| Glasgow Highlanders | |
|---|---|
 Cap Badge of the Glasgow Highlanders | |
| Active | 1868–1973 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Territorial Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Line infantry |
| Part of | Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers 1868–1881 Highland Light Infantry 1881–1959 Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) 1959–1967 52nd Lowland Volunteers 1967–1973 |
| Garrison/HQ | Greendyke Street,Glasgow |
| Motto | Nemo Me Impune Lacessit (No One Assails Me With Impunity) (Latin) |
| March | Quick –Highland Laddie |
| Engagements | Battle of Modder River Battle of Festubert Battle of Loos Battle of the Somme Battle of Arras Battle of Passchendaele Battle of Normandy Battle of the Scheldt Operation Plunder |
| Insignia | |
| Tartan | MacKenzie Tartan |
TheGlasgow Highlanders was a formerinfantryregiment of theBritish Army, part of theTerritorial Force, later renamed theTerritorial Army. The regiment eventually became aVolunteer Battalion of theHighland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) in 1881. The regiment saw active service in bothWorld War I andWorld War II. In 1959 the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) was amalgamated with theRoyal Scots Fusiliers to form theRoyal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment). The Glasgow Highlanders was later amalgamated into the52nd Lowland Volunteers in 1967.
The regiment was originally formed as the 105thLanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, also known as the Glasgow Highland Regiment, which was formed in 1868[1] by a group of Highland migrants to Glasgow as part of the civilianVolunteer Force and initially wore the uniform and based its cap badge upon that of theBlack Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). It consisted of 12companies.[1][2]
Most of the Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) had been raised following an invasion scare in 1859–60, so the 105th was a latecomer but it had the advantage of acadre of experienced Volunteers when 187 Highlanders transferred to the new unit from G, H and I Companies of the4th (Glasgow, 1st Northern) Lanarkshire RVC. These companies had been raised askilted units in 1860 as the 60th (Glasgow, 1st Highland), 61st (Glasgow, 2nd Highland) and 93rd (Glasgow Highland Rangers) Lanarkshire RVCs. (After the Highlanders left the three companies of the 4th adoptedtunics andtrews instead ofdoublets and kilts.)[2]
Although the 105th recruited generally across Glasgow, C Company was fromPartick, E Company fromCrosshill, F Company was formed by natives ofIslay and G Company by those fromArgyllshire. The headquarters (HQ) anddrill hall was at 97 Union Street, Glasgow, later at Greendyke Street nearGlasgow Green, and then at 13 Dundas Street, with a rifle range of Patterton.[2][3]
When the RVCs were consolidated in 1880, the battalion was renumbered as the10th (Glasgow Highland) Lanarkshire RVC.[1][2][3] Under the 'Localisation of Forces' scheme introduced in 1872 by theCardwell reforms, the unit had been grouped with the73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot, the90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) and the 2nd Royal Lanark Militia in Brigade No 60.[3] However, this affiliation was broken up in theChilders Reforms, under which the Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers eventually became volunteer battalions of either theHighland Light Infantry (HLI) or theCameronians (Scottish Rifles). The 10th (Glasgow Highland) became a volunteer battalion of the HLI on 1 July 1881 and was formally redesignated as the5th (Glasgow Highland) Volunteer Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in December 1887.[1][2][3]
The personnel were distinctive because they continued to wear their kilts in contrast to the rest of the HLI, who wore trews. The 5th Battalion, always wore the Government (Black Watch) tartan and their own cap badge, and never wore the Mackenzie tartan as the rest of the HLI.[4]
TheStanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training.[5][6] Under this scheme the Volunteer Battalions of the HLI were included in theClyde Brigade, later theGlasgow Brigade based atHamilton. In 1902 the HLI battalions split from the rest of the Glasgow units to form their ownHighland Light Infantry Brigade, still based at Hamilton.[3]
A Cadet Corps atBlairlodge School,Polmont, Stirlingshire, was affiliated to the battalion from 1891 to 1904. The battalion added a cyclist company in 1900. At this period, A Company was recruited fromSpringburn, B Company fromWhiteinch, C from Partick, E fromQueen's Park, F from Islay and M fromHillhead.[2][3]
Detachments were sent toSouth Africa during theSecond Boer War and earned the battalion its firstbattle honour, for service on theModder River.[1][3][7]
