The Lowland Brigade is a historical unit 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 ...

which has been formed a number of times. It is traditionally Scottish as the name derives from the

Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( sco, Lallans or ; gd, a' Ghalldachd, , place of the foreigners, ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Lowlands and the Highlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowl ...

World War II

There was a Lowland Brigade (the 44th, part of the 15th Scottish Division) in

World War II 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 ...

; it fought in the Normandy invasion, and in North-West Europe.

Administrative Brigade 1948–1968

After 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 British Army had fourteen

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 ...

depots, each bearing a letter. The depots were territorially organised, and Infantry Depot B was the headquarters for the Scottish lowland regiments. In 1948, the depots adopted names and this depot became the Lowland Brigade, with all regiments being reduced to a single regular battalion at the same time. The Lowland Brigade was reformed on 14 July 1948, merging the depots of the following regiments: * The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) * The Royal Scots Fusiliers *

The King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own ...

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 Regi ...

Under the

Defence Review A Defence Review is the process by which government of the United Kingdom decides upon its overall defence policy and upon the means and resources devoted to achieving its defence objectives. Such reviews can happen when political or economic factor ...

announced in July 1957, the infantry of the line was reorganised, leading to the transfer 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 ...

from the Highland Brigade in 1958, and its amalgamation with the Royal Scots Fusiliers to form the

Royal Highland Fusiliers The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (2 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Prior to 28 March 2006, the Royal Highland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment in its own right, c ...

on 20 January 1959. In 1958 the regiments adopted a common cap badge. This depicted the

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltator ...

St. Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

, on which was superimposed a thistle within a circlet inscribed with motto of the

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order. The ...

, ''nemo me impune lacessit''. From 1960 the Lowland Brigade was based at

Glencorse Barracks Glencorse Barracks is a British Army barracks situated in Glencorse just outside the town of Penicuik in Midlothian, Scotland. It is one of the three barracks which make up the City of Edinburgh Garrison, with Dreghorn and Redford Barracks. It has ...

. The various

Territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

Battalions that were also part of the four Lowland Regiments were split off in 1967 and grouped together, eventually forming the

52nd Lowland Volunteers 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 as ...

. The Brigade continued to administer the four regiments until 1968. On 14 May that year The Cameronians were disbanded, having chosen this option rather than amalgamation. On 1 July the Lowland Brigade was amalgamated with the Highland Brigade to form the

Scottish Division The Scottish Division was a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units. It merged with the Prince of Wales' Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division in ...

.Whitaker's Almanack 1969, p. 473

References

External links

Lowland Brigade

Veterans' homage to comrades
{{British Infantry 1948 establishments in Scotland 1968 disestablishments in Scotland Infantry administrative brigades of the British Army Military of Scotland Military units and formations established in 1948 Military units and formations disestablished in 1968 Scottish Lowlands