The 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

formation of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. The brigade saw active service in both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and the

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

with the

52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland ...

Origins

The Scottish Rifles Brigade was originally a Volunteer Infantry Brigade formed in 1902 when the former

Glasgow Brigade The Glasgow Brigade was an infantry formation of Britain's Volunteer Force from 1890 to 1902. It was the forerunner of two formations of the Territorial Force that saw service in both World Wars. Origins The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement ...

of the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

was split up. The four Volunteer Battalions of the

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Reg ...

constituted one brigade, while the four Volunteer Battalions of the

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusi ...

formed the other (the Highland Light Infantry Brigade, later the 157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigade of the TF).''Army List'', various dates. From 1902 to 1908 the Scottish Rifles Brigade had the following composition: * 1st Lanarkshire Volunteer Rifle Corps at 128 West Princes Street, Glasgow * 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) at

Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Hamilton ( sco, Hamiltoun; gd, Baile Hamaltan ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and nort ...

, * 3rd Lanarkshire Volunteer Rifle Corps at Victoria Road, Glasgow * 4th Volunteer Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) at 138 Stirling Road, Glasgow * Bearer Company,

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

, later an Army Service Corps Company The Brigade Headquarters (HQ) was at 149 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, and the brigade commander from 1 June 1906 was retired

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

E.C. Browne.

Territorial Force

After the

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

were subsumed into the new

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

(TF) under the

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

of 1908, the Scottish Rifles Brigade formed part of the Lowland Division of the TF with the following composition:Thompson, pp. 3–5.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 109–15.52 (L) Division at Long, Long Trail.
/ref>Cameronians at Long, Log Trail.
/ref> * 5th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Glasgow * 6th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Muirhall, Hamilton * 7th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Victoria Road, Glasgow * 8th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), at Cathedral Street, Glasgow

First World War

The Lowland Division was mobilised for full-time war service in early August 1914, and most of the men, when asked, volunteered for overseas service. From November 1914 to March 1915, many units of the division were posted elsewhere, mainly to reinforce the

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, most of which had suffered heavy casualties. The 5th and 6th battalions of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) were sent to the Western Front and replaced by the 4th and 7th battalions of the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regimen ...

. In May 1915 the division was numbered as the

52nd (Lowland) Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland ...

and the brigades were also numbered, the Scottish Rifles Brigade becoming 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade and the battalions were redesignated, becoming '1/7th Royal Scots', to distinguish them from their 2nd Line units being formed in the

195th (2/1st Scottish Rifles) Brigade The 195th (2/1st Scottish Rifles) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army raised during the Great War. The brigade was part of the Territorial Force and created as a 2nd Line of the 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade and part of the 65th ( ...

, part of the

65th (2nd Lowland) Division The 65th (2nd Lowland) Division of the British Army was a second-line Territorial Force division, formed in 1914, which served on home defence duties during the First World War. The division was formed as a duplicate of the 52nd (Lowland) Divisi ...

. During the war the brigade served with the division in the Middle Eastern theatre, fighting in 1917 in the

Battle of Romani The Battle of Romani was the last ground attack of the Central Powers on the Suez Canal at the beginning of the Sinai and Palestine campaign during the First World War. The battle was fought between 3 and 5 August 1916 near the Egyptian town o ...

, the

First Battle of Gaza The First Battle of Gaza was fought on 26 March 1917 during the first attempt by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), which was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from th ...

Second Battle of Gaza The Second Battle of Gaza was fought on 17-19 April 1917, following the defeat of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) at the First Battle of Gaza in March, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Gaza was defended by t ...

and

Third Battle of Gaza The Third Battle of Gaza was fought on the night of 1–2 November 1917 between British and Ottoman forces during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I and came after the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory at the ...

during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and, in 1918, served on the Western Front, fighting in the

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allies of World War I, Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (1918), Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Wester ...

Order of battle

* 1/5th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) ''(to November 1914)'' * 1/6th Battalion,

''(left March 1915)'' * 1/7th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) * 1/8th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) ''(left 28 June 1918)'' * 1/4th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Battalion, Royal Scots ''(from April 1915)'' * 1/7th Battalion,

''(from April 1915)'' * 156th Machine Gun Company,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

''(formed 16 March 1916, moved to 52nd Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 28 April 1918)'' * 156th Trench Mortar Battery ''(formed 27 June 1917)''

Inter-war period

After the war the brigade and division were disbanded as was the whole of the Territorial Force. The Territorial Force was reformed in the 1920s as the Territorial Army (TA) and the 52nd Division was reconstituted as was the brigade which was redesignated as the 156th (Scottish Rifles) Infantry Brigade with the same unit it had pre-war. In 1921, the 5th and 8th Battalions of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) were amalgamated as the 5th/8th Battalion and were replaced by the 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers from the 155th (East Scottish) Infantry Brigade. Shortly after, the brigade was redesignated the 156th (West Scottish) Infantry Brigade. In the late 1930s many of the Territorial Army's infantry battalions were converted into other roles, mainly anti-aircraft and searchlight units. In late 1938, all British infantry brigades were reduced from four to three battalions and the 5th/8th Cameronians was chosen to be converted and became 5th/8th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (56th Searchlight Regiment). In 1939 the brigade was redesignated 156th Infantry Brigade.

Second World War

The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 B13788

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the brigade served with the division during

Operation Aerial Operation Aerial was the evacuation of Allied forces and civilians from ports in western France from 15 to 25 June 1940 during the Second World War. The evacuation followed the Allied military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germ ...

in 1940 in France to cover the withdrawal of troops of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) which was being evacuated from France. From May 1942 to June 1944 the division was trained in

mountain warfare Mountain warfare (also known as alpine warfare) is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. Mountain ranges are of strategic importance since they often act as a natural border, and may also be the origin of a water source (for example, t ...

yet were never used in the role. They were then trained in airlanding operations but were again never utilised in this role either, due mainly to the disastrous events that occurred during the

Battle of Arnhem The Battle of Arnhem was a battle of the Second World War at the vanguard of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It was fought in and around the Dutch city of Arnhem, the town of Oosterbeek, the villages Wolfheze and Driel and the vicinity fro ...

where the British 1st Airborne Division was virtually destroyed. In October 1944 the 52nd Division was sent to the Western Front to join the

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...

and were attached to the

First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...

and fought in the

Battle of the Scheldt The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Allies ...

where the 52nd Division gained an excellent reputation. The 156th Infantry Brigade, with the 52nd, took part in

Operation Blackcock Operation Blackcock was an operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. It was ...

in early 1945, later taking part in the

Western Allied invasion of Germany The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Allies of World War II, Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied ...

, and ended the war by the

River Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

. During Blackcock,

Fusilier Fusilier is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While fusilier is derived from the 17th-century French language, French word ''fusil'' – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has ...

Dennis Donnini Fusilier Dennis Donnini VC (17 November 1925 – 18 January 1945) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth force ...

of the 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers was posthumously awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. At the age of 19, he was the youngest British or

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

soldier to be awarded the VC during the Second World War.

Order of battle

156th Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: * 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers * 6th Battalion,

* 7th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (''to 13 March 1945'') * 156th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company ''(formed 5 December 1939, disbanded 7 January 1941)'' * 1st Battalion,

Glasgow Highlanders The Glasgow Highlanders was a former infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, later renamed the Territorial Army. The regiment eventually became a Volunteer Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow ...

(''from 14 March 1945'')

Commanders

The following officers commanded 156 Brigade during the war: *

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

F.G. Chalmer ''(until 16 April 1940)'' * Brigadier H.J. Simson ''(from 16 April until 21 May 1940)'' * Brigadier J.S.N. Fitzgerald ''(from 21 May until 19 August 1940)'' * Brigadier I.C. Grant ''(from 19 August 1940 until 3 December 1941)'' * Brigadier C.N. Barclay ''(from 3 December 1941 until 27 August 1943)'' *

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

J. Greenshields ''(

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

, from 27 August to 22 November 1943)'' * Brigadier C.N. Barclay ''(from 22 November 1943 until 2 April 1945)'' * Brigadier G.D. Renny ''(from 2 April 1945)''

Victoria Cross recipients

, 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, Second World War

Notes

Bibliography

* A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56)'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * John K. Dunlop, ''The Development of the British Army 1899–1914'', London: Methuen, 1938. * * * Edward M. Spiers, ''The Army and Society 1815–1914'', London: Longmans, 1980, . * R.R. Thompson, ''The Fifty-Second (Lowland) Division 1914–1918'', Glasgow: Maclehose, Jackson 1923/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, .

External sources

Mark Conrad, ''The British Army, 1914'' (archive site)

The Long, Long Trail

{{British infantry brigades of the Second World War Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations of Scotland Military units and formations established in 1908 Military units and formations disestablished in 1947