The Liverpool Scottish

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The Liverpool Scottish is a unit of the British Territorial Army, also known simply as 'The Scottish'. It was formed in 1900 as an infantry battalion of the King's (Liverpool Regiment) from Scotsmen living in Liverpool, England. The Liverpool Scottish later transferred to the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and reduced to a company in 1967. Since 1999, the Liverpool Scottish has formed a platoon in "A" (King's) Company, which has recently been incorporated into the 4th Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. The Liverpool Scottish served extensively during the First World War.

1 History
2 Battle honours
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

Image:Liverpool Scottish, 1910.jpg There had been a previous attempt to raise a formation of Scotsmen in Liverpool during the height of a perceived threat of French invasion in the late 1850s. The 19th Lancashire Volunteer Rifles was formed in 1859 from Scotsmen of middle class background. Disputes between members over the use of kilts and the colour of their tartan led to the 19th splintering into four distinct companies.

The Liverpool Scottish was formed during the Second Boer War as the 8th (Scottish) Volunteer Battalion on 30 April, 1900, with headquarters at Highgate Street, Edge Hill, Liverpool. The battalion adopted the Clan Forbes tartan as part of their highland dress uniform.

A detachment of 22 men from the battalion volunteered for service in South Africa, attached to the 4th Service Company of the 1st Gordon Highlanders. The detachment's participation, limited to manning blockhouses, gained the battalion its first battle honour: "South Africa 1902".

In 1904, the battalion's HQ was moved to Fraser Street in Liverpool City Centre, where it would remain until 1967. After the Territorial Force's establishment in 1908, the LiverpooL Scottish was redesignated as the 10th (Scottish) Battalion. The battalion became subordinate to the South Lancashire Brigade, West Lancashire Division, a division formed to administer territorial battalions in Lancashire.

[edit] First World War

Image:Liverpool Scottish, 1913.jpg

The Liverpool Scottish was mobilised upon the beginning of the war in August 1914 and was soon moved to Scotland. In October the Liverpool Scottish formed a duplicate second-line battalion designated the 2/10th; a third-line battalion (the 3/10th) was formed in May, 1915. On 1 November the 1/10th embarked aboard the SS Maidan, which was also transporting the Queen's Westminster Rifles. The two battalions landed at Le Havre, France on 2 November, becoming some of the earliest territorial battalions to join the British Expeditionary Force. The Liverpool Scottish joined the 9th Brigade, 3rd Division and moved to Kemmel, five miles south of Ypres, where it alternated between manning trenches and being in reserve. The severe winter of late 1914, combined with trench warfare, greatly reduced the strength of the Liverpool Scottish. The battalion had arrived in France with 26 officers and 829 men but by January 1915, the battalion's strength had dwindled to 370 able-bodied men.

Image:Liverpool Scottish Bellewaarde Farm 16 June 1915 Q 49751.jpg

The battalion's first major action came at Hooge, two-miles east of Ypres, on 16 June. The action (known to the Scottish as the "Battle of Hooge" and officially as the "First Attack at Bellewaarde") was to be conducted by the 3rd Division, who were to advance east of Bellewaarde Lake to capture Bellewaarde Ridge. The attack began at 4:15 am with the first wave of British troops quickly advancing to the German first-line trenches, whereupon they were shelled by their own artillery. The Liverpool Scottish formed the second wave with the 1st Lincolns. Their objective was to pass through the first wave and advance on Bellewaarde Farm, west of the lake. As the Liverpool Scottish approached the farm, V Company encountered resistance on their front; after pausing briefly, the company charged the opposing positions and took about forty prisoners. The battle quickly degenerated into a disorganised and chaotic affair, with British battalions, including the Scottish, becoming mixed up with each other. The battalion's advance on the final positions proved difficult in the face of a stout German defence. The few that managed to reach the positions held out for several hours before a withdrawal was carried out to consolidate the gains made, ending at the captured first-line trenches. The Liverpool Scottish had suffered heavily in their first battle - 79 killed, 211 wounded and 109 missing from a pre-battle strength of 542 officers and men. A memorial to this battle was erected in the area in 2000.

