countries soon deteriorated. On 15 March 1939, Germany breached the terms of the agreement by invading and occupying the remnants of the Czech state. On 29 March, British Secretary of State for War Leslie Hore-Belisha announced plans to increase the size of the Territorial Army (TA), a reserve force of the regular army made up of part-time volunteers, from 130,000 to 340,000 men and double the number of TA divisions. The plan was for existing TA divisions, referred to as the first-line, to recruit over their establishments, aided by an increase in pay for Territorials, the removal of restrictions on promotion which had hindered recruiting, the construction of better-quality barracks, and an increase in supper rations. The first-line divisions would then form a new division, referred to as the second-line, from cadres. This process was dubbed "duplicating". The 9th (Highland) was a second-line unit, a duplicate of the first-line 51st (Highland) Infantry Division. In April, limited conscription was introduced. This resulted in 34,500 twenty-year-old men being conscripted into the regular army, initially to be trained for six months before deployment to the forming second-line units. It was envisioned that the duplicating process and recruiting the required numbers of men would take no more than six months. Some TA divisions had made little progress by the time the Second World War began; others were able to complete this work within a matter of weeks. History Formation and home defence The 51st (Highland) Infantry Division created the 26th Infantry Brigade as a second line duplicate of the 152nd Infantry Brigade; the 27th Infantry Brigade as a second line duplicate of the 153rd Infantry Brigade; and the 28th Infantry Brigade as a second line duplicate of the 154th Infantry Brigade. On 25 August, the 26th Brigade became active and was assigned its commanding officer. Two days later, the 9th (Highland) Infantry Division was activated, made up of the 26th Brigade; the 27th and 28th Brigades were assigned as they became active over the following two days. All of the division's troops came from Highland regiments. The 26th Brigade consisted of the 5th and 7th Battalions, Seaforth Highlanders, and the 5th Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. The 27th Brigade included the 5th Battalion, Black Watch, and the 7th and 9th Battalions, Gordon Highlanders. The 28th Brigade was formed with the 7th Battalion, Black Watch, and the 10th and 11th Battalions, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.