List of battalions of the Royal Scots

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This is a list of battalions of the Royal Scots, which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1633 to 2006.

Contents

Original composition

In 1881, under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, one pre-existent militia and seven volunteer battalions of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Berwickshire, Haddingtonshire and Linlithgowshire were integrated into the structure of the Royal Scots. 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, was the loss of the 1st Berwickshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, and the numbering of the remaining Rifle Volunteer Corps into Volunteer Battalions.

BattalionFormedFormerly
Regular
1st1625
2nd1686
3rd1804 (disbanded 1817)
4th1804 (disbanded 1816)
Militia
3rd (Militia) 1798 Queen's Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia [1]
Volunteers
1st Volunteer 18591st Battalion, 1st Edinburgh (City) Rifle Volunteer Corps
2nd Volunteer 18652nd Battalion, 1st Edinburgh (City) Rifle Volunteer Corps
3rd Volunteer 1888
4th Volunteer 18592nd Edinburgh (City) Rifle Volunteer Corps [2]
5th Volunteer 18591st Midlothian (Leith) Rifle Volunteer Corps [3]
6th Volunteer18602nd Midlothian (Midlothian and Peebles-shire) Rifle Volunteer Corps [4]
7th Volunteer 18601st Haddington Rifle Volunteer Corps [5]
8th Volunteer 18601st Linlithgowshire Rifle Volunteer Corps [6]
9th (Highlanders) Volunteer 1900 [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". All volunteer battalions were renumbered to create a single sequential order.

BattalionFormerly
4th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) 1st Volunteer Battalion (along with elements of 3rd Volunteer Battalion)
5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) 2nd Volunteer Battalion (along with elements of 3rd Volunteer Battalion)
6th 4th Volunteer Battalion
7th5th Volunteer Battalion
8th6th Volunteer Battalion
9th (Highlanders) 9th Volunteer Battalion (Highlanders)
10th (Cyclist) 8th Volunteer Battalion

