Home > Army Organisation > Infantry > The Royal Scots Fusiliers
To trace the movements and actions of any battalion, click on the Divisions with which it served
Battalions of the regular army
1st Battalion:
August 1914 : in Gosport. Part of
9th Brigade, 3rd
Division. Landed at Le Havre 14 August 1914.
5 April 1916 : transferred
to 8th Brigade, 3rd
Division.
2nd Battalion:
August 1914 : in Gibraltar. Returned
to England, landing September 1914, and attached to
21st Brigade, 7th
Division. Landed at Zeebrugge on 6 October 1914.
19 December 1915 : transferred with Brigade to 30th
Division.
19 December 1915 : transferred to 90th Brigade, 30th
Division.
7 April 1918 : transferred to 120th Brigade, 40th
Division.
26 April 1918 : transferred to South African Brigade, 9th
Division.
13 September 1918 : transferred to 28th Brigade, 9th
Division.
3rd (Reserve) Battalion:
August 1914 : in Ayr. A training unit, it remained in UK throughout
the war. Moved immediateley on mobilisation to Gourock for a
role on Clyde Defences. Moved in April 1916 to Greenock.
Battalions of the Territorial Force
1/4th Battalion:
August 1914
: in Kilmarnock. Part of South Scottish Brigade, Lowland Division.
Moved in August 1914 to Stirling.
May 1915 : formation became 155th
Brigade, 52nd
Division. Sailed from Liverpool on 21 May 1915, going
via Mudros to Gallipoli, where the battalion disembarked on 7 June
1915. Moved to France with the Division in April 1918.
2/4th Battalion:
Formed at Kilmarnock in October 1914 as a home service ("second line") unit. Attached to 194th Brigade, 65th Division. Stayed in UK until the Division was broken up in March 1918. By summar 1915 was at Rumbling Bridage at Kinross; moved to Falkirk in November 1915 and merged with 2/5th Bn and 2/5th Border Regiment to form 13th Bn (not the same as the battalion shown as 13th below). Resumed identity in January 1916 and absorbed 2/5th Bn. Moved to Chelmsford in March 1916 and went on to Ballykinler in Ireland in January 1917. Moved in August 1917 to Oughterard in Galway and then in November 1917 to Dublin and thence the Curragh. The Bn was disbanded in Ireland on 15 May 1918.
1/5th Battalion:
August 1914 : in Ayr. Part
of South Scottish Brigade, Lowland Division. Moved in August 1914 to
Stirling.
May 1915 : formation became 155th Brigade, 52nd Division. Sailed
from Liverpool on 21 May 1915, going via Mudros to Gallipoli, where the
battalion disembarked on 7 June 1915. Moved to France with the Division
in April 1918.
2/5th Battalion:
Formed at Ayr in October 1914 as a home service ("second line") unit. Attached to 194th Brigade, 65th Division. Stayed in UK until the Division was broken up in March 1918. By summar 1915 was at Rumbling Bridage at Kinross; moved to Falkirk in November 1915 and merged with 2/4th Bn and 2/5th Border Regiment to form 13th Bn (see below). Resumed identity in January 1916 and was absorbed by 2/4th Bn.
3/4th and 3/5th Battalions:
Formed at
Kilmarnock and Ayr in May 1915. By late 1915 had moved to Ripon.
8 April 1916 : became Reserve Bns at Catterick and 4th then absorbed 5th
on 1 September 1916. In November 1917 moved to Edinburgh and next
month to Kinross, where it then remained as part of the Forth Garrison.
The Ardeer Company :
August 1914 : in Ardeer. This Company had been formed in 1913 by the Nobel's Explosive Works as a local guard. It appears to have been disbanded in November 1914, having handed over guard duties to the Scottish Rifles, although it continued to appear in the Army List.
11th Battalion:
Formed on 1 January 1917 from what had previously been the 11th Provisional Battalion of the TF. It had been formed in June 1915 from "Home Service only" personnel.27 April 1918 : became a Garrison Guard Bn and went to France 5 May 1918. (The designation was dropped in July 1918). 12 May 1918 : attached to 178th Brigade, 59th Division.
12th (Ayr & Lanark Yeomanry) Battalion:
Formed in Egypt on 14 January 1917, from dismounted yeomanry, and placed in 229th Brigade, 74th Division. 1 May 1918 : embarked at Alexandria, for Marseilles, landing 7 May. 21 June 1918 : attached to 94th Brigade, 31st Division.
Battalions of the New Armies
6th (Service) Battalion:
Formed at
Ayr in August 1914 as part of K1 and attached to 27th
Brigade, 9th
(Scottish) Division. Moved to Bordon and in February 1915 to Bramshott.
Landed at Boulogne on 11 May 1915.
7 May 1916 : transferred to 45th Brigade, 15th
(Scottish) Division, and amalgamated with 7th Bn to become 6/7th
Bn.
21 February 1918 : transferred to 59th Division as
Pioneer Bn.
10 May 1918 : reduced to cadre strength.
18 June 1918 :
transferred to 47th Brigade, 16th (Irish) Division and
returned to England, moving to Deal.
2 July 1918 : absorbed by
18th Scottish Rifles.
7th (Service) Battalion:
Formed at
Ayr in September 1914 as part of K2 and attached
to 45th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division.
Moved to Aldershot and in November 1914 went on to Bramshott. Moved
to billets in Basingstoke in February 1915 and in March went o Draycott
Camp at Chisledon. Landed at Bouogne on 9 July 1915.
13 May 1916 : amalgamated with
6th Bn.
8th (Service) Battalion:
Formed at Ayr on 1 October 1914 as part of K3 and attached to 77th Brigade, 26th Division. Moved to Codford St Mary and went into billets in Bristol in November 1914. Moved to Sutton Veny in April 1915. Landed at Boulogne on 20 September 1915 but soon moved and by November 1915 was at Salonika.
9th (Reserve) Battalion:
Formed in Gourock on 23 October
1914 as a Service Battalion of K4.
8 April 1915 : became a Reserve battalion and moved to Paisley. By August
1915 was at Stobs and October at Catterick. In April 1916 moved to Inverkeithing..
September 1916 : converted into 55th Battalion of 12th Reserve Brigade
of Training
Reserve.
Other battalions raised by the regiment
10th (Works) Battalion:
Formed in Ayr, June 1916. Remained in UK throughout the war; moved to Dumbarton. In April 1917 it was converted into the 4th Labour Bn of the Labour Corps.
13th (Home Service) Battalion:
Formed in Deal, Kent, on 27 April 1918, to replace 11th Bn. Moved to Sandwich in July 1918 and remained there.
1st Garrison Battalion:
Formed in Gailes in October 1915. Went to India in February 1916 and remained there throughout the war under command of Jhansi Brigade in 5th (Mhow) Division.
2nd (Home Service) Garrison Battalion:
Formed in early 1916 but was soon absorbed by the 1st Garrison Bn.
| Did you know? The Royal Scots Fusiliers is one of the Scots regiments that did not wear a kilt as part of its uniform in 1914-1918. It was created in the 1881 Cardwell army reforms to be the county regiment of Ayrshire, Dumfries-shire, Kircudbrightshire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire and Wigtownshire. |
This page is dedicated to the memory of John McKinnon Sinclair, who died of wounds while serving with 1st Battalion in March 1915; David McMillan Baird of the 1/5th Battalion; George Hoggart, who was transferred to the RSF from the 7th Durham Light Infantry; David Shires Henderson, who was captured in late 1916 serving with 2nd Battalion; Alexander Russell, another 2nd Battalion man who was killed on 12 March 1915; and John Kain, also of 2nd Battalion who was killed in the Battle of the Transloy Ridges in 1916.