 On 26 November 1941 the brigade was transferred to the Indian Army as 161st Indian Infantry Brigade.As an Indian Army formation, it took part in the Western Desert and Burma campaigns, playing a large part in fighting the Imperial Japanese Army in the Siege of Kohima in mid-1944.When the TA was reformed in 1947, 54th (East Anglian) was not reconstituted as a field division, but 161st Brigade was reformed as an independent infantry brigade in Eastern Command with the following composition