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 in same 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 Brigadein same Division.
7 April 1918 : transferred to 120th Brigade, 40th Division.
26 April 1918 : transferred to South African Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division.
13 September 1918 : transferred to 28th Brigade in same 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 (Lowland) 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.

1/5th Battalion
Record same as 1/4th Bn.

The Ardeer Company
August 1914 : in Ardeer. This Company had been formed in 1913 as a local guard by the Nobel's Explosive Works. 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.

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 summer 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.

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 the 4th Reserve Bn moved to Edinburgh and next month to Kinross, where it then remained as part of the Forth Garrison.

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 (2nd North Midland) Division.

12th (Ayr & Lanark Yeomanry)Battalion
Formed in Egypt on 14 January 1917 from dismounted yeomanry and placed in 229th Brigade, 74th (Yeomanry) 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.
11 May 1915 ; landed at Boulogne.
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 (2nd North Midland) Division as Pioneer Battalion.
10 May 1918 : reduced to cadre strength.
18 June 1918 : transferred to 47th Brigade, 16th 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 to Draycott Camp at Chisledon.
9 July 1915 : landed at Boulogne.
13 May 1916 : amalgamated with 6th Bn and ceased to exist.

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.
20 September 1915 : landed at Boulogne 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 Training Reserve Battalion of 12th Reserve Brigade.

Other Battalions

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.

This page is dedicated to the memory of men like
John McKinnon Sinclair, who died of wounds while serving with 1st Battalion in March 1915; David McMillan Baird, who served with 1/5th Battalion; David Shires Henderson, who was captured in late 1916 serving with 2nd Battalion; and John Kain, also of 2nd Battalion who was killed in the Battle of the Transloy Ridges in 1916.
All of these men were researched in detail by fourteeneighteen|research