokescreen. Nevertheless the right hand company of the 11th East Lancs succeeded in getting into the German frontline trench. Observation posts reported about 08.30 that this company had emerged from a trench and disappeared into Serre; some men of 12th Y&L may also have reached the village. If this was the case nothing was ever heard from them again, but later in the war bodies of men from the 12th Y&L were recovered from this area. The 14th Y&L were to advance behind the 12th Y&L, establishing a trench line to join the captured German trenches with their own jumping off trenches. They too suffered heavy casualties in No man's land. The leading companies of the 13th Y&L were also badly mauled in trying to reach the 11th East Lancs in the German trenches. With heavy shellfire falling on the chaotic jumping-off trenches, the attack was suspended. By noon the sector was quiet apart from occasional shelling and sniping at the men pinned down in No man's land. Although a fresh attack was ordered for the afternoon, the divisional commander and the commanders of 93rd and 94th Bdes (Brig-Gen H.C. Rees temporarily commanding 94th Bde in the absence of Brig-Gen Carter-Campbell) concluded that neither brigade was fit for any further offensive operation. 94th Brigades's losses had been 705 killed, 848 wounded, 39 missing and 7 prisoners, of which the Accrington Pals lost 585 and the Sheffield City Battalion 512, with another 75 only slightly wounded. Those men in No man's land who could slipped back after dark; for a time next day, the Germans allowed stretcher-bearers to remove casualties from No man's land.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 441–4, 448–51, Sketch 23.Cooksey, pp. 151–3, 187–9, 201–28, 242–3.Horsfall & Cave, pp. 53–72.Jackson, pp. 91, 99–113.Middlebrook, pp. 122–9, 143, 150–1, 191, 195, 216–19, 236, 248, Appendix 5.Sparling, pp. 31, 51–69.
Ancre The shattered division was then pulled out and sent to the quiet Neuve-Chapelle sector for rest and refit. Some battalions were temporarily amalgamated until reinforcement drafts arrived.Cooksey, pp. 251–5.Jackson, pp. 127–31.Sparling, pp. 75–80. The Somme Offensive was still continuing at the end of October when 31st Division returned to the sector for the Battle of the Ancre, which was to be the last big operation of the year. The division made another attempt to capture Serre on 13 November, but 94th Bde was still not fit for active operations and although standing by it was not employed except to provide carrying parties and to rescue the wounded. The battalions continued to hold the trenches in front of Serre during the winter, carrying out occasional trench raids.Cooksey, pp. 255–9.Horsfall & Cave, p. 77.Jackson, pp. 131–5.Miles, 1916, Vol II, p. 500.Sparling, pp. 81–93.