List of battalions of the Black Watch

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The Black Watch existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 2006.

Contents

Original composition

When the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot amalgamated with the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot, to become the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, seven pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Fife, Forfarshire, and Perthshire were integrated into the structure of the regiment. Volunteer battalions had been created in reaction to a perceived threat of invasion by France in the late 1850s. Organised as "rifle volunteer corps", they were independent of the British Army and composed primarily of the middle class.

BattalionFormedFormerly
Regular
1st17391st Battalion, 42nd Highlanders
2nd17801st Battalion, 73rd Regiment of Foot
Militia
3rd (Militia)1798The 86th Royal Perthshire Rifles [1]
Volunteers
1st (Dundee) Volunteer18591st Forfar (Dundee) Rifle Volunteer Corps [2]
2nd (Angus) Volunteer18592nd Forfar (Forfarshire, or Angus) Rifle Volunteer Corps [3]
3rd (Dundee Highland) Volunteer18603rd Forfar (Dundee Highland) Rifle Volunteer Corps [4]
4th (Perthshire) Volunteer18591st Perthshire Rifle Volunteer Corps [5]
5th (Perthshire Highland) Volunteer 18602nd Perthshire (The Perthshire Highland) Rifle Volunteer Corps [6]
6th (Fifeshire) Volunteer18601st Fifeshire Rifle Volunteer Corps [7]

Reorganisation

The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve".

BattalionFormerly
4th (City of Dundee)1st (City of Dundee) Volunteer Battalion [8]
5th (Angus and Dundee)Amalgamation of 2nd (Angus), and 3rd (Dundee Highland) Volunteer Battalions [8]
6th (Perthshire)4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion [8]
7th (Fife)6th (Fifeshire) Volunteer Battalion [8]
8th (Cyclist) 5th (Perthshire Highland) Volunteer Battalion [8]

First World War

The Black Watch fielded 25 battalions and lost 8,390 officers and other ranks during the course of the war. [9] The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 5th Black Watch were numbered as the 1/5th, 2/5th, and 3/5th respectively. Many battalions of the regiment were formed as part of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's appeal for an initial 100,000 men volunteers in 1914. They were referred to as the New Army or Kitchener's Army. The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In 1918 these were linked to county regiments. [10]

BattalionFormedServedFate
Regular [11] [12]
1st1739 Western Front
2nd1780Western Front, Mesopotamian, Palestine
Special Reserve [11] [12]
3rd (Reserve)1798Britain, Ireland
Territorial Force [11] [12]
1/4th (City of Dundee)1859Western FrontSee Inter-War
1/5th (Angus and Dundee)1908Western FrontAmalgamated with the 1/4th Battalion, to become the 4/5th Battalion on 15 March 1916
1/6th (Perthshire)1859Western FrontSee Inter-War
1/7th (Fife)1860Western FrontSee Inter-War
2/4th (City of Dundee) Dundee, September 1914BritainDisbanded on 19 December 1917
2/5th (Angus and Dundee) Forfar, September 1914BritainAbsorbed into the 2/4th (City of Dundee) Battalion in November 1915
2/6th (Perthshire) Perth, September 1914BritainDisbanded in September 1917
2/7th (Fife) St. Andrews, September 1914BritainDisbanded in April 1918
3/4th (City of Dundee),
4th (City of Dundee) (Reserve) from 8 April 1916		Dundee, March 1915BritainDisbanded 1919
3/5th (Angus and Dundee),
5th (Angus and Dundee) (Reserve) upon amalgamation		Forfar, March 1915BritainAmalgamated into the 4th (City of Dundee) (Reserve) on the 8 April 1916
3/6th (Perthshire),
6th (Perthshire) (Reserve) upon amalgamation		Perth, April 1915BritainAmalgamated into the 4th (City of Dundee) (Reserve) on the 8 April 1916
3/7th (Fife),
7th (Fife) (Reserve) upon amalgamation		St. Andrews, April 1915BritainAmalgamated into the 4th (City of Dundee) (Reserve) on the 8 April 1916
13th (Scottish Horse Yeomanry) Abbassia, 1 October 1916, from the 1st and 2nd Scottish Horse Regiments Salonika, Western FrontReturned to the Scottish Horse in 1919
14th (Fife and Forfar) Yeomanry Ismalia, 21 December 1916, from the 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Palestine, Western FrontReturned to the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry in 1919
New Army [11] [12]
8th (Service)Perth, 21 August 1914Western FrontDisbanded in 1919
9th (Service)Perth, 13 September 1914Western Front, BritainDisbanded in 1919
10th (Service)Perth, 13 September 1914Western Front, SalonikaDisbanded on 15 October 1918
11th (Service) Nigg, October 1914BritainBecame the 38th Training Reserve Battalion, in the 9th Reserve Brigade
15th (Service) Deal, 1 June 1918BritainAbsorbed into the 9th (Service) Battalion on 19 June 1918
Others [11] [12]
12th (Labour) Blairgowrie, May 1916Western FrontBecame the 5th and 6th Labour Companies of the Labour Corps
Volunteer Training Corps [13]
1/1st Battalion City of Dundee Volunteer Regiment
later the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch		DundeeDisbanded post war
2/1st Battalion City of Dundee Volunteer Regiment
later the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch		DundeeDisbanded post war
1/1st Battalion Forfarshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch		ForfarDisbanded post war
2/1st Battalion Forfarshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch		ArbroathDisbanded post war
1st Battalion Perthshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 5th Volunteer Battalion		PerthDisbanded post war
2nd Battalion Perthshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 6th Volunteer Battalion		CrieffDisbanded post war
1/1st Battalion Fifeshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 7th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch		KirkcaldyDisbanded post war
2/1st Battalion Fifeshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 8th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch		DunfermlineDisbanded post war
2nd Battalion Fifeshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 9th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch		St. Andrew'sDisbanded post war