First World War

The Royal Scots fielded 35 battalions and lost 11,213 officers and other ranks during the course of the war. [8] The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the battalions of the 4th King's were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. Many battalions of the Royal Scots 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 15th to 18th King's, New Army "Service" battalions, were referred to as the "Pals" because they were predominantly composed of colleagues. [9] 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]
1st1625 Western Front
2nd1686Western Front
Special Reserve [11] [12]
3rd (Reserve)1798Britain, Ireland
Territorial Force [11] [12]
1/4th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) 1859Western FrontSee Inter-War
1/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) 1865 Gallipoli, Western FrontAmalgamated with 1/6th in June 1916
1/6th 1859 North Africa, Western FrontAmalgamated with 1/5th in June 1916
1/7th1859Gallipoli, Middle East, Western FrontSee Inter-War
1/8th1860Western FrontSee Inter-War
1/9th (Highlanders) 1900Western FrontSee Inter-War
1/10th (Cyclist) 1860Britain, IrelandSee Inter-War
2/4th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Edinburgh, September 1914Britain, IrelandDisbanded in August 1917
2/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Edinburgh, September 1914Britain, IrelandAbsorbed into 2/4th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) in November 1916
2/6th Edinburgh, March 1915Britain, IrelandMerged with 2/4th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) in November 1915
2/7th Leith, August 1914Britain, IrelandDisbanded in March 1918
2/8th Haddington, September 1914Britain, IrelandDisbanded in Summer 1917
2/9th (Highlanders) Edinburgh, September 1914Britain, IrelandDisbanded in July 1918
2/10th (Cyclist) Linlithgow, September 1914 North Russia Disbanded June 1919
3/4th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Peebles, May 1915Britain, IrelandAbsorbed into 4th (Reserve) Battalion in July 1916
3/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Peebles, May 1915Britain, IrelandAbsorbed into 4th (Reserve) Battalion in July 1916
3/6th Peebles, July 1915Britain, IrelandAbsorbed into 4th (Reserve) Battalion in July 1916
3/7thPeebles, June 1915Britain, IrelandAbsorbed into 4th (Reserve) Battalion in July 1916
3/8thPeebles, December 1914Britain, IrelandAbsorbed into 4th (Reserve) Battalion in July 1916
3/9th Peebles, June 1915Britain, IrelandAbsorbed into 4th (Reserve) Battalion in July 1917
4th (Reserve) Hawick, June 1916Britain, IrelandDisbanded in 1918
5th/6th France, July 1916Western FrontDisbanded sometime after October 1919
New Army [11] [12]
11th (Service)Edinburgh, August 1914Western FrontDisbanded sometime after November 1919
12th (Service)Edinburgh, August 1914Western FrontDisbanded in June 1919
13th (Service)Edinburgh, August 1914Western FrontDisbanded in June 1919
14th (Reserve) Weymouth, November 1914Britain, IrelandBecame the 54th Training Reserve Battalion, February 1916
15th (1st City of Edinburgh) (Service) (Cranston's Battalion)Edinburgh, September 1914Western FrontDisbanded in August 1918
16th (2nd City of Edinburgh) (Service) (McCrae's Battalion) Edinburgh, December 1914Western FrontDisbanded in August 1918
17th (Service) (Rosebery's Bantams)Edinburgh, February 1915Western FrontDisbanded sometime after April 1919
18th (Reserve)Edinburgh, July 1915Britain, IrelandBecame the 77th Training Battalion, September 1916
Others [11] [12]
19th (Labour) Blairgowrie, April 1916Western FrontTransferred to Labour Corps as 1st and 2nd Labour Companies, in April 1917
1st GarrisonEdinburgh, August 1915Britain, Egypt, Cyprus Disbanded in May 1919
2nd GarrisonLeith, August 1916BritainBecame 1st Battalion, Royal Defence Corps, August 1917
Volunteer Training Corps [13]
1/1st Battalion City of Edinburgh Volunteer Regiment
later the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots Regiment
EdinburghDisbanded post war
2/1st Battalion City of Edinburgh Volunteer Regiment
later the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots Regiment
EdinburghDisbanded post war
1/1st Battalion Midlothian Volunteer Regiment
later the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots Regiment
EdinburghDisbanded post war
2/1st Battalion Midlothian Volunteer Regiment
later the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots Regiment
LiethDisbanded post war
1st Battalion Haddingtonshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 5th Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots Regiment
HaddingtonDisbanded post war
1st Battalion Linlithgowshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 6th Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots Regiment
LinlithgowDisbanded post war
1st Battalion Peebles-shire Volunteer Regiment
later the 7th Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots Regiment
PeeblesDisbanded post war

Inter-War

By 1922, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The King's Regiment did not, however, return to its original peacetime size; it lost many of its territorial battalions 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 (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Absorbed 5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Battalion, and 10th (Cyclist) Battalion, to form 4th/5th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) in 1921 [14]
5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Amalgamated with 4th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles), to form 4th/5th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) in 1921 [15]
6th Amalgamated with 8th Battalion, and transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery, forming part of 57th (Lowland) Medium Brigade in 1921 [16]
7thAbsorbed 9th (Highlanders) Battalion, to form 7th/9th Battalion in 1921 [17]
8thAmalgamated with 6th Battalion, and transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery, forming part of 57th (Lowland) Medium Brigade in 1921
9th (Highlanders) Amalgamated with 7th Battalion, to form 7th/9th Battalion in 1921
10th (Cyclist)Absorbed into 4th/5th Battalion, as A Company, in 1921

Second World War

The Royal Scots 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 17 battalions of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment, wearing its cap badge, and also by 1944 two batteries of [Anti-Aircraft] rocket batteries (Z Battery. [18] A Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) troop was formed from one of the local battalions to defend a power station. [19] Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of the men in the LAA troops, the troops required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular unit.

BattalionFormedServedFate
Regular [20]
1st1625 France, India Burma See Post-World War II
2nd1686 Hong Kong, Italy Palestine See Post-World War II
Territorial Army [20]
4th/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) (52nd Searchlight Regiment) 1921BritainTransferred to the Royal Artillery, July 1940 and became 52nd Searchlight Regiment (Queen's Edinburgh, Royal Scots)
7th/9th (Highlanders)1921Britain, Western Front See Post-World War II
8th (Lothians and Peebleshire)Formed as a duplicate of 7th/9th (Highlanders), August 1939Britain, France, North West Europe See Post-World War II
10th (Home Defence)Late 1939BritainRedesignated as the 30th Battalion, 1941
11th (Home Defence)Late 1939BritainDisbanded in 1940
12thOctober 1940BritainDisbanded in 1942
30thRedesignation of 10th (Home Defence) Battalion, 1941BritainDisbanded in 1943
Others [20]
50th (Holding)June 1940BritainRedesignated as the 12th Battalion, October 1940
Home Guard [21]
BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)
Edinburgh
1stCity of EdinburghEGH 12ndCity of EdinburghEGH 2
3rdCity of EdinburghEGH 34th (Portobello)City of EdinburghEGH 4
5thCity of EdinburghEGH 56thCity of EdinburghEGH 6
7th (Musselburgh)City of EdinburghEGH 78thCity of EdinburghEGH 8
9th (University STC)City of EdinburghEGH 910th (3rd Bn London and North Easter Railway)City of EdinburghEGH 10
11th (11 G.P.O.)City of EdinburghEGH 11
West Lothian
1stNorth BerwickEL 12ndHaddingtonEL 2
Mid Lothian
1stEdinburghML 12ndDalkeithML 2
East Lothian
1stEdinburghWL 12ndBathgateWL 2
Home Guard Light Anti-Aircraft units [18] [19]
Formation Sign
(dark blue on khaki)
Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and DesignationFormation Sign
(dark blue on khaki)
Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and Designation
EGH 101Portobello208th Battery 20th Anti Aircraft Regiment (Home Guard)EGH 102Edinburgh217th Battery 20th Anti Aircraft Regiment (Home Guard)
EGH 4Portobello
Electricity Power station
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 the remaining five Scottish infantry regiments, to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland, March 2006
2ndDisbanded February 1949
3rdDisbanded 1953
7th/9th (Highlanders)Absorbed duplicate 8th Battalion, April 1961, and renumbered 8th/9th Battalion
Disbanded 1967, as two separate companies: A Company, 52nd Lowland Volunteers and A Company, The Royal Scots and Cameronians Territorials
8th (Lothians and Peebleshire)Amalgamated with 7/9th Battalion, to form 8th/9th Battalion, April 1961

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References

  1. "Royal Scots - 3rd (Militia) Battalion Lineage". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  2. "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 239. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  3. "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 244. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  4. "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 248. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  5. "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 253. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  6. "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 258. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  7. "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 260. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  8. "The Royal Scots - The Somme". 14 June 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  9. James 1978 , p. 43
  10. Westlake, Ray (2020). Guide to the Volunteer Training Corps 1914-1918. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. pp. 4–7. ISBN   9781783315390.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Long, Long Trail - The British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918". Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Royal Scots - WW1 Battalion". 7 June 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  13. Westlake pps. 111, 118, 122-123, 125
  14. "1st Battalion, The Queen's Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Brigade". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  15. "2nd Battalion, The Queen's Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Brigade". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 31 December 2006. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  16. "6th Battalion, The Royal Scots". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  17. "Lothians & Peebleshire Battalion, The Royal Scots". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 25 February 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  18. 1 2 Whittaker pp. 107-108
  19. 1 2 Whittaker p. 124
  20. 1 2 3 "Royal Scots - Battalions in WW2". 13 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  21. "History of the Home Guard" . Retrieved 3 July 2022.

Bibliography