Image:Liverpool Scottish Bellewaarde Farm 16 June 1915 Q 49750.jpg

In January the Scottish was transferred to the 166th Brigade, 55th Division, the new incarnation of the West Lancashire Division. After the Somme Offensive began on 1 July, 1916, the Liverpool Scottish was moved into the area in preparation for a planned attack on Guillemont on the 31st. The battalion was not used and it was mostly in reserve until it entered the offensive on 8 August during another attempt to capture Guillemont. The British had suffered heavy losses in a previous attempt to capture the village. The Liverpool Scottish would also incur heavy casualties in their four attempts to take German positions during the battle, numbering about 100 killed and 172 wounded. One of the wounded was Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, attached to the Liverpool Scottish from the Royal Army Medical Corps. He became the battalion's only Victoria Cross recipient after he was awarded the medal for attending to and rescuing wounded British soldiers on 8 August.

The Liverpool Scottish later fought in the battles of Ginchy and Morval in September before leaving the Somme and returning to the Ypres salient, positioned at Wieltje. On 31 July, 1917, a new offensive around Ypres was launched to try and penetrate the German lines, advance to the Belgian coast and capture German submarine bases. The Liverpool Scottish experienced some of the heaviest resistance in 166 Brigade's area, taking heavy losses around the fortified farms. The battalion remained in some captured German trenches until they were relieved on 3 August. The following day, Captain Chevasse died of wounds having again assisted wounded soldiers - he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

In September the Scottish moved south to Epehy, thirteen miles south of Cambrai, where its division took part in the Battle of Cambrai in November. On 21 March, 1918, Germany launched Operation Michael, the beginning of the last German offensive of the war. making substantial gains before it was halted on 25 March. This was followed by Operation Georgette, begun on 9 April, in Flanders. The Liverpool Scottish were involved in the defence of the Givenchy sector during the Battle of Estaires, sustaining such losses that they absorbed the 2/10th Liverpool Scottish, which had landed in France in February 1917. After the Spring Offensive was halted, the Western Front entered its final phase — a series of Allied drives from August to November known as the Hundred Days Offensive. The Liverpool Scottish fought one of its last actions of the war, at La Bassée Canal in October. By the end of the war on 11 November, 1918, the Liverpool Scottish had suffered thousands of casualties, including over 1,000 dead.

[edit] Inter-war

The battalion was reconstituted into the newly-renamed Territorial Army in 1920, entitled the 10th (Liverpool Scottish) Battalion. The reorganisation of the TA in the mid-1930s resulted in the Liverpool Scottish being transferred to the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, designated simply as The Liverpool Scottish. The battalion was presented with new colours at Goodison Park during the Royal Family's visit to Liverpool in 1938.

[edit] Second World War

The Liverpool Scottish raised a duplicate battalion just before the war, in March 1939, designated the 2nd. Though both battalions remained in the United Kingdom for the duration of the war, they supplied drafts to other units, primarily the Cameron Highlanders. The 2nd Battalion transferred to the Royal Artillery in 1942, becoming the 89th Anti-Tank Regiment.

In addition to this, a contingent from the Liverpool Scottish joined No. 4 Independent Company, which also consisted of men from the King's Regiment and South Lancashire Regiment. The company, commanded by Major J. R. Paterson of the Liverpool Scottish, took part in the Norway Campaign in 1940. Men of the Liverpool Scottish later fought with No. 2 Commando at St. Nazaire, Sicily, Salerno and Yugoslavia.

[edit] Post-war

The Liverpool Scottish was equipped briefly as a motor battalion from 1947 before returning to an infantry role. The reorganisation of the Territorial Army in the late 1960s resulted in the Liverpool Scottish being disbanded and reconstituted into two separate artillery and infantry units; V Company (Liverpool Scottish) joined the 51st Highland Volunteers while G Troop (The Liverpool Scottish) joined R (The King's) Battery, The West Lancashire Regiment. The HQ of both units were moved to Forbes House, Score Lane, Childwall, in Liverpool. The artillery element was disbanded with R Battery in 1969.

In 1992 the Liverpool Scottish was transferred to the 5th/8th (Volunteer) Battalion of the King's Regiment, successor to the King's Regiment (Liverpool). Further reorganisation of the TA in 1999 led to the LiverpooL Scottish being reduced to a platoon (Liverpool Scottish Platoon) of A (King's) Company, King's and Cheshire Regiment. The platoon was relocated to Townsend Avenue, Norris Green, the new home of the TA in Liverpool.