The 64th (2nd Highland) Division 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 ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

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 ...

, raised during the

Great 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 ...

. The division was formed in late 1914 as a second-line

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 ...

formation which served on home defence duties throughout the war. The division was formed as a duplicate of 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 ...

in 1914, composed primarily of soldiers from

Highland regiments A Scottish regiment is any regiment (or similar military unit) that at some time in its history has or had a name that referred to Scotland or some part thereof, and adopted items of Scottish dress. These regiments were created after the Acts ...

recruited in northern and central

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. By 1917-18, however, it had become a training unit composed of

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

from throughout

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. It remained on home defence and training duties in Scotland and England throughout the war, and disbanded in early 1919 following the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

History

The division was created as the "2nd Highland Division", a second-line formation of the

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 ...

at the end of August 1914. At this time, Territorial Force soldiers could not be deployed overseas without their consent and the Territorial units were accordingly split into a "first line", with men who had volunteered for overseas service, and a "second line", which was intended for home service only. The second line units also served to absorb the large number of new, untrained, recruits who had joined the Territorial Force following the outbreak of war. The division's units formed through late 1914 and assembled as a coherent unit in January 1915. As with the original Highland Division, the 2nd Highland was organised into three infantry brigades. These were later numbered as the 191st, composed of the 2/4th, 2/5th, and 2/6th

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

, 2/4th Cameron Highlanders, and 2/4th

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

; the 192nd, composed of the 2/4th, 2/5th, 2/6th, and 2/7th

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

and 2/6th and 2/7th

; and the 193rd, composed of the 2/6th, 2/7th, 2/8th, and 2/9th

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

. With fifteen battalions, the 2nd Highland had a higher nominal strength than its parent division; the three additional units came from the second-line units of the

Black Watch Brigade The Black Watch Brigade was a Territorial Force infantry brigade of the British Army. Formed in 1908, it was not part of any division, instead being assigned to Coastal Defence duties in Scottish Command. It was dissolved in early 1915 as its c ...

, assigned to the division as it assembled in January 1915. The 191st Brigade recruited from the far north of Scotland; the 192nd from the north-east and Aberdeen; and the 193rd from central and western Scotland. The Black Watch battalions were recruited from Fife, Dundee and Perthshire. The division also raised second-line Territorial artillery, medical, signal and engineer units, from the same areas. Through the next two years, the 2nd Highland, numbered as the 64th Division in 1915, provided trained men for its parent unit as well as carrying out home defence duties. The division was assembled in Fife and Perthshire. In mid-1915 the strength of its infantry battalions was set at a minimum 600 men, with any more than this being transferred overseas; later that year, all the infantry battalions were renumbered and several were amalgamated. The old unit numbering was reinstated in January 1916 but the amalgamations remained. In 1916 the division howitzer brigade was broken up and its heavy artillery battery sent to France; a third field artillery brigade was briefly added but dissolved soon afterwards. In March 1916 the division was transferred to England, where it was stationed in East Anglia as part of Northern Army. A second wave of reorganisation took place in 1917–18, with the division absorbing twelve "graduated battalions" – training units – and disbanding almost all of its original infantry units. By the time of the Armistice in November 1918, its infantry complement consisted entirely of graduated battalions. The division was demobilised shortly afterwards and ceased to exist in April 1919. The division was not reformed during the Second World War, and the numbers for the subsidiary brigades were also not reused.

Order of battle

The order of battle was as follows (organisation details are taken from ''The British Army in the Great War'' unless otherwise noted):

General Officer Commanding

General Officers Commanding included: *Major-General Richard Bannatine-Allason c.March 1916 - c.August 1917 *Major-General

Herman Landon Major-General Herman James Shelley Landon, , (23 August 185916 October 1948), was a British Army officer. During the Boer War he commanded a battalion, and was promoted in the interwar period to take command of a brigade in the British Expedit ...

August 1917 - April 1918 *Major-General

Henry Lukin Major General Sir Henry Timson Lukin (24 May 1860 – 15 December 1925) was a South African military commander. He fought in the Anglo-Zulu War (1879) and the Basutoland Gun War (1880–1881), the Bechuanaland Campaign (1897), and the Anglo- ...

April 1918 - November 1918 *Major-General

John Capper Major-General Sir John Edward Capper (7 December 1861 − 24 May 1955) was a senior officer of the British Army during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century who served on the North-West Frontier of British India, in South Africa and ...

November 1918 - May 1919

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:64 Infantry Division Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations of Scotland Military units and formations disestablished in 1919

History

Order of battle

General Officer Commanding

See also

References