The 52nd Lowland Volunteers (52 LOWLAND) is a battalion in the British Army's Army Reserve or reserve force in the Scottish Lowlands, forming the 6th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 6 SCOTS. Due to its erstwhile association with the 1st Regiment of Foot, it is the senior Reserve line infantry battalion in the British Army. It is one of two Reserve battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, along with 51st Highland (7 SCOTS), a similar unit located in the Scottish Highlands.
Originally formed as the 52nd Lowland Volunteers in 1967, as a result of the amalgamation of Territorial Battalions within the infantry Regiments of the Lowland Brigade, the name commemorated the 52nd (Lowland) Division of the Territorial Force, within which many of the Regiment's antecedent Territorial Battalions served during the First and Second World Wars.
History
Origins and First World War
The current Battalion traces its lineage back to the reserve Rifle Volunteer units that were originally raised in the Scottish Lowlands as part of the Victorian Volunteer Force by Lord Lieutenants in every county. These included: the Queens City of Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers, the Midlothian Rifle Volunteers, the Haddingtonshire Rifle Volunteers, the Linlithgowshire Rifle Volunteers, the Ayrshire Rifle Volunteers, the Roxburghshire and Selkirk (The Border) Rifle Volunteers, the Berwickshire Rifle Volunteers, the Dumfriesshire Rifle Volunteers, the Galloway Rifle Volunteers, and the Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers.
The 1st Battalion of the Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers were raised in 1860, and counted Boys' Brigade founder William Alexander Smith amongst its ranks. The 3rd Battalion of the Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, raised in 1859, was also notable for its football team, which became the famous Third Lanark, and the 105th (Glasgow Highlanders) Battalion of the Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, which was raised in 1868, was one of several Volunteer Force units that first saw overseas service during the Second Boer War.
The various county battalions of Rifle Volunteers first became affiliated to a newly designated local regular Line Infantry Regiment with the Childers Reforms of 1881.Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteer Battalions that later became Territorial Battalions in the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment)
The current unit is the direct descendant of the infantry battalions that made up the 52nd Lowland Division, of which Lowland Rifle Volunteer units, including the Glasgow Highlanders et al, became a part. This division was formed as part of the Haldane Reforms, which integrated the Volunteer Force, Militia and the Yeomanry into the nascent Territorial Force, created by the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907.
The local Regular Line Infantry Regiments at the time were: the Royal Scots (Lothian), the Royal Scots Fusiliers (Ayrshire), the Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow), the King's Own Scottish Borderers (Borders, Dumfries and Galloway) and the Cameronians (Lanarkshire). At this time the various Volunteer Battalions were also reformed as fully integrated Territorial Battalions within their affiliated Lowland Infantry Regiments.
The Royal Scots (TF Battalions), c. 1908 The Royal Scots Fusiliers (TF Battalions), c. 1908 The Highland Light Infantry (TF Battalions), c. 1908 The King's Own Scottish Borderers (TF Battalions), c. 1908 The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (TF Battalions), c. 1908 4th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Bn, The Royal Scots, at Forrest Hill in Edinburgh 4th Bn, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, at Titchfield Street in Kilmarnock 5th (City of Glasgow) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Hill Street in Glasgow 4th (Border) Bn, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, at Paton Street in Galashiels 5th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at West Princes Street in Glasgow 5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Bn, The Royal Scots, at Forrest Hill in Edinburgh 5th Bn, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, at Burns Statue Square in Ayr 6th (City of Glasgow) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Yorkhill Street in Glasgow 5th (Dumfries & Galloway) Bn, The King's Own Scottish Borderers at Loreburn Hall in Dumfries 6th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Muirhall in Hamilton 6th Bn, The Royal Scots, at Gilmore Place in Edinburgh 7th (Blythswood) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Main Street in Bridgeton 7th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Victoria Road, Pollokshaws, south side Glasgow 7th Bn, The Royal Scots, at Dalmeny Street in Leith 8th (Lanark) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Lanark (Disbanded 1914) 8th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Cathedral Street in Glasgow 8th Bn, The Royal Scots, at Nungate in Haddington 9th (Glasgow Highland) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Greendyke Street in Glasgow 9th (Highlanders) Bn, The Royal Scots, at East Claremont Street in Edinburgh 10th (Cyclist) Bn, The Royal Scots, at the High Street in Linlithgow
Although the 7th Battalion, Royal Scots was severely depleted by the Quintinshill rail disaster, they and the other Territorial Battalions of the 52nd (Lowland) Division fought in the First World War at Gallipoli, in Egypt and Palestine as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, and on the Western Front in France, where it fought in the 2nd Battle of the Somme, the 2nd Battle of Arras and at the Battle of the Hindenburg Line during the Hundred Days Offensive. Notable 52nd Lowlanders who served during this period included footballer William Reid, motorcycle racer Jimmie Guthrie, Winston Churchill, who briefly commanded the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers in the "New Army" and John Reith, who was a subaltern with the 5th Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). Victoria Cross recipients John Brown Hamilton and David Ross Lauder served with the Glasgow Highlanders and the 4th RSF respectively. James Youll Turnbull served with the 17th (Chambers of Commerce) Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry, one of three HLI "Pals battalions" formed during the war. VC recipient and Celtic player William Angus, also served with the antecedent 8th Royal Scots, as part of the 7th Division.
