9th (Scottish) Division


The 9th Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War.
After the 1st South African Infantry Brigade Group joined in early 1916, the division was known colloquially as the Jock and Springboks.

History

Background

A 9th Division had been formed for service during the Second Boer War, and was commanded by Henry Edward Colvile. In 1902, a 9th Division was as formed and was commanded by Edward Pemberton Leach, but it was broken-up at some point prior to the start of the war.

First World War

In the Battle of Loos, notable for being the first battle in which British forces used poison gas, the 9th Division assaulted the Hohenzollern Redoubt, the 5th Camerons suffered horrific casualties, and Corporal James Dalgleish Pollock gained a Victoria Cross for his actions.
The 9th Division took part in major fighting during the Somme offensive. Notably it relieved the 30th Division at Montauban and later attacked German positions at Bernafay Wood, where it succeeded in capturing vital objectives and forcing a German withdrawal. In the Somme offensive, the 9th Division liberated the village of Longueval; the village now has a statue of a Scottish piper at its crossroads that commemorates this fact and also other pipers who served in the First World War.

Order of battle

The division comprised the following brigades:
; 26th Brigade
; 27th Brigade
; 28th Brigade
; 1st South African Brigade
Divisional Troops
Royal Artillery
Royal Engineers
  • 63rd Field Company
  • 64th Field Company
  • 90th Field Company
  • 9th Divisional Signals Company
Royal Army Medical Corps
  • 27th Field Ambulance
  • 28th Field Ambulance
  • 29th Field Ambulance
  • South African Field Ambulance
  • 2/1st Field Ambulance
  • 20th Sanitary Section

General Officers Commanding

Commanders have included: