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.

The 'Pals' phenomenon quickly spread across the country, as local recruiting committees offered complete units to the War Office (WO).

Their battalions were reduced to training cadres (TCs) and the TMBs broken up, the surplus personnel being drafted as reinforcements to other units.

was ordered to demobilise its remaining TCs, and 116th Bde completed this for its TF and SR battalions before hostilities with the Armistice with Germany on 11 November.

117th and 118th Bdes were disbanded shortly afterwards, but in December 116th Bde HQ went to Le Havre to form the staff of the embarkation camp, processing demobilised soldiers returning to the UK.

[7] The following officers commanded the brigade:[7] 39th Division's formation badge was a white square with three light blue vertical stripes.

[5] Within 116th Bde, the South Down battalions of the Royal Sussex wore a blue rectangle with one, two or three vertical stripes of orange (the traditional colour of the regimental facings) to denote 1st, 2nd or 3rd Bn.