15th (Scottish) Division

Last updated

15th (Scottish) Division
British 15th Division (Scottish) Insignia.svg
15th (Scottish) Division insignia
Active1914 – 1919
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Infantry
Size Division
Engagements First World War

The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served in the First World War. The 15th (Scottish) Division was formed from men volunteering for Kitchener's Army, and served from 1915 to 1918 on the Western Front. The division was later disbanded, after the war, in 1919.

Contents

First World War

Two men of the 9th (Service) Battalion, Gordon Highlanders with their pet cat at Martinpuich, France, 25 August 1916. The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q4142.jpg
Two men of the 9th (Service) Battalion, Gordon Highlanders with their pet cat at Martinpuich, France, 25 August 1916.

The division was a New Army unit formed in September 1914 as part of the K2 Army Group. The division moved to France in July 1915 and spent the duration of the First World War in action on the Western Front. The division fought in the Battle of Loos in which it seizing the village of Loos and Hill 70, the deepest penetration of the German positions by the six British divisions involved in the initial day. It later fought in the Battle of the Somme (1916) which included the battles of Pozières and Flers–Courcelette, the Battle of Arras 1917 and the Third Battle of Ypres later in the year. [1]

The North Uist-born war poet Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna, a highly important figure in 20th century Scottish Gaelic literature, saw combat with the 7th (Service) Battalion King's Own Cameron Highlanders, 44th Infantry Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division during the trench warfare along the Western Front and vividly described his war experiences in verse. [2]

Outpost manned by men of the 11th (Service) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on a road beside the Lys Canal near Saint-Floris, 9 May 1918. The German Spring Offensive, March-july 1918 Q6607.jpg
Outpost manned by men of the 11th (Service) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on a road beside the Lys Canal near Saint-Floris, 9 May 1918.

General officers commanding

The division had the following commanders: [3]

AppointedName
14 September 1914 Major-General A. Wallace
12 December 1914Brigadier-General M. G. Wilkinson (acting)
15 December 1914Major-General C. J. Mackenzie
15 March 1915Brigadier-General F. E. Wallerstein (acting)
22 March 1915Major-General F. W. N. McCracken
17 June 1917Major-General H. F. Thullier
11 October 1917Major-General H. L. Reed VC (sick 4 July 1918)
4 July 1918Brigadier-General E. B. MacNaghten (acting)
9 July 1918Major-General H. L. Reed VC

Order of battle

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Stewart & Buchan 2003, pp. 301–305.
  2. ↑ Fred MacAulay (editor), Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna, Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, (1995), p. xxxiv
  3. ↑ Becke 2007, p. 53.
  4. ↑ Stewart & Buchan 2003, pp. 285–288.
  5. ↑ Baker 2020.
  6. ↑ Becke 2007, pp. 56–58.

References

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.