Wikipedia

List of battalions of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

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.

Original composition edit

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]

Reorganisation edit

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

First World War edit

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

Inter-War edit

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.

Second World War edit

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

Post-World War II edit

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]

Disbandment edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ a b "5th Volunteer Battalion, The Cameronians". Archived from the original on 24 June 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b "The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) – Militia Battalions". Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 292. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b "5th Battalion, The Cameronians". Archived from the original on 18 April 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 302. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b "6th (Lanarkshire) Battalion, The Cameronians [and all Cameronians successors]". Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 307. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  8. ^ a b "7th Battalion, The Cameronians". Archived from the original on 16 August 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 310. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b "8th Battalion, The Cameronians". Archived from the original on 16 August 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force, 1859-1908" (PDF). p. 315. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Researching a First World War soldier". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  13. ^ Westlake, Ray (2020). Guide to the Volunteer Training Corps 1914-1918. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. pp. 4–7. ISBN 9781783315390.
  14. ^ a b c d e "Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d e "Unit History: Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  16. ^ Westlake p. 120
  17. ^ a b Whittaker p. 124
  18. ^ Whittaker p. 23
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Story of the Regiments - World War II". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  20. ^ "9th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) during the Second World War". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  21. ^ "History of the 9th Battalion". Archived from the original on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  22. ^ "10th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) during the Second World War". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  23. ^ "11th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) during the Second World War". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  24. ^ "12th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) during the Second World War". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  25. ^ "13th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) during the Second World War". Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  26. ^ "History of the Home Guard". Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  27. ^ a b "1st Battalion, 26th Regiment of Foot / 1st Battalion, The Cameronians". Archived from the original on 24 February 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  28. ^ "90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) (Light Infantry) / 2nd Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)". Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2020.

Bibliography edit

  • Sir James Moncrieff Grierson, Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force, 1859-1908, W. Blackwood and sons, 1909
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