Interwar period and Second World War After the Armistice, the Territorial Force and its formations were disbanded. It was re-established, by the Territorial Army and Militia Act 1921, as the Territorial Army however, and the original Lowland Territorial Battalions were reconstituted, although there were several amalgamations.
The Royal Scots (TA Battalions), c. 1921 The Royal Scots Fusiliers (TA Battalions), c. 1921 The Highland Light Infantry (TA Battalions), c. 1921 The King's Own Scottish Borderers (TA Battalions), c. 1921 The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (TA Battalions), c. 1921 4th/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Bn, The Royal Scots, at Forrest Hill in Edinburgh 4th/5th Bn, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, in Kilmarnock and Ayr 5th (City of Glasgow) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Hill Street in Glasgow 4th (Border) Bn, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, at Galashiels 5th/8th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at West Princes Street and Cathedral Street in Glasgow 6th Bn, The Royal Scots, at Gilmore Place in Edinburgh (Transferred to Royal Garrison Artillery) 6th (City of Glasgow) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Yorkhill Street in Glasgow 5th (Dumfries & Galloway) Bn, The King's Own Scottish Borderers at Dumfries 6th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Muirhall in Hamilton 7th/9th (Highlanders) Bn, The Royal Scots, at Dalmeny Street in Leith and East Claremont Street in Edinburgh 7th (The Blythswood) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Bridgeton in Glasgow (Transferred to Royal Artillery in 1938) 7th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Victoria Road, Pollokshaws in Glasgow 8th Bn, The Royal Scots, in Haddington (Transferred to Royal Garrison Artillery) 9th (Glasgow Highland) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Greendyke Street in Glasgow
In 1939 the 52nd (Lowland) Division was instructed to form a duplicate division as a second-line, as part of rearmament efforts. The duplicate division of the 52nd Lowland Division was entitled the 15th (Scottish) Division and consisted of newly raised Lowland TA Infantry Battalions. Both Divisions were mobilised on the outbreak of the Second World War.
The 52nd (Lowland) Division became the only completely Territorial Division to fight in the Second World War. The Division was initially part of the ill-fated Second British Expeditionary Force (BEF) landed in France in June 1940 under Field Marshal Alan Brooke, later being evacuated from the continent during Operation Aerial. Members of the 52nd at the time included the future Brigadier, Alastair Pearson.
It subsequently trained as a mountain warfare division in the Scottish Highlands under General Sir Neil Ritchie. As the invasion of Normandy approached, the 52nd (Lowland) Division were involved in an elaborate deception plan, Operation Fortitude, designed to deceive the Germans into believing that there would not be one invasion area but several, and that the 52nd would have formed the nexus of a strong force that was to be landed in Norway. As a mountain warfare formation, it had little heavy equipment and transport, and therefore was optimal for conversion to operations as an Airborne force, being assigned to the First Allied Airborne Army. It was in this role that the division was anticipated to take part in Operation Market Garden. Instead the division was reassigned to the First Canadian Army, eventually landing at Ostend in October 1944, as part of the wider Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine.
They were ordered to capture the vital Port of Antwerp and as a result were involved in the Battle of the Scheldt in Belgium and the Netherlands, which included Operation Vitality, Operation Infatuate and the ultimate capture of Walcheren Island, in order to open the mouth of the Scheldt estuary to Allied shipping.
In January 1945 they participated in the Battle for the Roer Triangle, which involved the clearance of the area between the rivers Meuse and Roer. It was during this operation that Dennis Donnini of the 4/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, was awarded the Victoria Cross, becoming the youngest winner of the VC during World War II. The division crossed the River Rhine at Xanten on 24 March 1945, eventually advancing as far as Bremen, where it fought its last battle of the war.
Post-war restructuring and Cold War In August 1946 the 52nd (Lowland) Division was disbanded at Oldenburg. Shortly afterwards however the formation was revived as part of the 51st/52nd (Scottish) Division, created via an amalgamation with the 51st (Highland) Division. They once again became a Territorial Division upon demobilisation in 1948.
The Royal Scots (TA Battalions), c. 1947 The Royal Scots Fusiliers (TA Battalions), c. 1947 The Highland Light Infantry (TA Battalions), c. 1947 The King's Own Scottish Borderers (TA Battalions), c. 1947 The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (TA Battalions), c. 1947 7th/9th (Highlanders) Bn, The Royal Scots, at Dalmeny Street in Leith and East Claremont Street in Edinburgh 4th/5th Bn, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, in Kilmarnock, Ayr and Cumnock 5th/6th (City of Glasgow) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Hill Street in Glasgow 4th (Border) Bn, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, at Galashiels, Melrose, Hawick, Selkirk and Duns 6th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Hamilton, Motherwell, Bothwell and Wishaw 8th (Lothians and Peeblesshire) Bn, The Royal Scots, in Haddington, Midlothian and Peebles 9th (Glasgow Highland) Bn, The Highland Light Infantry, at Maryhill in Glasgow 5th (Dumfries & Galloway) Bn, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, at Dumfries, Stranraer, Castle Douglas and Sanqhar 7th Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Victoria Road, Pollokshaws in Glasgow