When theVolunteers were subsumed into the newTerritorial Force (TF) under theHaldane Reforms of 1908,[8][9] the unit became the9th (Glasgow Highland) Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. By now the battalion was back at 81 Greendyke Street.[1][2][3] It continued to be part of the Highland Light Infantry Brigade, now part of theLowland Division in the TF. In 1915, the division would become the52nd (Lowland) Division and the brigade the157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigade respectively.[10]
During theGreat War of 1914–18 another two home-based battalions were recruited, which were used to supply manpower to the 1st Battalion in France, who served with distinction with the Highland Light Infantry under the2nd Division at the battles ofFestubert andLoos. In May 1916 the battalion was transferred to the33rd Division[11] and fought atthe Somme (atHigh Wood),Arras and theThird Battle of Ypres. After the end of the war, the Glasgow Highlanders were disbanded along with the rest of the Territorial Force. The story of the battalion in the Great War would later be dramatised in the 1995Bill Bryden play,The Big Picnic, starringJimmy Logan.[12]
In 1920, the Territorial Force was re-established as theTerritorial Army, and the Glasgow Highlanders re-raised a single battalion. It later moved to a newHeadquarters, (in what became known as Walcheren Barracks) inMaryhill in 1935.[13]
Still part of the157th Infantry Brigade of52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, the 1st Battalion was sent overseas to France in 1940 as part of theSecond British Expeditionary Force (seeOperation Aerial) to cover the withdrawal of theBEF beingevacuated from Dunkirk. With the rest of the division, the 1st Battalion spent the next four years training in the United Kingdom and, from May 1942 until June 1944, was trained inmountain warfare and later in airlanding operations. In early October 1944 the 52nd Division was sent to Belgium, coming under command of theFirst Canadian Army, and saw service most notably during the capture ofWalcheren Island during theBattle of the Scheldt.[14]
In the spring and summer of 1939, the Territorial Army was ordered to be doubled in size, in order to meet the threat ofNazi Germany. As a result, the 1st Battalion raised a duplicate unit, the 2nd Battalion which was assigned to the46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade,15th (Scottish) Infantry Division. With the division, the 2nd Battalion remained in the United Kingdom until it was sent overseas, to France, in June 1944. The battalion fought in theBattle of Normandy inOperation Epsom and theSecond Battle of the Odon, followed byOperation Bluecoat and the subsequentAllied advance from Paris to the Rhine. The battalion later played a small part inOperation Market Garden, later taking part inOperation Veritable and crossing theRhine inOperation Plunder, finally advancing into Germany in theWestern Allied invasion of Germany. During Operation Epsom"the 2nd Battalion, The Glasgow Highlanders lost 12officers and sustained nearly 200 casualties, mainly around the hotly contested village ofCheux. Total strength of this battalion was approximately 35 officers and 786other ranks; thusone day's losses amounted to 34% of their officers and nearly 25% of the entire rifle battalion."[15]
In 1949 the unit was redesignated the '1st Battalion, The Glasgow Highlanders, TheHighland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment)'[1] and in 1959 transferred from the Highland Light Infantry to the newRoyal Highland Fusiliers Regiment without a change of title.[1] In 1967, with the formation of the Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve (TAVR), the battalion laid up its colours and was amalgamated with the other TA battalions of Regiments in theLowland Brigade, which were reformed as companies in three new TAVR battalions.[1]
The name of the Glasgow Highlanders was initially carried on through 'HQ (Glasgow Highlanders) Company' of the 52nd Lowland Volunteers and 'C (Glasgow Highlanders) Company' of the 3rd (Territorial) Battalion, The Royal Highland Fusiliers. With the disbandment of the latter in 1969, it was only carried on by 'HQ (Glasgow Highlanders) Company' of the 1st Battalion,52nd Lowland Volunteers.[1] It later changed its affiliation to The 'Royal Highland Fusiliers' in 1973, thus formally ending the existence of a Glasgow Highlanders unit within the Territorial Army.[1] The Glasgow Highlanders' name was continued by a platoon of theArmy Cadet Force, attached to52nd Lowland Regiment. However, in 2007, this ACF unit changed its affiliation to 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion TheRoyal Regiment of Scotland and became F Platoon RHF (Maryhill). In May 2014, following a request by the Detachment Commander, the unit title was amended to F Platoon RHF (Glasgow Highlanders) to maintain historic links.[16]
