176th (2/1st Staffordshire) Brigade
The 176th Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in the First World War on the Western Front and disbanded in 1919. The brigade was raised again, now known as 176th Infantry Brigade, shortly prior to the Second World War and fought in the Normandy Campaign before being disbanded in August 1944. In both world wars the brigade was assigned to a 59th Division: the 59th Division during the first, and the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division in the second.
King George V inspecting the remnants of the 2/6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment; Gauchin, 30 March 1918.
59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division
The 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed during the Second World War and fought in the Battle of Normandy. In March 1939, after Germany re-emerged as a significant military power and invaded Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 59th (Staffordshire) Motor Division was formed in September 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 55th Motor Division. The division's battalions were all, initially, raised in Staffordshire.
Motorcyclists of the 59th Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps at Ballykinlar, Northern Ireland, 6 December 1941.
Men of the South Staffordshire Regiment of the 59th Division climb up onto a harbour wall during an amphibious exercise in Northern Ireland, 24 April 1942.
Infantrymen of the 1/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment dug in on the outskirts of Caen, France, 9 July 1944.
Infantry of the 59th Division near Caen