The division was mobilised on 5 August 1914, the day after Britain declared war on Germany, thus beginning the Great War. From late 1914 to early 1915 units of the brigade began to be sent independently overseas, mainly to France and Belgium, and were replaced by the 2nd Line units being formed, the 170th Brigade of 57th Division. To differentiate the 1st Line battalions from the 2nd Line, the prefix '1/' was adopted by all 1st Line battalions and '2/' for all 2nd Line. In April 1915 the 164th Brigade was redesignated 154th Brigade and joined the 51st Division. In June 1916 the brigade, now again redesignated 164th Brigade, returned to the West Lancashire Division, now the 55th Division, and served with it for the rest of the war on the Western Front in battles at Passchendaele, Cambrai and Estaires in 1918.
Both the brigade and division were disbanded after the war in 1919 but later reformed in 1920 in the Territorial Army as the 164th Infantry Brigade and continued to serve with the 55th Division. The brigade was reconstituted with the same four battalions as it had before the First World War. However, in the late 1930s the brigade saw all of its battalions posted away or converted to other roles: in 1938 the 4th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment was transferred to the Royal Artillery and converted into the 56th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, the 5th Battalion, King's Own was transferred to the 126th Infantry Brigade, 55th Infantry Division. They were both replaced in the brigade by the 4th and 5th battalions of the South Lancashire Regiment, from the 166th Infantry Brigade. The 4th Battalion, Loyal Regiment was transferred to the Royal Engineers and became the 62nd Searchlight Regiment and the 5th Battalion was converted into a reconnaissance motorcycle battalion when the 55th Division was reorganised as a motorised infantry division and the 164th Brigade was disbanded. It was, however, reformed in mid-1939, now as the 164th Infantry Brigade, when the 55th Division was ordered to form a duplicate division, the 59th Infantry Division. The 164th Brigade again came under command of the 55th Infantry Division.
Second World War
The brigade again served in World War II with the division throughout the war and, in October 1941, no longer was an operational formation to be sent overseas. In January 1942 it was reduced to a Lower Establishment yet it was not reduced to a training division as most others were. In December 1943, with the division, it was sent to Northern Ireland and was raised to a Higher Establishment in May 1944, before returning to the United Kingdom in July. It served there until the war finally ended in 1945 and the division was disbanded in 1946 and was not reformed.
