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Entry: Scotland's Divisions and Brigades
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SCOTLAND’S DIVISIONS AND BRIGADES Early History: The Army at Home Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny Period First World War – The Territorial Force Inter-war period 1918 – 1939 51st (Highland) Division WW2 The Scottish Division and 2nd Division
Introduction Early HistoryThe army of the 17th century in Britain and Ireland was one essentially of Guards and Garrisons. There were three Establishments, the English, the Scotch and the Irish. The home based standing army was small and forces were raised for the field as required. The great Garrisons of Scotland were Edinburgh Castle, Dumbarton Castle, Stirling Castle and later, Fort George, Fort William and Fort Augustus. Barracks for troops were rare: Berwick upon Tweed dates from 1717, Ruthven was completed in 1724 and Corgarff in Aberdeenshire in 1748. Regiments moved freely between Establishments as required. For example when the 1st of Foot (Royal Scots) went to France in 1662, “as a present to the French King”, they remained on the English Establishment and in 1679 when they were sent to Ireland they went on to the Irish Establishment. The standing armies of Scotland and Ireland ceased to exits as purely national defence forces in 1689 and became part of one “British Army” although the Scotch Establishment remained until 1707. Regiments were raised and disbanded as required and there was strong opposition to a large standing army at home. The overall organisation was, at best, weak. During the Napoleonic period England and Wales, generally called South Britain, was divided into a number of Districts which included Headquarters. Ireland had a separate organisation and set of Districts, and Scotland, or North Britain was one administrative area. Home defence and law and order was primarily the responsibility of the Militia, the Veteran Battalions, the Yeomanry and the Fencibles. Overlaid on this structure were the Recruiting Districts and Sub-Divisions. By 1827 the Recruiting Department had two areas in Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with sub-divisions in Edinburgh, Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Dingwall, Dundee, Paisley, Dumfries, Selkirk and Wick. Although individual soldiers had preferences for the regiments they joined, recruiting was essentially a “free for all” and British Regiments and Corps, and the Honourable East India Company, recruited throughout Scotland. Early History: The Army in the FieldThe organisation of armies into formations which we now know as Squadrons, Companies, Regiments, Brigades and Divisions is of considerable antiquity. In more modern times the great military organisers such as Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden (1594 – 1632) recognised the importance of military structure and organisation on the battlefield, and it is here, from the Scots mercenary soldiers in his service, that reference can be found to the Green, or the Scots Brigade in the service of Sweden and later France. It was the practice in this period to name regiments by the name of their Colonel or their place of origin as opposed to referring to them by numbers. This practice was largely followed in respect of Brigades and it applied also to less structured armies such as the Jacobite Army at Culloden, where the clan regiments were simply known by their clan name, and in the case of the three regiments of men from Atholl, they were known as the Atholl Brigade. Numbering of regiments and larger formations was an eighteenth century development and was closely linked with battle drill promoted by Frederick the Great and brought into the British Army by Dundas. By the Napoleonic period the system of numbering Regiments, Brigades, Divisions and Corps was fully developed although Divisions were still frequently referred to by the name of their Divisional commander or their place of origin. For example the 5th Division at Waterloo was referred to as Picton’s Division. It comprised three Brigades, the 8th known as Kempt’s, the 9th known as Pack’s and the 5th Hanoverian Brigade. In the 8th and 9th Brigades served amongst others, the 79th (Cameron) Highlanders, the 1st of Foot (Royal Scots), the 42nd (Black Watch) and the 92nd (Gordon) Highlanders. At this period there was no Scottish Division or Brigade either at home or in the field. Lowland Scottish Regiments wore the standard British uniform of the period and Highland Regiments an adapted form of National Dress, which was the result of the Disarming Act of 1746, when only those in Government service were permitted to wear the kilt. All were part of the British Army and the concept of brigading them together to form Scottish Brigades or Divisions is not referred to. It has to be remembered that the Highland Rebellion had occurred only fifty years previously and Highland troops in particular were still expected by many to prove their loyalty. There was an interesting side effect of this Brigade and Divisional structuring. Soldiers had strong affiliations to their regiments and particularly their regimental number, but there now developed wider loyalties to the Brigade and Division in which they served and there are regular references in accounts and reminiscences to the pride of having fought in Picton’s Division. Crimean War and