The Lancastrian Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 battalions of northwest England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry depots, each bearing a letter. The depots were territorially organised, and Infantry Depot D at Carlisle was the headquarters for the county regiments of Cumberland

Cumberland

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....

, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 and Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

. In 1948, the depots adopted names and this depot became the Lancastrian Brigade, with all regiments being reduced to a single battalion at the same time.

The Lancastrian Brigade was formed on 14 July 1948 , combining the depots of eight regiments:

• The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
• The King's Regiment (Liverpool)
  The King's Regiment (Liverpool)
  The King's Regiment was one of the oldest infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th Regiment of Foot in 1751...
  
  
• The Lancashire Fusiliers
• The East Lancashire Regiment
• The Border Regiment
• The South Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
• The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)
• The Manchester Regiment
  The Manchester Regiment
  The Manchester Regiment was a regiment of the British army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 63rd Regiment of Foot and the 96th Regiment of Foot...
  
  

Under the Defence Review

1957 Defence White Paper

The 1957 White Paper on Defence was a British white paper setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected was the British aircraft industry...

 announced in July, 1957, the infantry of the line was reorganised, and by 1959 the Brigade was reduced to four battalions:

• On April 1, 1958 the Lancashire Fusiliers were transferred to the newly-formed Fusilier Brigade
  Fusilier Brigade
  The Fusilier Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1958 to 1968. The Brigade combined the depots of the English infantry regiments designated as fusiliers.The Brigade was created as part of the defence reforms announced in July 1957...
  
  
• On July 1, 1958 the East Lancashire Regiment and South Lancashire Regiment were amalgamated as the Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
• On September 1, 1958 the King's Regiment (Liverpool) and the Manchester Regiment were merged as the King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool),
• On October 1, 1959 the King's Own Royal Regiment and the Border Regiment were merged to form the King's Own Royal Border Regiment.

From 1958 all regiments in the Brigade adopted a common cap badge: the red rose of Lancaster

Red Rose of Lancaster

The Red Rose of Lancaster is the county flower of Lancashire.The exact species or cultivar which the red rose relates to is uncertain, but it is thought to be Rosa gallica officinalis....

 within a laurel wreath and ensigned by the royal crest

Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom

The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom is the official coat of arms of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom, and are officially known as her Arms of Dominion...

, with a scroll inscribed Lancastrian.

On July 1, 1968 the Lancastrian Brigade was united with the Yorkshire and North Irish Brigades, to form the King's Division.