The Aden Brigade was a formation of the British Indian Army formed after 1903 and the Kitchener Reforms. It was commanded by Major General Bell. In August 1914, Connelly writes that the British force in Aden consisted of only two battalions, one British and the other Indian, and a cavalry troop 'barely 100 strong' under the control of the Political Resident, Aden. On the outbreak of war, the British battalion, 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, was recalled to Britain, leaving the defences weak. The British Army also formed an Aden Brigade to deal with the Aden Emergency in the 1960s.