65th (2nd Lowland) Division
65th (2nd Lowland) Division | |
---|---|
Active | 1914–1918 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Infantry |
Service |
|
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley (1917–18) |
The 65th (2nd Lowland) Division of the
The division was formed as a duplicate of the
History
The division was created as the "2nd Lowland Division", a second-line formation of the Lowland Division 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.[1]
As with the original Lowland Division, the 2nd Lowland was organised into three four-battalion infantry brigades. These were later numbered as the 194th, composed of the 2/4th and 2/5th Royal Scots Fusiliers and 2/4th and 2/5th King's Own Scottish Borderers; the 195th, composed of the 2/5th, 2/6th, 2/7th, and 2/8th Cameronians (Scottish Rifles); and the 196th, composed of the 2/5th, 2/6th, 2/7th, and 2/9th Highland Light Infantry.[1] The 194th recruited from Ayrshire,[2] Dumfries and Galloway, and the Borders;[3] the 195th predominantly from Glasgow and Lanarkshire;[4] and the 196th entirely from Glasgow.[5] The division also raised second-line Territorial artillery, medical, signal and engineer units, almost all from southern and western Scotland, with one heavy artillery battery from Edinburgh.[1]
Command of the division was given to the Conservative peer
In 1916 the division howitzer brigade was broken up and its heavy artillery battery sent to France; this was the only unit of the original division to see service overseas.
A second wave of reorganisation took place whilst in Ireland, with the division absorbing three "graduated battalions"—training units based at the Curragh—and two of the original battalions disbanding. This was a precursor to larger changes and in January 1918 the division was ordered to disband. It effectively ceased to exist on 18 March, when the headquarters closed but some units remained active until May.[1]
The division was not reformed during the Second World War and the numbers for the subsidiary brigades were also not reused.[10][11]
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):[1]
Organisation, late 1914Organisation as formed in late 1914. | ||
2nd South Scottish Brigade
|
2nd Scottish Rifles Brigade
|
2nd Highland Light Infantry Brigade
|
Royal Engineers
Royal Army Medical Corps
|
Royal Artillery
|
Divisional troops
|
Organisation, early 1916Organisation from January 1916 onwards | ||
194th (2nd South Scottish) Brigade
|
195th (2nd Scottish Rifles) Brigade
|
196th (2nd Highland Light Infantry) Brigade
|
Royal Engineers
Royal Army Medical Corps
|
Royal Artillery
|
Divisional troops
|
Organisation, early 1918Organisation in early 1918, prior to disbandment | ||
194th (2nd South Scottish) Brigade
|
195th (2nd Scottish Rifles) Brigade
|
196th (2nd Highland Light Infantry) Brigade
|
Royal Engineers
Royal Army Medical Corps
|
Royal Artillery
|
Divisional troops
|
General officer commanding
- Lord Erroll (April 1915)
- Theodore Stephenson (1916)
- George Forestier-Walker (September 1916)
- Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley (1917–1918)
See also
- List of British divisions in World War I
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Chris Baker, The British Army in the Great War: The 65th (2nd Lowland) Division
- ^ Chris Baker, The British Army in the Great War: The Royal Scots Fusiliers
- ^ Chris Baker, The British Army in the Great War: The King's Own Scottish Borderers
- ^ Chris Baker, The British Army in the Great War: The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
- ^ Chris Baker, The British Army in the Great War: The Highland Light Infantry
- ^ ERROLL, 20th Earl of, in Who Was Who (2008)
- ^ STEPHENSON, Maj.-Gen. Theodore Edward, in Who Was Who (2008)
- ^ Quarterly Army List for the quarter ending 30th June 1919. London: HMSO. 1919. p. 38.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/46749. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Nafziger, George (1992). "Organization of British Infantry Divisions, 1939–1945" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ Nafziger, George (1992). "British Infantry Brigades, 1st thru 214th, 1939–1945" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2013.