The regiment was originally formed as the 105th Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, also known as the Glasgow Highland Regiment, which was formed in 1868[1] by a group of Highland migrants to Glasgow as part of the civilian Volunteer Force and initially wore the uniform and based its cap badge upon that of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). It consisted of 12 companies.[1][2]
Most of the Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) had been raised following an invasion scare in 1859–60, so the 105th was a latecomer but it had the advantage of a cadre of experienced Volunteers when 187 Highlanders transferred to the new unit from G, H and I Companies of the 4th (Glasgow, 1st Northern) Lanarkshire RVC. These companies had been raised as kilted units in 1860 as the 60th (Glasgow, 1st Highland), 61st (Glasgow, 2nd Highland) and 93rd (Glasgow Highland Rangers) Lanarkshire RVCs. (After the Highlanders left the three companies of the 4th adopted tunics and trews instead of doublets and kilts.)[2]
Although the 105th recruited generally across Glasgow, C Company was from Partick, E Company from Crosshill, F Company was formed by natives of Islay and G Company by those from Argyllshire. The headquarters (HQ) and drill hall was at 97 Union Street, Glasgow, later at Greendyke Street near Glasgow Green, and then at 13 Dundas Street, with a rifle range of Patterton.[2][3]
When the RVCs were consolidated in 1880, the battalion was renumbered as the 10th (Glasgow Highland) Lanarkshire RVC.[1][2][3] Under the 'Localisation of Forces' scheme introduced in 1872 by the Cardwell reforms, the unit had been grouped with the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot, the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) and the 2nd Royal Lanark Militia in Brigade No 60.[3] However, this affiliation was broken up in the Childers Reforms, under which the Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers eventually became volunteer battalions of either the Highland Light Infantry (HLI) or the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). The 10th (Glasgow Highland) became a volunteer battalion of the HLI on 1 July 1881 and was formally redesignated as the 5th (Glasgow Highland) Volunteer Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in December 1887.[1][2][3]
The personnel were distinctive because they continued to wear their kilts in contrast to the rest of the HLI, who wore trews. The 5th Battalion, always wore the Government (Black Watch) tartan and their own cap badge, and never wore the Mackenzie tartan as the rest of the HLI.[4]
The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training.[5][6] Under this scheme the Volunteer Battalions of the HLI were included in the Clyde Brigade, later the Glasgow Brigade based at Hamilton. In 1902 the HLI battalions split from the rest of the Glasgow units to form their own Highland Light Infantry Brigade, still based at Hamilton.[3]
A Cadet Corps at Blairlodge School, Polmont, Stirlingshire, was affiliated to the battalion from 1891 to 1904. The battalion added a cyclist company in 1900. At this period, A Company was recruited from Springburn, B Company from Whiteinch, C from Partick, E from Queen's Park, F from Islay and M from Hillhead.[2][3]
During the Great War of 1914–18 another two home-based battalions were recruited, which were used to supply manpower to the 1st Battalion in France, who served with distinction with the Highland Light Infantry under the 2nd Division at the battles of Festubert and Loos. In May 1916 the battalion was transferred to the 33rd Division[11] and fought at the Somme (at High Wood), Arras and the Third Battle of Ypres. After the end of the war, the Glasgow Highlanders were disbanded along with the rest of the Territorial Force. The story of the battalion in the Great War would later be dramatised in the 1995 Bill Bryden play, The Big Picnic, starring Jimmy Logan.[12]
Glasgow Highlanders training in trench warfare. A striking photograph giving an excellent idea of the lay of a line of trenches. It will be seen that trenches can only be taken in sections; it is not a question of wresting a trench from the enemy and enfilading hundreds of yards of front with machine-guns. The zigzag construction necessitates the use of hand-grenades to dislodge occupants from each section in turn.
Territorial Army and the Second World War
In 1920, the Territorial Force was re-established as the Territorial Army, and the Glasgow Highlanders re-raised a single battalion. It later moved to a new Headquarters, (in what became known as Walcheren Barracks) in Maryhill in 1935.[13]
Infantrymen of the 2nd Battalion, Glasgow Highlanders, 15th (Scottish) Division, with Churchill tanks of the 6th Guards Tank Brigade, near Moergestel, 26 October 1944.
