This is a list of battalions of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1968.
When the 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot, and 90th Perthshire Light Infantry amalgamated to form The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, seven pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway 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. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 1881-1908 occurred in 1897, when the 5th Volunteer Battalion was disbanded as a result of poor discipline. [1]
| Battalion | Formed | Formerly | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | ||||
| 1st | 1688 | 1st Battalion, 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot | ||
| 2nd | 1794 | 1st Battalion, 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) (Light Infantry) | ||
| Militia | ||||
| 3rd (Militia) | 1854 | 1st Battalion, 2nd Royal Lanark Militia [2] | ||
| 4th (Militia) | 1854 | 2nd Battalion, 2nd Royal Lanark Militia [2] | ||
| Volunteers | ||||
| 1st Lanarkshire (Glasgow 1st Western) Volunteer Rifle Corps [1st VB] | 1859 [3] [4] | |||
| 2nd Volunteer | 1859 | 2nd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteer Corps [5] [6] | ||
| 3rd Lanarkshire (1st Glasgow Southern) Volunteer Rifle Corps [3rd VB] | 1860 [7] [8] | |||
| 4th Volunteer | 1859 | 4th Lanarkshire (Glasgow 1st Northern) Rifle Volunteer Corps [9] [10] | ||
| 5th Volunteer | 1859 | 7th Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteer Corps [11] [1] | ||
The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve". All volunteer battalions were renumbered to create a single sequential order.
| Battalion | Formerly |
|---|---|
| 5th | 1st Lanarkshire (Glasgow 1st Western) Volunteer Rifle Corps |
| 6th | 2nd Volunteer Battalion |
| 7th | 3rd Lanarkshire Volunteer Rifle Corps |
| 8th | 4th Volunteer Battalion |
The Cameronians fielded 28 battalions and lost 7,106 officers and other ranks during the course of the war. [12] The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 5th Cameronians were numbered as the 1/5th, 2/5th, and 3/5th respectively, with the third line battalions, being redesignated reserve battalions in 1916. 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 New Army, 13th (Service) battalion, was referred to as a "Pals" battalion because it was predominantly composed of colleagues. 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. [13]
| Battalion | Formed | Served | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular [14] [15] | ||||
| 1st | 1688 | Western Front | ||
| 2nd | 1794 | Western Front | ||
| Special Reserve [14] [15] | ||||
| 3rd (Reserve) | 1854 | Britain | ||
| 4th (Extra Reserve) | 1854 | Britain | ||
| Territorial Force [14] [15] | ||||
| 1/5th | 1859 | Western Front | See Inter-War | |
| 1/6th | 1859 | Western Front | ||
| 1/7th | 1860 | Gallipoli, Western Front | ||
| 1/8th | 1859 | Gallipoli, Western Front | See Inter-War | |
| 2/5th | Glasgow, September 1914 | Britain, Ireland | ||
| 2/6th | Hamilton, September 1914 | Britain, Ireland | ||
| 2/7th | Glasgow, September 1914 | Britain | Absorbed by 2/6th Battalion, in January 1916 | |
| 2/8th | Glasgow, September 1914 | Britain | Absorbed by 2/5th Battalion in January 1916 | |
| 3/5th 5th (Reserve) Battalion, from April 1916 | Glasgow, November 1914 | Britain | Disbanded, in December 1918 | |
| 3/6th 6th (Reserve) Battalion, from April 1916 | Hamilton, April 1915 | Britain | Absorbed by 5th (Reserve) Battalion, in September 1916 | |
| 3/7th 7th (Reserve) Battalion, from April 1916 | Glasgow, March 1915 | Britain | Absorbed by 5th (Reserve) Battalion, in September 1916 | |
| 3/8th 8th (Reserve) Battalion, from April 1916 | Glasgow, March 1915 | Britain | Absorbed by 5th (Reserve) Battalion, in September 1916 | |
| 15th | January 1917 from 10th (Scottish) Provisional Battalion (Territorial Force) | Britain | Disbanded, in July 1919 | |
| New Army [14] [15] | ||||
| 9th (Service) | Hamilton, August 1914 | Western Front | Disbanded, 1919 | |
| 10th (Service) | Hamilton, September 1914 | Western Front | Disbanded, 1919 | |
| 11th (Service) | Hamilton, October 1914 | Western Front, Salonika | Disbanded, 1920 | |
| 12th (Reserve) | Nigg, October 1914 | Britain | Converted to 56th Training Reserve Battalion of the 12th Reserve Brigade, in September 1916 | |
| 13th (Service) | Hamilton, July 1915 | Britain | Absorbed by 14th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry, in February 1916 | |
| Others [14] [15] | ||||
| 14th (Labour) | June 1916 | Western Front | Became Nos. 3 and 4 Companies, Labour Corps, in April 1917 | |
| 16th (Transport Workers) | Paisley, December 1916 | Britain | Disbanded, in 1919 | |
| 17th (Transport Workers) | Hamilton, February 1917 | Britain | Disbanded, in 1919 | |
| 18th (Service) | Aldershot, June 1918 | Western Front | Disbanded, in 1919 | |
| 1st Garrison | Hamilton, February 1916 | India | Disbanded, in 1920 | |
| Volunteer Training Corps [16] | ||||
| 1/1st Battalion Lanarkshire Volunteer Regiment | Coatbridge | Disbanded post war | ||
| 2/1st Battalion Lanarkshire Volunteer Regiment | Motherwell | Disbanded post war | ||
| 3/1st Battalion Lanarkshire Volunteer Regiment | Lanark | Disbanded post war | ||
By 1920, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. 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'.
