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List of battalions of the Black Watch

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The Black Watch existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 2006.

Original composition

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When the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot amalgamated with the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot, to become the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, seven pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Fife, Forfarshire, and Perthshire were integrated into the structure of the regiment. Volunteer battalions had been created in reaction to a perceived threat of invasion by France in the late 1850s. Organised as "rifle volunteer corps", they were independent of the British Army and composed primarily of the middle class.

Battalion Formed Formerly
Regular
1st 1739 1st Battalion, 42nd Highlanders
2nd 1780 1st Battalion, 73rd Regiment of Foot
Militia
3rd (Militia) 1798 The 86th Royal Perthshire Rifles[1]
Volunteers
1st (Dundee) Volunteer 1859 1st Forfar (Dundee) Rifle Volunteer Corps[2]
2nd (Angus) Volunteer 1859 2nd Forfar (Forfarshire, or Angus) Rifle Volunteer Corps[3]
3rd (Dundee Highland) Volunteer 1860 3rd Forfar (Dundee Highland) Rifle Volunteer Corps[4]
4th (Perthshire) Volunteer 1859 1st Perthshire Rifle Volunteer Corps[5]
5th (Perthshire Highland) Volunteer 1860 2nd Perthshire (The Perthshire Highland) Rifle Volunteer Corps[6]
6th (Fifeshire) Volunteer 1860 1st Fifeshire Rifle Volunteer Corps[7]

Reorganisation

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The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve".

Battalion Formerly
4th (City of Dundee) 1st (City of Dundee) Volunteer Battalion[8]
5th (Angus and Dundee) Amalgamation of 2nd (Angus), and 3rd (Dundee Highland) Volunteer Battalions[8]
6th (Perthshire) 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion[8]
7th (Fife) 6th (Fifeshire) Volunteer Battalion[8]
8th (Cyclist) 5th (Perthshire Highland) Volunteer Battalion[8]

First World War

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The Black Watch fielded 25 battalions and lost 8,390 officers and other ranks during the course of the war.[9] The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 5th Black Watch were numbered as the 1/5th, 2/5th, and 3/5th respectively. Many battalions of the regiment were formed as part of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's appeal for an initial 100,000 men volunteers in 1914. They were referred to as the New Army or Kitchener's Army. The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In 1918 these were linked to county regiments.[10]

Battalion Formed Served Fate
Regular[11][12]
1st 1739 Western Front
2nd 1780 Western Front, Mesopotamian, Palestine
Special Reserve[11][12]
3rd (Reserve) 1798 Britain, Ireland
Territorial Force[11][12]
1/4th (City of Dundee) 1859 Western Front See Inter-War
1/5th (Angus and Dundee) 1908 Western Front Amalgamated with the 1/4th Battalion, to become the 4/5th Battalion on 15 March 1916
1/6th (Perthshire) 1859 Western Front See Inter-War
1/7th (Fife) 1860 Western Front See Inter-War
2/4th (City of Dundee) Dundee, September 1914 Britain Disbanded on 19 December 1917
2/5th (Angus and Dundee) Forfar, September 1914 Britain Absorbed into the 2/4th (City of Dundee) Battalion in November 1915
2/6th (Perthshire) Perth, September 1914 Britain Disbanded in September 1917
2/7th (Fife) St. Andrews, September 1914 Britain Disbanded in April 1918
3/4th (City of Dundee),
4th (City of Dundee) (Reserve) from 8 April 1916
Dundee, March 1915 Britain Disbanded 1919
3/5th (Angus and Dundee),
5th (Angus and Dundee) (Reserve) upon amalgamation
Forfar, March 1915 Britain Amalgamated into the 4th (City of Dundee) (Reserve) on the 8 April 1916
3/6th (Perthshire),
6th (Perthshire) (Reserve) upon amalgamation
Perth, April 1915 Britain Amalgamated into the 4th (City of Dundee) (Reserve) on the 8 April 1916
3/7th (Fife),
7th (Fife) (Reserve) upon amalgamation
St. Andrews, April 1915 Britain Amalgamated into the 4th (City of Dundee) (Reserve) on the 8 April 1916
13th (Scottish Horse Yeomanry) Abbassia, 1 October 1916, from the 1st and 2nd Scottish Horse Regiments Salonika, Western Front Returned to the Scottish Horse in 1919
14th (Fife and Forfar) Yeomanry Ismalia, 21 December 1916, from the 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Palestine, Western Front Returned to the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry in 1919
New Army[11][12]
8th (Service) Perth, 21 August 1914 Western Front Disbanded in 1919
9th (Service) Perth, 13 September 1914 Western Front, Britain Disbanded in 1919
10th (Service) Perth, 13 September 1914 Western Front, Salonika Disbanded on 15 October 1918
11th (Service) Nigg, October 1914 Britain Became the 38th Training Reserve Battalion, in the 9th Reserve Brigade
15th (Service) Deal, 1 June 1918 Britain Absorbed into the 9th (Service) Battalion on 19 June 1918
Others[11][12]
12th (Labour) Blairgowrie, May 1916 Western Front Became the 5th and 6th Labour Companies of the Labour Corps
Volunteer Training Corps[13]
1/1st Battalion City of Dundee Volunteer Regiment
later the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch
Dundee Disbanded post war
2/1st Battalion City of Dundee Volunteer Regiment
later the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch
Dundee Disbanded post war
1/1st Battalion Forfarshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch
Forfar Disbanded post war
2/1st Battalion Forfarshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch
Arbroath Disbanded post war
1st Battalion Perthshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 5th Volunteer Battalion
Perth Disbanded post war
2nd Battalion Perthshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 6th Volunteer Battalion
Crieff Disbanded post war
1/1st Battalion Fifeshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 7th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch
Kirkcaldy Disbanded post war
2/1st Battalion Fifeshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 8th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch
Dunfermline Disbanded post war
2nd Battalion Fifeshire Volunteer Regiment
later the 9th Volunteer Battalion, Black Watch
St. Andrew's Disbanded post war