Inter-War

By 1920, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The Black Watch did not, however, return to its original peacetime size; half of its territorial battalions were lost to amalgamation shortly after the war ended. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. As World War II approached, the Territorial Army was reorganised in the mid-1930s, many of its infantry battalions were converted to other roles, especially anti-aircraft.

BattalionFate
4th (City of Dundee)Amalgamated with the 5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion, to form the 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion on 31 December 1921 [14]
5th (Angus and Dundee)Amalgamated with the 4th (City of Dundee) Battalion, to form the 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion on 31 December 1921 [15]
6th (Perthshire)Amalgamated with the 7th (Fife) Battalion, to form the 6th/7th (Perth and Fife) Battalion on 31 December 1921 [16]
7th (Fife)Amalgamated with the 6th (Perthshire) Battalion, to form the 6th/7th (Perth and Fife) Battalion on 31 December 1921 [17]

Second World War

The Black Watch's expansion during the Second World War was modest compared to 1914–1918. National Defence Companies were combined to create a new "Home Defence" battalion. In addition to this, 22 battalions of the Home Guard across Perthshire, Fife, Angus, Dundee and Kinross-shire were affiliated to the regiment, wearing its cap badge, and also by 1944 one rocket battery (Z Battery). [18] Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of these men, the batteries required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular battery. [19] A number of Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) troops were formed from the local battalions to defend specific points, such as factories. [20]