Indian Mutiny PeriodIn April 1853, before the outbreak of the Crimean War, a major “camp of exercise” was held at Chobham near Woking, the first major exercise since the Napoleonic Wars. For the purposes of field exercises the troops were formed into three Brigades, with Artillery and Cavalry, forming one Division. The 42nd (Black Watch), the 79th (Cameron) Highlanders and the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders took part in these exercises, but were not brigaded together. They did however camp in the same area on the heath and it was the Highlander’s Camp which attracted much public attention. In an atmosphere where Queen Victoria led the popular acknowledgement of everything Highland she expressed herself particularly satisfied with the conduct and appearance of the Highland soldiers. General acclaim was now heaped upon these uniquely dressed men of the British Army. When, the following year the 42nd, 79th and 93rd set sail for Turkey they were for the first time brigaded together under their great commander Sir Colin Campbell, with the title the Highland Brigade, which along with the Guards Brigade formed the 1st Division. Later in the war the 92nd (Gordon) Highlanders joined the other three Highland Regiments, but the original membership clung jealously to the title of “Old Highland Brigade” greatly to the chagrin of the 92nd. This is the first reference to a Highland Brigade. In July 1855, with the arrival of additional troops in the theatre of war, a re-ordering of the brigades and divisions was decided upon and a Highland Division was formed under the command of Sir Colin Campbell comprising the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 1st of Foot (Royal Scots), the 42nd (Black Watch), the 71st (Highland Light Infantry), the 72nd (Duke of Albany’s Own) Highlanders, the 79th (Cameron) Highlanders, the 92nd (Gordon) Highlanders and the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders. This Division was called the Highland Division, without a number, and it ranked behind the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Divisions and ahead of the Light Division. The Brigades of the Highland Division were simply numbered 1st and 2nd. This is the first reference to the existence of a Highland Division. During the Indian Mutiny the 42nd, the 79th and the 93rd were again brigaded together for a short period, but as the main actions took a fluid form of marching columns, the brigading was not consistent. The Brigade Depot System – Localisation 1872 In 1861, to improve recruiting, a number of Depot Battalions were established and regiments of the British Army used them as recruiting bases when the Service Companies were abroad. Depot Battalion locations in Scotland included Stirling and Aberdeen, but it was by no means certain that regiments with Scottish links would have their recruiting base in a Scottish location, and recruiting parties often had to travel long distances to secure the much prized Scottish and especially Highland recruits. The first attempt to link territory and regiments was in 1872 with the establishment of the Brigade Depot System. Regiments, often in pairs, were allocated a set Depot and recruiting area. Because much of the original recruiting of Highland regiments had been based on Clan associations this “carve up” of territory was not wholly welcomed when it was introduced. There were eight Brigade Depot Areas in Scotland:
The Militia, who were seldom embodied, and the Volunteers who were little more than local uniformed rifle clubs, were entirely separate from the Brigade Depot System, although small numbers of Militia men did join for regular service. Home based Highland or Lowland divisions still did not exist. Regimental Districts and Depots – 1881 Depots were established and the boundaries of the Regimental Districts were drawn. The Depots were permanently located at Fort George (Seaforth), Cameron Barracks, Inverness (newly built) (Cameron), Aberdeen (Gordon), Perth (Black Watch), Stirling (Argyll and Sutherland), Greenlaw (Royal Scots), Berwick upon Tweed (KOSB), Hamilton (Cameronians Scottish Rifles), Maryhill Barracks (Highland Light Infantry) and Ayr (Royal Scots Fusiliers). The local Militia Battalions were linked directly to the Regular Army Depots and Battalions and they adopted the same uniform. The Rifle Volunteer Battalions, although given a role as a third line reserve force for home defence with no overseas liability, retained their independence, and it was not until 1888 that they were formally redesignated Volunteer Battalions and gradually began to adopt the dress of their parent Regular Battalion. They were also grouped into Volunteer Brigades and Divisions although these were of very doubtful efficiency and were not taken seriously by the Regular Army who simply could not grapple with the mysteries of conduct and discipline of the Volunteers. Little is known of these early Volunteer Brigades. Certainly there existed a Tay Brigade, a Gordon Brigade and a Forth Brigade. The Forth Brigade comprised in 1888: By the mid-1890s these Volunteer Battalions were training in Camp in Brigades with their fellow Volunteers. At this point the organisational structure of the regular home army was not developed at a higher level. With the exception of troops in the permanent camp at Aldershot and at the Curragh in Ireland the individual battalions, cavalry regiments