Inter-War

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By 1920, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The Black Watch did not, however, return to its original peacetime size; half of its territorial battalions were lost to amalgamation shortly after the war ended. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. As World War II approached, the Territorial Army was reorganised in the mid-1930s, many of its infantry battalions were converted to other roles, especially anti-aircraft.

Battalion Fate
4th (City of Dundee) Amalgamated with the 5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion, to form the 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion on 31 December 1921[14]
5th (Angus and Dundee) Amalgamated with the 4th (City of Dundee) Battalion, to form the 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion on 31 December 1921[15]
6th (Perthshire) Amalgamated with the 7th (Fife) Battalion, to form the 6th/7th (Perth and Fife) Battalion on 31 December 1921[16]
7th (Fife) Amalgamated with the 6th (Perthshire) Battalion, to form the 6th/7th (Perth and Fife) Battalion on 31 December 1921[17]

Second World War

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The Black Watch's expansion during the Second World War was modest compared to 1914–1918. National Defence Companies were combined to create a new "Home Defence" battalion. In addition to this, 22 battalions of the Home Guard across Perthshire, Fife, Angus, Dundee and Kinross-shire were affiliated to the regiment, wearing its cap badge, and also by 1944 one rocket battery (Z Battery).[18] Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of these men, the batteries required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular battery.[19] A number of Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) troops were formed from the local battalions to defend specific points, such as factories.[20]