BattalionFormedServedFate
Regular
1st1739 France, North Africa, Sicily, France, Western front [21]
2nd1780 Somaliland, Crete, North Africa, India, Burma (Chindits) [22] See Post-World War II
Supplementary Reserve
3rd1798See Post-World War II
Territorial Army
4th (City of Dundee),
(redesignation of 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion)		1921France, Gibraltar, Britain [23] See Post-World War II
5th (Angus and Dundee)1939, as a duplicate of 4th (City of Dundee) BattalionFrance, North Africa, Sicily, Western Front [24] See Post-World War II
6th (Perthshire),
(redesignation of 6th/7th (Perth and Fife) Battalion)		1921France, Britain, North Africa, Italy, Greece [25] See Post-World War II
7th (Fife),
(redesignation of 6th/7th (Perth and Fife) Battalion)		1939, as a duplicate of 6th (Perthshire) BattalionFrance, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Western Front [26] See Post-World War II
8th (Training)1939Britain [27] Amalgamated with the 9th (Home Defence) Battalion in August 1941
9th (Home Defence)November 1939Britain [28] Sent as reinforcements, to the 6th (Perthshire) Battalion in North Africa, upon amalgamation
10th1940 (transferred to the Black Watch from the Orkney and Shetland Islands Defence Forces in 1943)Britain [29] Disbanded in 1946
30th1941BritainDisbanded in 1943
Others
50th (Holding)1940BritainDisbanded 1943
70th (Young Soldier)1940BritainDisbanded 1942
Home Guard [30]
BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)
Angus
1stBrechinANG 12ndForfarANG 2
3rdArbroathANG 3
Dundee
1stCity of DundeeDDE 12ndCity of DundeeDDE 2
3rdCity of Dundee (13 G.P.O.)DDE 3
Fife
1stCuparF 12ndSt. AndrewsF 2
3rdAnstrutherF 34thLevenF 4
5thKirkcaldyF 56thLochgellyF 6
7thDunfermlineF 78thKirkaldyF 8
9thRosyth DockyardF 910thDonibristleF 10
Kinross-shire Independent CompanyKinross--
Perthshire
1stNorth PerthshireTAY 12ndBlairgowrieTAY 2
3rdStrathernTAY 34thPerthTAY 4
5thDunblaneTAY 56thPerth CityTAY 6
Home Guard Anti-Aircraft units [18] [20]
Formation Sign
(dark blue on khaki)		Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and DesignationFormation Sign
(dark blue on khaki)		Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and Designation
DDE 101City of Dundee218th Battery, 20th Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Home Guard) (Z battery)F 5Burntisland,
(British Aluminium Co. Ltd)		A Troop LAA
F 9Lathalmond,
(Royal Navy Stores Depot)		A Troop LAA

Post-World War II

In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded.

BattalionFate
1stAmalgamated with 2nd Battalion on the 13 July 1948, without a change in title [31]
2ndAmalgamated with 1st Battalion on the 13 July 1948 [32]
4th (City of Dundee)Amalgamated with 5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion on the 1 January 1947, to form the 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion [14]
5th (Angus and Dundee)Amalgamated with 4th (City of Dundee) Battalion on the 1 January 1947, to form the 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion [15]
6th (Perthshire)Amalgamated with 7th (Fife) Battalion on the 1 January 1947, to form the 6th/7th (Perthshire and Fife) Battalion [16]
7th (Fife)Amalgamated with 6th (Perthshire) Battalion on the 1 January 1947, to form the 6th/7th (Perthshire and Fife) Battalion [17]

Amalgamation

The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled Delivering Security in a Changing World, set out the future structure of the British military, one of the points being that the single-battalion regiments would be amalgamated into large, multi-battalion regiments. All of the Scottish regiments were amalgamated to form the 7 battalion strong Royal Regiment of Scotland.

BattalionFate
1stBecame the 3rd Battalion (Black Watch), Royal Regiment of Scotland
3rd (V),
a battalion formed through the amalgamation of the 4th/5th and 6th/7th Battalions, in 1967		Became A (Black Watch) Company of the 7th Battalion (51st Highland), Royal Regiment of Scotland

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References

  1. ↑ "The Black Watch Militia Battalion". Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  2. ↑ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 320. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 327. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 330. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 335. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  6. ↑ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 339. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 344. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Black Watch Rifle Volunteers Lineage Page". Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) – 1st & 2nd Battalions". armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Westlake pp. 4-7
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Black Watch" . Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Unit History: Black Watch" . Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  13. ↑ Westlake pps. 117, 125
  14. 1 2 "4th (City of Dundee) Battalion, The Black Watch". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  15. 1 2 "5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion, The Black Watch". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  16. 1 2 "6th Battalion, The Black Watch". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  17. 1 2 "7th (Fife) Battalion, The Black Watch". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  18. 1 2 Whittaker p. 107
  19. ↑ Whittaker p. 23
  20. 1 2 Whittaker p. 124
  21. ↑ "1st Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  22. ↑ "2nd Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  23. ↑ "4th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  24. ↑ "5th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  25. ↑ "6th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  26. ↑ "7th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  27. ↑ "8th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  28. ↑ "9th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  29. ↑ "10th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  30. ↑ "History of the Home Guard" . Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  31. ↑ "1st Battalion, 42nd Highlanders 1739–1881/1st Battalion, The Black Watch 1881-2006/3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland 2006-present". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  32. ↑ "1st Battalion, 73rd Regiment of Foot 1780–1881/2nd Battalion, The Black Watch 1881-1948". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
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