etc were not in times of peace organised into larger units but were under the control of the Generals at the head of the seventeen military districts into which the country was divided. The Scottish District comprised the whole of Scotland. Egypt and the Sudan 1882 – 1898 On 13th September 1882 The Highland Brigade was amongst the force that stormed and overran the huge entrenchments at Tel-el-Kebir some sixty miles south west of Port Said. The Brigade was disbanded before the campaign was finally over. In the Sudan in 1898 no Highland Brigade was formed. The South African War 1899 – 1902 On 11th December 1899 at Magersfontein Kop this Brigade suffered over nine hundred casualties at the hand of the Boers, an event commemorated in the Pipe March, “The Highland Brigade at Magersfontein”. The South African War was the first real test of the 1881 reforms and the first occasion on which drafts of reinforcements were sent from the newly formed Depots. Many of these drafts included men who volunteered for regular service from the local Militia and Volunteer Battalions, the Militia Battalions being embodied for the purposes of the war. The Haldane Reforms 1908 For the Territorial Force the reforms went further. They were now formed into fully staffed Territorial Brigades and Divisions which included Yeomanry, Territorial Artillery, Engineers, Field Ambulances and Transport and Supply Columns. Scottish Command had two Territorial Force Divisions, the 1st Highland Division (TF) and the 2nd Lowland Division (TF). Although little is recorded about these embryonic Highland and Lowland Divisions, the 1st Highland Division (TF) in 1914 comprised: The 2nd Lowland Division (TF) in 1914 comprised: The First World War – The Territorial ForceIn 1914 the 1st Highland Division and the 2nd Lowland Division mobilised in six days the equipment being drawn from the Ordnance Depot at Stirling. As members of the Territorial Force they could only be called upon for home defence and units had to be asked to volunteer for overseas service. The majority of men in every unit of the two Divisions volunteered, although many did question why their terms of service were being changed. 51st Highland Division WW1 On the 13th of November 1916 however the 51st took part in the Battle of the Ancre and were assigned an area in front of the village of Beaumont-Hammel. The ground that they had to cover was already littered with dead from the July offensive and was intersected by a deep fold in the ground known on the Battle maps as Y Ravine. The Division stormed the position with such determination and momentum that it was without doubt one of the greatest feats of arms of the war. Between six and seven thousand prisoners were taken. The 51st maintained this fearsome reputation to the end of the war in spite of total casualties which amounted to almost seven times the Divisional strength. The French took them to their hearts and they were considered one of the most reliable divisions on the Western Front. Their Divisional Commanders, Bannatyne-Allason, Harper (known affectionately as “Uncle Harper “and Carter Campbell became national heroes and household words. 52nd Lowland Division WW1 The 52nd Divisional sign in the First World War was a shield bearing the cross of St Andrew superimposed with a thistle. Alongside was the letter “L” which was coloured black for the Division and blue, maroon and yellow for the Brigades. While this sign appeared on vehicles and Divisional flags it seems that it was not worn on uniform until after the war. The New Army WW1Appreciating the size of the armies required to fight the conflict, frustrated by the limitations of service of the Territorial Force and distrustful of their fighting abilities, Lord Kitchener set about raising the New Army of volunteers from scratch. He called for “the first hundred thousand” to come forward and he did not have to wait long. A “second hundred thousand soon followed. Every man enlisted under this scheme became a regular soldier and the New Army divisions ranked in precedence behind the Regular Divisions and ahead of the Territorial Divisions. From some of the first and second hundred thousand two Scottish Divisions were formed, the 9th (Scottish) Division New Army and the 15th (Scottish) Division New Army. They were made up of men from the fields, shops, offices, mines, schools, universities and factories from all over Scotland who joined in a true spirit of enthusiasm and patriotism, although few had any military experience. 9th (Scottish) Division WW1 They formed and trained in the space of nine months and in May 1915 they went to France. Determined to prove their worth and establish the reputations of their Battalions and their newly formed Division they fought with enormous courage at Loos, Somme, Warlencourt, Arras, Passchendaele, Somme Retreat, The Lys and on to the final advance and the occupation of the Rhineland. The 9th was a revered and respected Division, but as a New Army Division they were disbanded at the end of the war and as time has passed, and those who served with them have died, their number and name are not well remembered. Their Divisional sign was a thistle in a circle which was painted on their vehicles and by 1918 was worn on their helmets and on each sleeve. The cloth and helmet version of the patch was a blue thistle on a light or white circle, and the sleeve version was a silver metal thistle pinned through a blue circular patch. The 9th (Scottish) Division sustained 39,761 casualties in killed, wounded and missing in just over three years of active service. 