Liverpool Scottish
The Liverpool Scottish, known as "the Scottish", was a unit of the British Army, part of the Army Reserve, raised in 1900 as an infantry battalion of the King's. The Liverpool Scottish became affiliated to the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in the 1920s and formally transferred to the regiment in 1937 with its identity preserved. Reflecting the Territorial Army's decline in size since the late 1940s, the battalion was reduced to a company in 1967, then to a platoon of "A" Company, King's and Cheshire Regiment in 1999. In 2006, the company was incorporated into the 4th Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.
Service in the First World War was extensive and the Liverpool Scottish was one of the first territorial battalions to arrive on the Western Front when it deployed in November 1914. Approximately 1,000 of more than 10,000 men who served with the Scottish died during the war. The first major battle of the Scottish during the war was on 16 June 1915 in what is officially known as The First Action at Bellewaarde, which was designed to pin down German reserves while other Allied forces were engaged elsewhere. The action is known to the Liverpool Scottish as the Battle of Hooge. Hooge being a village a few miles East of Ypres in Belgium.
The unit's most acclaimed soldier during the war was Captain Noel Chavasse, who was awarded two Victoria Crosses while attached from the Royal Army Medical Corps. Sergeant Albert Baybut, Chavasse's Medical Orderly, is technically the most highly decorated soldier in the history of Liverpool Scottish due to Chavasse's parent unit being the Royal Army Medical Corps. Baybut received a Distinguished Conduct Medal and Bar, together with the Military Medal for his actions alongside Chavasse during the First World War. Chavasse remains one of only three people to have been awarded the VC twice and the only recipient from the Liverpool Scottish.
Although expanded to two battalions during the Second World War, the Liverpool Scottish did not serve abroad as intact battalions. Instead, contingents were supplied to other battalions and the Army Commandos. With the commandos, the Liverpool Scottish actively served in operations in Europe, including the Norwegian Campaign and the St Nazaire Raid.
1900–1914
There had been a previous attempt to raise a formation of Scots in Liverpool. Heightened tension with France in the late 1850s had provided the impetus for the emergence of the Volunteer movement. Three "Scottish" companies were formed as the 19th Lancashire Volunteer Rifle Corps, composed predominantly of the middle class. Disputes between members over the use of kilts and the colour of their tartan culminated in the 19th's fragmentation. By 1861, four companies of Liverpool Scottish existed within the 19th and 79th Corps. Neither corps survived: the 19th was subsumed by the Liverpool Volunteer Rifle Brigade while the 79th disbanded in 1863.The Second Boer War catalysed a renewed interest in establishing a unit composed of Scottish Liverpudlians. On 30 April 1900, the 8th Volunteer Battalion was formed within the King's, with headquarters later being located at 22 Highgate Street, Edge Hill. The Liverpool Scottish became one of four battalions in English infantry regiments to explicitly associate with the Irish and Scottish communities - the other battalions were the London Scottish, Liverpool Irish and London Irish Rifles.
Traditional highland attire adopted for the battalion's dress uniform included the Clan Forbes pattern tartan and the glengarry headdress. A former major in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Christopher Forbes Bell, was appointed commanding officer and officially assumed command on 24 October. Bell was succeeded in command by Andrew Laurie Macfie in 1902.
In common with other volunteer battalions, the Liverpool Scottish organised a detachment for overseas service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. The contingent of 22 volunteers under Lieutenant John Watson was dispatched in 1902 and attached to the 4th Service Company of the 1st Gordon Highlanders. The battalion had already suffered its first fatality after Lieutenant J.A. Bingham succumbed to wounds incurred at Klip River while serving with the Imperial Yeomanry in February 1902. They had only limited duties, primarily occupying blockhouses, as the conflict was reaching its conclusion. Nevertheless, the British Army recognised the battalion's contribution with the reward of a battle honour: "South Africa 1902".
The Liverpool Scottish acquired purpose-built accommodation for its headquarters in 1904 at Fraser Street, in Liverpool City Centre, which the battalion maintained until 1967. The construction of the building was partially subsidised by public donation but its cost required additional funds generated through a three-day "bazaar" hosted at St George's Hall.
The Liverpool Scottish became the King's 10th Battalion in 1908 when Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane's reforms established the Territorial Force, which grouped the volunteers and yeomanry into 14 county-administered divisions and 14 mounted brigades. By 1914, the 10th would be subordinate to the South Lancashire Brigade, West Lancashire Division.
