| Forrest Hill drill hall | |
|---|---|
| Edinburgh, Scotland | |
 Forrest Hill drill hall | |
  Forrest Hill drill hall Location in Edinburgh | |
| Coordinates | 55°56′45″N3°11′31″W / 55.94590°N 3.19203°W |
| Type | Drill hall |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1872 |
| Built for | War Office |
| Architect | Duncan Menzies |
| In use | 1872 – 1993 |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Designated | 8 May 1975 |
| Reference no. | LB27773 |
The Forrest Hill drill hall is a former military installation in Edinburgh, Scotland. The building is now owned by the University of Edinburgh.
The building was designed by Duncan Menzies as the headquarters of the Queen's Edinburgh Rifles and completed in 1872. [1] Following extensive refurbishment work the building was re-opened by the Duke of Connaught in May 1905. [2]
The Queen's Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Brigade became the 4th and 5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Battalions, the Royal Scots in 1908. [1] The battalions were mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to Gallipoli and then to the Western Front. [3] The 4th and 5th battalions amalgamated to form the 4th/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Battalion, with its headquarters at the Forrest Hill drill hall in 1922. [4] In 1939 the battalion converted to manning searchlights and, in 1940, became an anti-aircraft regiment of the Royal Artillery. [4]
The drill hall was the home of the Edinburgh University Officers' Training Corps and its successors, the Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities OTC and the City of Edinburgh Universities OTC, from 1957 until the Universities OTC moved to Duke of Edinburgh House in Colinton Road, Edinburgh in 1993. [5] The building was decommissioned and taken over by the University of Edinburgh in the mid-1990s. The building then became the location of the Department of Artificial Intelligence. [1]
The Royal Scots, once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I. The regiment existed continuously until 2006, when it amalgamated with the King's Own Scottish Borderers to become the Royal Scots Borderers, which merged with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Black Watch, the Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst giving them an opportunity to take part in military life whilst at university. OTCs also organise non-military outdoor pursuits such as hill walking and mountaineering. UOTC units are not deployable units nor are their cadets classed as trained soldiers until completion of MOD 1 training. The majority of members of the UOTC do not go on to serve in the regular or reserve forces.
The 47th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force.
The Queen's Westminsters were an infantry regiment of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originally formed from Rifle Volunteer Corps, which were established after a French invasion scare of 1859. The unit became part of the newly established London Regiment on the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908. It was subsequently amalgamated in 1921 with the Civil Service Rifles, and became a territorial Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1937. It ceased to exist as separate entity after it was amalgamated in 1961.
Redford Cavalry and Infantry Barracks is a military installation located on Colinton Road, near the Edinburgh City Bypass, east of the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. The barracks are set to close in 2029.
The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the senior and only current Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular and two reserve battalions, plus an incremental company, each formerly an individual regiment. However, three regular battalions maintain their former regimental pipes and drums to carry on the traditions of their antecedent regiments.
The Queen's Edinburgh Rifles was a brigade of Rifle Volunteers raised in the county of city of Edinburgh in 1859. It later formed two battalions of the Royal Scots, which fought in World War I at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front. The two battalions combined between the world wars before being converted into an air defence regiment of the Royal Artillery (RA). This served in Anti-Aircraft Command during World War II and continued in the postwar Territorial Army (TA) until 1961, when its successors were converted into Royal Engineers (RE).
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured Division formed in 1937. The list below will include the British Army units, colonial units, and those units which were in the process of formation.
The 156th Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army. The brigade saw active service in both the First and the Second World Wars with the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division.
The 155th Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and the Second World Wars. Assigned to the 52nd (Lowland) Division, the brigade saw active service in the Middle East and on the Western Front during the First World War. During the Second World War, now the 155th Infantry Brigade, it continued to serve with the 52nd Division in Operation Dynamo, and later in North-western Europe from late 1944 until May 1945.
The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.
The Buckingham Gate drill halls were military installations at 58 and 59 Buckingham Gate, London.
The Gilmore Place drill hall was a military installation in Edinburgh.
The Old Bank Road drill hall is a military installation in Golspie, Scotland.
The London Guards is an administrative formation within the British Army comprising the reserve companies of the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots and Irish Guards. On formation these companies drew their personnel from the London Regiment and it traces its history back to the formation of that regiment in 1908 when 26 separate Volunteer Force battalions were brought together. The London Guards is not a regiment, the companies wear the uniform, and follow the traditions, of their foot guards regiment.
The Forth Brigade was a Scottish infantry formation of Britain's Volunteer Force from 1888 to 1902.
The 6th Battalion, Royal Scots, was a unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Force. Beginning as a Volunteer unit formed from teetotallers in the city of Edinburgh in 1867, it later became affiliated to the Royal Scots. During World War I it served in the Senussi Campaign and on the Western Front. Postwar it was converted into a medium artillery battery.
Future Soldier is a reform of the British Army resulting from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. The aim of the reform is to create a more lethal, agile and expeditionary force, able to fight and win wars and to operate in the grey-zone between peace and war. Future Soldier was published on 25 November 2021 and deals with the organizational changes of the British Army, with changes to personnel and equipment were set out in the Defence in a Competitive Age paper published on 22 March 2021.
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