The 9th Battalion, Royal Scots was the

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

( kilted) battalion 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 ...

. Formed in 1900 as a part-time

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 ...

battalion in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, in 1908, as part of 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 ...

, it became a

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 ...

battalion. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

it served on the Western Front. Post-war it was amalgamated with the 7th Battalion to form 7th/9th Royal Scots. Notable members of the battalion include James Pearson, Arthur Farrimond, Jimmy Broad, Robert Dudgeon, Walter Lyon, FCB Cadell and

William Geissler William Hastie Geissler (1894 - 1963) was a Scottish artist known for his watercolours of the natural world. He was one of The Edinburgh School, and much of his earlier work came from sketching trips undertaken with other members of this group ...

Volunteer Force

Following British Army losses in December 1899, during the

Black Week Black Week refers to the week of 10–17 December 1899 during the Second Boer War, when the British Army suffered three devastating defeats by the Boer Republics at the battles of Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. In total, 2,776 British ...

of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, there was widespread recruitment into the Volunteer Force. James Ferguson of Kinmundy (1857-1917),

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

and Volunteer officer, applied to form a new Volunteer battalion in Edinburgh that would be a highland, kilted unit. He wrote that "It had long been felt to be unfortunate that the capital of Scotland, which drew to itself so many young men from the country north of the Forth and Clyde, forming the old Scottish kingdom of ancient Alban, possessed no Volunteer corps clothed in the garb of old Gaul, and providing special attractions for the Highlanders and the sons of Highlanders who had, in the conditions of modern life, come to push their fortunes in Edinburgh." Originally part of the Queen's Rifle Volunteer Brigade, the battalion achieved independence as the 9th (Highlanders) Volunteer Battalion in July 1901 and established headquarters at 7 Wemyss Place, Edinburgh.

Second Boer War

Forty-five volunteers from 9th VB served in Volunteer Service Companies of the Royal Scots in the

. 2nd VSC served as 'M' (Volunteer) Company from May 1901 with 1st Royal Scots; and 3rd VSC as 'Q' Company from February 1902. Among them, Lieutenant James C.C. Broun "had the interesting experience of being the last officer to take a flag of truce into the enemy's lines, and of spending the last night of the war at the Head Government Laager of the Transvaal".

Territorial Force

9th Royal Scots, nicknamed ''The Dandy Ninth'', were the only Volunteer battalion to retain their number upon the transition to the Territorial Force in April 1908. In 1912 the battalion moved to

Hepburn House Hepburn House, also known as East Claremont Street Drill Hall, is a military installation in Edinburgh. History The building was designed by Thomas Duncan Rhind in the free Renaissance style as the headquarters of the 9th (Highlanders) Batta ...

(named after John Hepburn, founder of the Royal Scots), purpose-built headquarters at 89 East Claremont Street, Edinburgh. Half of the £7,000 cost was met by the Commanding Officer, James Clark.

World War I

Mobilisation

The 9th Royal Scots returned from their summer camp at Stobs on Sunday, 2 August 1914 and two days later they were embodied when Britain

declared war A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national government, i ...

on Germany. They served with Lothian Brigade, part of Scottish Coast Defences (Infantry). Among their duties they built and manned the Section No.3 defences of Edinburgh, provided guards at Redford

Prisoner of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

camp and also provided the machine-gun section for an

armoured train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facilit ...

1/9th Royal Scots

The first-line 'Service' battalion 1/9th Royal Scots deployed to France on 24 February 1915 and joined 27th Division in the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...

. When chlorine gas was employed in the

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pre ...

, 9th Royal Scots helped fill the gap on 23 April 1915. In March 1916 they transferred to the

51st (Highland) Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

and served with them at

High Wood The Attacks on High Wood, near Bazentin le Petit in the Somme ''département'' of northern France, took place between the British Fourth Army and the German 1st Army during the Battle of the Somme. After the Battle of Bazentin Ridge on 14 July ...

Beaumont-Hamel Beaumont-Hamel () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. During the First World War, Beaumont-Hamel was close to the front line, near many attacks, especially during the Battle of the Somme, one of the larg ...

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

, Third Ypres and

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

. They were sent to strengthen the

61st (2nd South Midland) Division The 61st (2nd South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised in 1915 during the Great War as a second-line reserve for the first-line battalions of the 48th (South Midland) Division. The division was sent to the W ...

in February 1918 and faced the German spring offensives at St Quentin (

Operation Michael Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...

) and at the Lys. They moved again in June 1918, this time to the 15th (Scottish) Division, and served near Soissons, where the battalion suffered it's heaviest loss of the war at Villemontoire on 1 August 1918. 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 ...

, the 1/9th Royal Scots captured

Vendin-le-Vieil Vendin-le-Vieil (; pcd, Vindin-l'Vieil) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography An ex-coalmining area, once boasting 2 pits, now a farming and light industrial town, Vendin-le-Vieil lies ...

on 12 October 1918, and advanced into Belgium. They were serving with the division when the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

was signed.

2/9th Royal Scots

The second-line 2/9th Battalion was raised in September 1914. They moved to Essex in February 1916 and then on to Ireland in January 1917, where they were disbanded and the headquarters were closed on 15 May 1918.

3/9th Royal Scots

In June 1915 the third-line 3/9th Battalion was formed at

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

to train new recruits. All of the third-line battalions of the regiment were amalgamated to become 4th (Reserve) Battalion, The Royal Scots in July 1917 at Catterick.

Amalgamation

Edinburgh's Territorial battalions were reassigned, disbanded or amalgamated with the formation of the Territorial Army (TA) in 1921. 7th (Leith) and 9th (Highlanders) Royals Scots were amalgamated to create 7th/9th Royal Scots. They remained at Hepburn House, retained the kilt and were commanded by officers who had served with 9th Royal Scots. In 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 7th/9th Royal Scots served as part of the Second BEF in 1940 and in

North West Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, Northw ...

1944-45. They played a notable part in

Operation Infatuate Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the ...

, the capture of

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

in November 1944.

Uniform

In Review Order, 1900, the uniform consisted of a

glengarry The Glengarry bonnet is a traditional Scots cap made of thick-milled woollen material, decorated with a toorie on top, frequently a rosette cockade on the left side, and ribbons hanging behind. It is normally worn as part of Scottish military ...

of Royal Scots pattern, a scarlet doublet with royal blue

facings A facing colour is a common tailoring technique for European military uniforms where the visible inside lining of a standard military jacket, coat or tunic is of a different colour to that of the garment itself.René Chartrand, William Younghusba ...

and a kilt of Hunting Stewart tartan.

Khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage relative to sandy ...

Service Dress was introduced in 1902.Ferguson, facing p.26

Notes

References

* F.W. Bewsher, ''History of the 51st (Highland) Division 1914-1918'', 1921, Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons * George Blake, ''Mountain and Flood'', 1950, Glasgow: Jackson, Son & Company * ''Diary of Services of the First Battalion The Royal Scots'', 1904, Printed for private circulation * James Ferguson, ''Record of the 9th (Volunteer) Battalion (Highlanders) The Royal Scots'', 1909, Edinburgh: W. & A.K. Johnston Ltd. * Neill Gilhooley, ''A History of the 9th (Highlanders) Royal Scots'', 2019, Barnsley: Pen and Sword, {{ISBN, 978-1-52673-527-0 * J. Stewart and John Buchan, ''The Fifteenth (Scottish) Division, 1914-1919'', 1926, Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons

External sources

The Long, Long Trail

The Royal Scots

Audio recording of RWF Johnston
Royal Scots Military units and formations established in 1908 Military units and formations disestablished in 1921 Military units and formations in Edinburgh