15th (Scottish) Division WW1 Like the 9th, the 15th Division was composed of men full of enthusiasm and eager for adventure, from a wide variety of backgrounds. One Company of the 6th Camerons was, for example, entirely composed of men from Glasgow University and Glasgow High School. For military authorities these citizen soldiers posed an entirely new discipline challenge and it is recorded, “In the early stages of training the men continually smoked on parade, even on Church Parade when the service was going on. An attack practice was once completely stopped because the men fell out to eat blackberries". The Divisional sign was a clever and humorous device which was worn painted on to the steel helmet. Made up in red and white, the colours which indicated a division, it was composed of a “scotch” or wedge, like a wedge of cheese, surrounded by the letter “O”, the fifteenth letter of the alphabet; hence the Fifteenth Scotch Division. After strenuous training the 15th Division finally received their orders on 4th July 1915. By 27th July they were in the line on the Western Front. They fought at Loos, Martinpuich, Monchy, Frezenburg, Ypres, Arras, Buzancy and the Quarries. Throughout the war they sustained 33,767 casualties in killed, wounded, missing and gassed. Their greatest battle was at Loos in the area of Hill 70 on the 25th and 26th of September 1915, only three months after they had first gone into the line. The Divisional battle casualties in two days amounted to 6,435. On Hill 70 four Victoria Crosses were won for the 15th Scottish Division; Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Hamilton, 6th Camerons, Lieutenant Johnson, Royal Engineers, Piper Laidlaw, 7th KOSB and Private Dunsire, 13th Royal Scots. On 27th June 1919 the 15th (Scottish) Division was disbanded. Inter-war Period 1918 – 1939 51st (Highland Division WW2 After St Valery the duplicate Division, the 9th (Highland), was redesignated as the 51st (Highland) Division and the few survivors from France joined the newly named Division. 9th (Highland) Division and 51st (Highland) Division WW2 Their redesignation as the 51st (Highland) Division was more than a challenge for a newly formed force. Instrumental in forming, training and preparing this Division for war were Major Generals Neil Ritchie of the Black Watch and Douglas Wimberley of the Camerons. The Division now wore the “HD” patch and was again formed into Highland Brigades numbered 152, 153 and 154. Once more the 51st gained themselves a formidable reputation in the field. By June 1942 they were trained and ready and they embarked for Egypt and the North African Campaign. Renowned for their organisation, morale, fighting efficiency and staff work they were great favourites with Montgomery. Their North African battles included El Alamein, Mareth, Medenine and Wadi Akarit. After North Africa they took part in the Sicily landings and were then moved back to the United Kingdom to prepare for the landings in North West Europe. Here in the hedges and narrow lanes of Normandy they had a difficult time and they felt deeply the change of command from their beloved Douglas Wimberley. They fought through France, Belgium and Holland and across the Rhine into Germany. In August 1945 the 51st (Highland) Division ceased to exist as a separate formation and became part of the 51st/52nd (Scottish) Division. Their wartime battle casualties in killed, wounded and missing from D-Day to the 5th of May 1945 totalled 9,051. The 51st was revived as a separate Territorial Division in 1948 and survived as such until 1967 when it was redesignated as a Brigade of the Scottish Division. 52nd (Lowland) Division WW2 The Division engaged in a number of unusual deployments in the war. On 7th June 1940, after the evacuation of Dunkirk, the 52nd embarked for France and Cherbourg during the little known landing of the second Expeditionary Force, the details of which were for many years kept secret. After a series of stiff engagements and in tremendous heat and confusion, the Division began to embark again through Cherbourg on 15th June 1940. Immediately on their return from France the 52nd took up anti-invasion positions in the south of England. They were then moved to man the “Scottish Command Line”, a series of defensive blocks to protect the Tay, the Forth and the Clyde. In 1942 they began mountain training at the Divisional Battle School at Forres and Edzell and they were then designated as “Mountain” troops. As a Divisional patch they now adopted the St Andrew’s Cross with the scroll “MOUNTAIN” beneath. They trained in some of the wildest and remotest parts of Scotland. For a time a number of Indian Army Sikh Muleteers were attached to them to train the Lowlanders in handling and training mules, an unusual sight in a Highland glen. As D-Day approached the 52nd (Lowland) Division were part of an elaborate deception plan named “Fortitude North” to deceive the Germans into believing that there would not be one invasion area but several, and that the 52nd were part of a strong force that was to be landed in Norway. General Thorne GOC Scotland was closely involved in this plan which included carefully organised radio signals deception codenamed, “Turnip”. At this time the Division completed both Combined Operations training and conversion to an air-portable role. Finally, the 52nd landed in France in September 1944. They had been trained to a peak of efficiency and fitness that has seldom been seen in any division. Their first actions as part of the British Liberation Army were on the Belgian-Dutch border. The Division was then chosen for the hazardous and difficult amphibious assault crossing the Sheldt in an area much of which was below sea level; a certain irony for soldiers who still wore their “MOUNTAIN” shoulder flash. After a long and cold winter in Holland and on the German border, the 52nd crossed the Rhine on 24th March 1945 and pushed on in a series of bitter fighting to Bremen. The Division had hoped to exercise their mountain role and their close association with the Norwegian Army in exile but in the final days of the war they were not sent to Norway as they had hoped. In August 1946 the 52nd (Lowland) Division was disbanded at Oldenburg. Shortly after the formation was revived as part of the 51st/52nd (Scottish) Division. They once again became a Territorial Division in 1948 and were reduced to a Brigade of the Scottish Division in 1967. Few now remember their great and much respected wartime commanders, Drew, Laurie, Ritchie and Hackwell Smith. 15th (Scottish) Division WW2 During the Second World War the story of the 15th (Scottish) Division is marked by extensive training, charismatic commanders, excellent staff work, a first class fighting record and the unique honour of leading the final river crossing in Germany. The 15th was reborn in the chaos of creating a duplicate Territorial Division, but not providing them with duplicate equipment. The Division trained in the United Kingdom in the early years of the war. Their Divisional uniform flash was an adaptation of the First World War flash but instead of a Scotch wedge they wore the lion rampant inside the letter “O”, the fifteenth letter of the alphabet. After the threat of invasion receded the Division was downgraded to lower establishment and in their own words “banished to Northumberland”. Many units disappeared as reinforcements to the Middle East, the Parachute regiment and elsewhere. There was even a fight to keep the Tam O’Shanter headdress. Late in 1942 they were restored to higher establishment and in 1943 they at last got their chance of battle training in Yorkshire. At the Divisional Battle School at Barnard Castle they underwent extensive training in river crossings and major exercises including “Blackcock”, “Clansman”, “Tally-Ho” and “Eagle”, testing in particular the armoured role. On 13th June 1944, trained but untested, the first elements of the Division crossed to France. They were in action at the Odon Battle on 26th June. They fought virtually continuously from then on through Caumont, the Seine Crossing, the Gheel Bridgehead, Best, Tilburg, Meijel, Blerwick, the Maas and across the Rhine. Their particular distinction was to be selected to lead the last set piece river crossing of the war, the assault across the Elbe on 29th April 1945, after which they fought on to the Baltic occupying both Lubeck and Kiel. They were the only division of the British Army of the Second World War to be involved in all of the major European river assault crossings; the Seine, the Rhine and the Elbe. On 10th April 1946 the 15th (Scottish) Division was finally disbanded. Its battle casualties in killed, wounded and missing in twelve months of fighting amounted to 11,772. The 15th (Scottish) Division was blessed with able and charismatic commanders who included Oliver Lees, Christison, Bullen-Smith, Gordon MacMillan and “Tiny” Barber. The Scottish Division and 2nd Division In 2000 restructuring of the UK Divisions created one division in the north incorporating Scotland and areas of Northern England entitled 2nd Division, with Headquarters in Edinburgh and two Brigades 51 Scottish Brigade and 52 Light Brigade. Amalgamations of Territorial Battalions led to the creation of 52nd Lowland Volunteers and 51st Highland Volunteers which as the two surviving Territorial Battalions now form the 6th and 7th Battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. To add confusion to an already complex story the 52nd Lowland Battalion TA became the 6th Battalion of the RRS and the 51st Highland Battalion TA became the 7th Battalion RRS, thus reversing their original, and rightful, order of seniority. Conclusion The title of Highland Division and Lowland Division, when applied to Territorial formations originates from the Haldane reforms of 1908. The numbering of the brigades within the divisions remained consistent in the two World Wars:
The divisional signs originate from the First World War. These signs were conceived for the purposes of both security and organisation, but it was not long before they also became symbols of pride. They had a considerable effect on morale. At first divisional signs were not always worn as clothing patches, but were painted on vehicles and steel helmets. Fighting under the banner of these Scottish Divisions and Brigades with their assigned numbers and signs thousands of soldiers from many countries have fought and died. These formation names, numbers and symbols have no particular right to be perpetuated, but they deserve to be respected and remembered. Dr D M Henderson
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