In 1949 the unit was redesignated the '1st Battalion, The Glasgow Highlanders, The Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment)'[1] and in 1959 transferred from the Highland Light Infantry to the new Royal Highland Fusiliers Regiment without a change of title.[1] In 1967, with the formation of the Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve (TAVR), the battalion laid up its colours and was amalgamated with the other TA battalions of Regiments in the Lowland Brigade, which were reformed as companies in three new TAVR battalions.[1]
The name of the Glasgow Highlanders was initially carried on through 'HQ (Glasgow Highlanders) Company' of the 52nd Lowland Volunteers and 'C (Glasgow Highlanders) Company' of the 3rd (Territorial) Battalion, The Royal Highland Fusiliers. With the disbandment of the latter in 1969, it was only carried on by 'HQ (Glasgow Highlanders) Company' of the 1st Battalion, 52nd Lowland Volunteers.[1] It later changed its affiliation to The 'Royal Highland Fusiliers' in 1973, thus formally ending the existence of a Glasgow Highlanders unit within the Territorial Army.[1] The Glasgow Highlanders' name was continued by a platoon of the Army Cadet Force, attached to 52nd Lowland Regiment. However, in 2007, this ACF unit changed its affiliation to 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland and became F Platoon RHF (Maryhill). In May 2014, following a request by the Detachment Commander, the unit title was amended to F Platoon RHF (Glasgow Highlanders) to maintain historic links.[16]
45407 at Buxton in March 2018 while in the identity of scrapped sister no 45157 The Glasgow Highlander.
The Glasgow Highlander nameplate on the drivers side.
The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers which later merged with the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch, the Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland, becoming the 2nd Battalion of the new regiment.
The 52nd Lowland Volunteers is a battalion in the British Army's Army Reserve or reserve force in the Scottish Lowlands, forming the 6th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 6 SCOTS. Due to its erstwhile association with the 1st Regiment of Foot, it is the senior Reserve line infantry battalion in the British Army. It is one of two Reserve battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, along with 51st Highland, a similar unit located in the Scottish Highlands.
The 51st Highland Volunteers is a battalion in the British Army's Army Reserve or reserve force in the Scottish Highlands, forming the 7th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 7 SCOTS. It is one of two Reserve battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, along with 52nd Lowland, a similar unit located in the Scottish Lowlands.
HQ 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland is a Regional Point of Command, Brigade of the British Army.
Walcheren Barracks is a drill hall located at Hotspur Street in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland. It is located adjacent to the site of the former Maryhill Barracks.
The 46th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and the Second World Wars with the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division.
227th Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Army formed for Home Service under various short-lived titles in the First and the Second World Wars. Later it was upgraded to a field formation composed of Scottish troops, and saw heavy fighting in the Normandy and North West Europe Campaign.
The Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army that can trace their formation back to 1796. It saw action in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. It amalgamated with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry and the 1st/2nd Lothians and Border Horse to form the Queen's Own Lowland Yeomanry in 1956. Its lineage was revived by B Squadron, the Scottish Yeomanry in 1992 until that unit was disbanded in 1999.
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 157th Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army. The brigade fought in both the First and the Second World Wars, assigned to 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division.
221st Mixed Brigade was a Scottish Home Service formation of the British Army that served under various titles throughout World War I.
The 1st Lanarkshire Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1859 as a response to a French invasion threat. Its units fought at Gallipoli and in Palestine during World War I, and in Normandy and North West Europe during World War II. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until 1961.
The Blythswood Rifles was a Scottish Volunteer unit of the British Army. Raised in Glasgow from 1859, it later became a battalion of the Highland Light Infantry. During World War I it served at Gallipoli, in Egypt and Palestine, in Ireland, and on the Western Front. Converted into an anti-aircraft artillery regiment just before World War II, it served in The Blitz and in the Middle East during the war, and continued in the postwar Territorial Army until 1955.
The Clyde Brigade was a Scottish infantry formation of Britain's Volunteer Force from 1888 to 1902.
The Glasgow Brigade was an infantry formation of Britain's Volunteer Force from 1890 to 1902. It was the forerunner of two formations of the Territorial Force that saw service in both World Wars.
The 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers was a Scottish Volunteer unit of the British Army. Originally raised in Glasgow from 1859, it later became a battalion of the Cameronians. During World War I it served on the Western Front and in Ireland. Converted into an anti-aircraft regiment just before World War II, it served during The Blitz and in the campaign in North West Europe, and continued in air defence role in the postwar years until 1955.
The 4th Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteer Corps was a Scottish Volunteer unit of the British Army. Originally raised in Glasgow in 1859, it later became a battalion of the Cameronians. During World War I it served at Gallipoli, in Egypt and Palestine, and on the Western Front. Converted into an anti-aircraft regiment just before World War II, it served throughout the war and continued in an air defence role in the postwar years until 1950.
The Highland Brigade was an administrative brigade of the British Army from 1946 to 1968, that administered the regiments with recruiting grounds in the Scottish Highlands.
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