| Battalion | Fate |
|---|---|
| 5th | Amalgamated with 8th Battalion, to form 5th/8th Battalion, in August 1921. [4] |
| 8th | Amalgamated with 5th Battalion, to form 5th/8th Battalion, in August 1921. [10] |
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.
| Battalion | Fate |
|---|---|
| 5th/8th | Converted to 56th Searchlight Regiment, in November 1938. Formed duplicate 8th Battalion (57th Searchlight Regiment) in 1939. |
The regiment'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 six battalions of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment, wearing its cap badge. One Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) troop was formed from a local battalion to defend a factory. [17] Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of the men in the LAA troop, it required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular unit. [18]
| Battalion | Formed | Served | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | ||||
| 1st | 1688 | Burma, Chindits [19] | See Post-World War II | |
| 2nd | 1794 | Dunkirk, Sicily, Italy, North West Europe [19] | See Post-World War II | |
| Supplementary Reserve | ||||
| 3rd | 1854 | See Post-World War II | ||
| 4th | 1854 | See Post-World War II | ||
| Territorial Army | ||||
| 6th (Lanarkshire) | 1859 | Dunkirk, North West Europe [19] | See Post-World War II | |
| 7th | 1860 | Dunkirk, North West Europe [19] | See Post-World War II | |
| 9th | 1939 | Britain, France, North West Europe [19] [20] | Disbanded, in August 1945 [21] | |
| 10th (Lanarkshire) | 1939 | Britain [22] | Amalgamated with 6th (Lanarkshire) Battalion, in January 1947 | |
| 11th (Home Defence) | 1939 | Britain [19] [23] | Amalgamated with 13th (Home Defence) Battalion, to form 30th (Home Defence) Battalion, in 1941 | |
| 12th | 1940 | Britain [19] [24] | Disbanded, in 1943 | |
| 13th (Home Defence) | 1940 | Britain [19] [25] | Amalgamated with 11th (Home Defence) Battalion, to form 30th (Home Defence) Battalion, in 1941 | |
| 30th (Home Defence) | 1941 | Britain [19] | Disbanded, in 1943 | |
| Others | ||||
| 50th (Holding) | 1940 | Britain [19] | Disbanded, in 1940 | |
| Home Guard [26] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battalion | Headquarters | Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki) | Battalion | Headquarters | Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki) |
| 1st | Lanark | LK 1 | 2nd | Airdrie | LK 2 |
| 3rd | Wishaw | LK 3 | 4th | Hamilton | LK 4 |
| 5th | Rutherglen | LK 5 | 6th | Motherwell | LK 6 |
| Home Guard Light Anti-Aircraft units [17] | |||||
| Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki) | Headquarters or Location | AA Formation and Designation | |||
| LK 3 | Mossend, Murex Ltd | A Troop LAA | |||
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.
| Battalion | Fate |
|---|---|
| 1st | Amalgamated with 2nd Battalion on the 19 September 1949, without a change in title [27] |
| 2nd | Amalgamated with 1st Battalion on 19 September 1949 [28] |
| 6th (Lanarkshire) | Amalgamated with 7th Battalion on 30 June 1950, to form 6th/7th Battalion [6] |
| 7th | Amalgamated with 6th (Lanarkshire) Battalion on 30 June 1950, to form 6th/7th Battalion [8] |
After the 1966 Defence White Paper, the Cameronians decided to disband rather than be amalgamated. This meant that only the Territorial elements of the regiment, carried on the lineage, until 1997 when the last remaining company was rebadged and the Cameronians came to an end.
| Battalion | Fate |
|---|---|
| 1st | Disbanded, on 14 May 1968 [27] |
| 6th/7th | Became D Company (The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)), 52nd Lowland Volunteers, and B Company (6th/7th Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)), Royal Scots and Cameronians Territorials, on 1 April 1967 |