First World War
1914–1915
When war was declared in August 1914, the Liverpool Scottish mobilised and moved to Scotland under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Nicholl, with the rest of the South Lancashire Brigade, as part of the defences of the Firth of Forth. Duplicate battalions were formed in Liverpool from personnel unable to volunteer for overseas service. The second-line battalion, designated as the 2/10th to distinguish it from the original, was organised in October, the third-line in May 1915. They became responsible for the training of recruits and provision of drafts for overseas service. The 2/10th, raised and organised by Captain Adam Fairrie, was committed to the Western Front in 1917.Considered by contemporaries to be socially élite and reasonably well-trained compared to other territorial units, the 1/10th volunteered for overseas service and became the seventh territorial battalion to be dispatched to the Western Front. The battalion took passage aboard the SS Maidan at Southampton on 1 November 1914, completing its disembarkation at Le Havre on the morning of the third with the Queen's Westminster Rifles. The battalion's original strength - those who qualified for the 1914 Star - became known as the "Maidaners" in reference to the vessel.
Assigned to the 9th Brigade, 3rd Division, the Liverpool Scottish occupied trenches in the Kemmel area, five miles south of Ypres. The 1/10th suffered its first fatality on 29 November: Captain Arthur Twentyman, killed while attempting to return to British lines. The combination of severe winter and trench warfare soon depleted the strength of the Liverpool Scottish. From an establishment of 26 officers and 829 men recorded in November, the battalion had dwindled to 370 able-bodied men by January 1915. Within weeks of the battalion's arrival, Major Blair, Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholl's successor, was replaced by J.R. Davidson due to ill-health. Davidson would command the battalion, albeit interrupted by wounds sustained during the Somme Offensive, until 1917, when he returned to Liverpool to become the city water board's Chief Engineer.
Obsolete equipment and organisational differences with the regular army became some of the earliest challenges that the battalion and other territorials contended with in France. The Scottish employed the long version of the Lee–Enfield rifle, which had been superseded by the SMLE in the Regular Army. Unsuited to newer ammunition and the conditions of the Western Front, the 10th's MLEs began to be phased out by the SMLE in early 1915—a process that would not be entirely complete until 1916. Structurally different from their regular counterparts, territorial battalions were reorganised early in the war to conform with the regulars. Unlike the Regular Army, which had adopted a four-company system in 1913, territorial battalions were still organised into eight companies. When the system was extended to the Liverpool Scottish, the battalion designated its consolidated companies "V", "X, "Y", and "Z". This contrasted with the more conventional "A" to "D" or "1" to "4"—considered by the battalion to be potentially confusing.
The battalion's first major engagement happened on 16 June 1915, at Hooge, east of Ypres. The 9th Brigade, with the 7th Brigade in support, was chosen to conduct a three-phased attack with the ultimate intention being to reach trenches on the south-western edge of Bellewaarde Lake. Situated behind German lines was Bellewaarde Ridge, a tactically-important feature that overlooked British positions. At 0415, the first wave of troops moved on their objective and quickly secured the first-line trenches, which continued to be shelled by British artillery. The Liverpool Scottish and 1st Lincolnshire Regiment, forming the second wave, then left their trenches to pass through the first wave of attackers and reach the German second-line. Although the advance was relatively unopposed, "V" Company encountered resistance on its front from machine-gun fire. After briefly suspending its advance, the company, reinforced by "Z", charged the opposing positions and took about 40 prisoners.
On capturing the second-line, elements of the Liverpool Scottish decided to consolidate the shallow trenches that afforded little protection. The battle had quickly degenerated into a disorganised and chaotic affair, with British battalions losing cohesion and becoming mixed up with each other. An intensive German barrage decimated the occupants of the second-line trenches, while the 10th's temporary commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel E.G. Thin, was wounded by gunfire. The remainder of the Liverpool Scottish continued onto the third-line with portions of the Royal Scots Fusiliers and 1st Northumberland Fusiliers.
Consolidating the third-line proved difficult under relentless bombardment and determined opposition from the uncaptured right of the trench system. Some of the Liverpool Scottish nevertheless impulsively carried on beyond the third-line, towards a position called Dead Man's Bottom and probable death. The battalion's left flank became compromised in the afternoon by the retreat of the surviving Northumberland Fusiliers. The Liverpool Scottish eventually retreated first to the second-line, then to the more viable entrechments of the former German frontline. The battle persisted into the night, and abortive attempts were made by the Germans to retake the first-line trenches. For about of gained territory, the Liverpool Scottish had suffered heavy casualties: 79 killed, 212 wounded, and 109 missing from a pre-battle strength of 542 officers and other ranks. A memorial to this battle was erected in the area in 2000. An experienced Company-Quartermaster Sergeant, R.A. Scott Macfie, described the aftermath at camp in a letter to his father: