1st Caithness Artillery Volunteers

Last updated

1st Caithness Artillery Volunteers
1st Caithness (Caithness and Sutherland) Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers)
CaithnessAV.jpg
Letterhead, Caithness artillery Volunteers, c1870
Active6 March 1860–31 March 1908
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Flag of the British Army.svg Volunteer Force
TypeArtillery Regiment
RoleCoastal Artillery
Garrison/HQ Wick
Thurso (from 1882)

The 1st Caithness Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1860 as a response to a French invasion threat. They served as a Coast Artillery unit and continued in existence as part of the Royal Garrison Artillery until being disbanded on the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908.

Contents

Volunteer Force

Enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. [1] [2] The 1st Caithness Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVC) was formed on 6 March 1860 at Wick, a 1st Sub-Division was formed at Thurso on 24 April, was increased to a battery and became the 2nd AVC on 28 December, and the 3rd AVC was formed at Lybster on 30 September 1861. In 1863 these units, together with the AVCs from Orkney and Ross-shire, were formed into the 1st Administrative Brigade, Caithness Artillery Volunteers, with its headquarters (HQ) at Wick, to which other Caithness units were added as they were formed: [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Gun battery at Castletown, used by the 5th Caithness AVC. The Battery, Castletown - geograph.org.uk - 410842.jpg
Gun battery at Castletown, used by the 5th Caithness AVC.

Once a 5th Orkney AVC had been raised in 1865 there were moves for Orkney to have its own brigade, and this was organised on 15 March 1867; at the same time the 1st Ross-shire joined the 2nd Ross-shire in the 1st Inverness-shire Admin Brigade. In their place, the 1st Caithness Admin Brigade took over the AVCs in Sutherland from the Inverness-shire brigade, giving it the following organisation: [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [10] [11]

Volunteer corps were consolidated into larger units on 1 May 1880, when the 1st Admin Brigade became the 1st Caithness (Caithness and Sutherland) Artillery Volunteers, with the individual corps as numbered companies: [4] [5] [6] [7]

From 1 April 1882 all AVCs were affiliated to a division of the Royal Artillery (RA), the Scottish Division in the case of the 1st Orkney, moving to the Southern Division when the numbers were reduced on 1 July 1889. In October 1882, the unit's HQ transferred from Wick to Thurso. In 1894, Nos 1 and 2 Companies at Wick ceased to exist, but in 1897 Mo 1 was resuscitated, the corps then consisting of seven garrison companies, No 2 being vacant. It had a drill battery at each station, and possessed six firing ranges for carbine practice. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Royal Garrison Artillery

From 1 June 1899 all artillery volunteers became part of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), and when the RA abolished its divisional structure on 1 January 1902 the unit was redesignated the 1st Caithness (Caithness and Sutherland) Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers). [4] [7]

The unit's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Sinclair, 7th Baronet of Dunbeath, commanded the 62nd (Middlesex) Company, Imperial Yeomanry, in the Second Boer War and was awarded a Distinguished Service Order. [12]

When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, [13] [14] the unit was disbanded on 31 March. [4]

Uniforms and insignia

The first uniform of the Caithness corps was similar to that of the Royal Artillery, but with scarlet cuffs and white cord and piping. Busbies and white belts were worn. The officers had silver lace, and their tunics were piped all round with silver cord, and had silver lace on the skirts. The early pattern brass shoulder title read 'C.A.V.', later '1/RA/Caithness' in three tiers. [5] [6]

Commanding officers

The following served as commanding officer of the 1st Caithness Artillery Volunteers and Caithness RGA [5] [7]

Honorary Colonel

The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit: [5] [7]

See also

Notes

  1. Beckett.
  2. Spiers, pp. 163–8.
  3. Beckett, Appendix VIII.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frederick, p. 651.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Grierson, pp. 152–3.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Litchfield & Westlake, p. 34.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Army List, various dates.
  8. 1 2 Rollo, pp. 12–3.
  9. Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 144–5, 149.
  10. Frederick, pp. 660, 668, 670.
  11. Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 94, 149, 167.
  12. 1 2 Burke's: 'Sinclair of Dunbeath'.
  13. Beckett, pp. 247–53.
  14. Spiers, Chapter 10.
  15. Burke's: 'Sinclair-Lockhart'.
  16. 1 2 Burke's: 'Caithness'.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caithness</span> Historic county in northern Scotland

Caithness is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golspie</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Golspie is a village and parish in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, which lies on the North Sea coast in the shadow of Ben Bhraggie. It has a population of around 1,350.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Sinclair</span> Highland Scottish clan

Clan Sinclair is a Highland Scottish clan which holds the lands of Caithness, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. The chiefs of the clan were the Barons of Roslin and later the Earls of Orkney and Earls of Caithness.

The Sutherland and Caithness Railway was a Scottish railway company that built a line from Helmsdale, the terminus of the Duke of Sutherland's Railway to Wick and Thurso in Caithness, giving the northern towns access to Inverness. It was driven through by the efforts of the 3rd Duke of Sutherland and the engineer Joseph Mitchell in the face of apathy from interests in Wick.

The KW postcode area, or Kirkwall postcode area, is a group of sixteen postcode districts in the far north of Scotland, within fifteen post towns. These cover Caithness, east Sutherland and the Orkney Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John o' Groats Trail</span>

The John o' Groats Trail is a Scottish long-distance walking route from Inverness to John o' Groats, traversing back lanes, footpaths, shorelines and cliff tops of the Scottish Highlands. The trail gives access to accommodation, meals and shops at the end of each stage of the walk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Orkney Artillery Volunteers</span> Coast defence artillery volunteers

The 1st Orkney Artillery Volunteers (OAV) was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery formed in the Orkney Islands in 1860 as a response to a French invasion threat. The unit served as coast artillery until it was disbanded after World War I.

The 1st Kent Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery from 1860 to 1956. Primarily serving as coastal artillery defending the Port of Dover and other harbours in South-East England, the unit's successors also served in the heavy artillery role on the Western Front during World War I and as anti-aircraft artillery during the Blitz and later in the North African and Italian campaigns of World War II.

The 1st North Riding Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit formed in the North Riding of Yorkshire in 1860 in response to an invasion scare. The unit later became part of the Territorial Force and served on the Western Front during World War I, while their successors served as anti-aircraft gunners in World War II.

The Berwickshire Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1860 as part of the Volunteer Force, as a result of a French invasion threat. They served as a Coastal Artillery unit and continued in existence until being disbanded on the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908.

The Cheshire Artillery Volunteers was a brigade of Volunteer artillery units raised in the county of Cheshire in the mid-19th century. Their successors served as field artillery in Palestine during World War I and as anti-aircraft (AA) gunners in the Middle East in World War II. They continued in the air defence role in the Territorial Army until 1955.

The 1st Aberdeenshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army raised in Aberdeenshire and neighbouring counties in Scotland in 1860. Its successor units served with 51st (Highland) Division through many of the major battles on the Western Front during the First World War. In the Second World War one of its regiments escaped the surrender of the 51st (Highland) Division in 1940 and went on to serve as heavy artillery in the Italian Campaign. The other regiment served with the reconstituted division at Alamein, in Sicily, Normandy and through North West Europe to the Rhine Crossing and beyond. It served on in the Territorial Army until 1967.

The 1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery founded in Banffshire in Scotland in 1859. Through various reorganisations it served as auxiliary garrison artillery until 1908.

The 1st Renfrew and Dumbarton Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery founded in Scotland in 1860. During the First World War, it served with 51st (Highland) Division at the Battle of the Somme before being broken up. In the Second World War, the regiment saw action in the Battle of France, in the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, the Greek Civil War and in North West Europe. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until 1969.

The 1st Inverness-shire Artillery Volunteers, later the Highland Artillery Volunteers, was a Scottish auxiliary unit of the British Army from 1860 to 1908. With its headquarters in Inverness, it was recruited for home defence from a number of shires in the northern Scottish Highlands. It later provided the basis for a number of Territorial Force units in the Highlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinque Ports Division, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The Cinque Ports Division, Royal Artillery was an administrative grouping of garrison units of the Royal Artillery, Artillery Militia and Artillery Volunteers within the British Army's South Eastern District from 1882 to 1889.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Division, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The Scottish Division, Royal Artillery, was an administrative grouping of garrison units of the Royal Artillery, Artillery Militia and Artillery Volunteers within the British Army's Scottish District from 1882 to 1889.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Division, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The Southern Division, Royal Artillery, was an administrative grouping of garrison units of the Royal Artillery, Artillery Militia and Artillery Volunteers within the British Army's Southern District from 1882 to 1902.

The Cumberland Artillery was a group of Volunteer artillery batteries formed in the county of Cumberland, England, in 1860. They became part of the Royal Garrison Artillery, and when the Territorial Force was created in 1908 they formed a Royal Field Artillery howitzer brigade for the East Lancashire Division. In World War I the brigade served at Gallipoli and in Egypt, then was broken up amongst the divisional artillery: its batteries fought on the Western Front for the rest of the war. In the 1920s the Cumberland Artillery batteries combined with the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry to form a new field regiment of the Royal Artillery that saw considerable action in World War II.

References

External sources