Battalion Formed Served Fate
Regular
1st 1739 France, North Africa, Sicily, France, Western front[21]
2nd 1780 Somaliland, Crete, North Africa, India, Burma (Chindits)[22] See Post-World War II
Supplementary Reserve
3rd 1798 See Post-World War II
Territorial Army
4th (City of Dundee),
(redesignation of 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion)
1921 France, Gibraltar, Britain[23] See Post-World War II
5th (Angus and Dundee) 1939, as a duplicate of 4th (City of Dundee) Battalion France, North Africa, Sicily, Western Front[24] See Post-World War II
6th (Perthshire),
(redesignation of 6th/7th (Perth and Fife) Battalion)
1921 France, Britain, North Africa, Italy, Greece[25] See Post-World War II
7th (Fife),
(redesignation of 6th/7th (Perth and Fife) Battalion)
1939, as a duplicate of 6th (Perthshire) Battalion France, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Western Front[26] See Post-World War II
8th (Training) 1939 Britain[27] Amalgamated with the 9th (Home Defence) Battalion in August 1941
9th (Home Defence) November 1939 Britain[28] Sent as reinforcements, to the 6th (Perthshire) Battalion in North Africa, upon amalgamation
10th 1940 (transferred to the Black Watch from the Orkney and Shetland Islands Defence Forces in 1943) Britain[29] Disbanded in 1946
30th 1941 Britain Disbanded in 1943
Others
50th (Holding) 1940 Britain Disbanded 1943
70th (Young Soldier) 1940 Britain Disbanded 1942
Home Guard[30]
Battalion Headquarters Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki) Battalion Headquarters Formation Sign (dark blue on khaki)
Angus
1st Brechin ANG 1 2nd Forfar ANG 2
3rd Arbroath ANG 3
Dundee
1st City of Dundee DDE 1 2nd City of Dundee DDE 2
3rd City of Dundee (13 G.P.O.) DDE 3
Fife
1st Cupar F 1 2nd St. Andrews F 2
3rd Anstruther F 3 4th Leven F 4
5th Kirkcaldy F 5 6th Lochgelly F 6
7th Dunfermline F 7 8th Kirkaldy F 8
9th Rosyth Dockyard F 9 10th Donibristle F 10
Kinross-shire Independent Company Kinross --
Perthshire
1st North Perthshire TAY 1 2nd Blairgowrie TAY 2
3rd Strathern TAY 3 4th Perth TAY 4
5th Dunblane TAY 5 6th Perth City TAY 6
Home Guard Anti-Aircraft units[18][20]
Formation Sign
(dark blue on khaki)
Headquarters or Location AA Formation and Designation Formation Sign
(dark blue on khaki)
Headquarters or Location AA Formation and Designation
DDE 101 City of Dundee 218th Battery, 20th Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Home Guard) (Z battery) F 5 Burntisland,
(British Aluminium Co. Ltd)
A Troop LAA
F 9 Lathalmond,
(Royal Navy Stores Depot)
A Troop LAA

Post-World War II

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In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded.

Battalion Fate
1st Amalgamated with 2nd Battalion on the 13 July 1948, without a change in title[31]
2nd Amalgamated with 1st Battalion on the 13 July 1948[32]
4th (City of Dundee) Amalgamated with 5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion on the 1 January 1947, to form the 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion[14]
5th (Angus and Dundee) Amalgamated with 4th (City of Dundee) Battalion on the 1 January 1947, to form the 4th/5th (Dundee and Angus) Battalion[15]
6th (Perthshire) Amalgamated with 7th (Fife) Battalion on the 1 January 1947, to form the 6th/7th (Perthshire and Fife) Battalion[16]
7th (Fife) Amalgamated with 6th (Perthshire) Battalion on the 1 January 1947, to form the 6th/7th (Perthshire and Fife) Battalion[17]

Amalgamation

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The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled Delivering Security in a Changing World, set out the future structure of the British military, one of the points being that the single-battalion regiments would be amalgamated into large, multi-battalion regiments. All of the Scottish regiments were amalgamated to form the 7 battalion strong Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Battalion Fate
1st Became the 3rd Battalion (Black Watch), Royal Regiment of Scotland
3rd (V),
a battalion formed through the amalgamation of the 4th/5th and 6th/7th Battalions, in 1967
Became A (Black Watch) Company of the 7th Battalion (51st Highland), Royal Regiment of Scotland

References

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  1. ^ "The Black Watch Militia Battalion". Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 320. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 327. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 330. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 335. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 339. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908" (PDF). p. 344. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e "The Black Watch Rifle Volunteers Lineage Page". Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  9. ^ "The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) – 1st & 2nd Battalions". armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  10. ^ Westlake pp. 4-7
  11. ^ a b c d e "Black Watch". Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Unit History: Black Watch". Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  13. ^ Westlake pps. 117, 125
  14. ^ a b "4th (City of Dundee) Battalion, The Black Watch". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  15. ^ a b "5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion, The Black Watch". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  16. ^ a b "6th Battalion, The Black Watch". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  17. ^ a b "7th (Fife) Battalion, The Black Watch". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  18. ^ a b Whittaker p. 107
  19. ^ Whittaker p. 23
  20. ^ a b Whittaker p. 124
  21. ^ "1st Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  22. ^ "2nd Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  23. ^ "4th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  24. ^ "5th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  25. ^ "6th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  26. ^ "7th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  27. ^ "8th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  28. ^ "9th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  29. ^ "10th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  30. ^ "History of the Home Guard". Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  31. ^ "1st Battalion, 42nd Highlanders 1739–1881/1st Battalion, The Black Watch 1881-2006/3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland 2006-present". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  32. ^ "1st Battalion, 73rd Regiment of Foot 1780–1881/2nd Battalion, The Black Watch 1881-1948". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2020.