15th (Scottish) Division

For the Second World War Territorial Army formation, see 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division.

15th (Scottish) Division
15th (Scottish) Division insignia
Active1914 – 1919
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsFirst World War

The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served in the First World War. The 15th (Scottish) Division was formed from men volunteering for Kitchener's Army, and served from 1915 to 1918 on the Western Front. The division was later disbanded, after the war, in 1919.

First World War

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The division was a New Army unit formed in September 1914 as part of the K2 Army Group. The division moved to France in July 1915 and spent the duration of the First World War in action on the Western Front. The division fought in the Battle of Loos in which it seizing the village of Loos and Hill 70, the deepest penetration of the German positions by the six British divisions involved in the initial day. It later fought in the Battle of the Somme (1916) which included the battles of Pozières and Flers–Courcelette, the Battle of Arras 1917 and the Third Battle of Ypres.[1]

The North Uist-born war poet Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna, a highly important figure in 20th century Scottish Gaelic literature, saw combat with the 7th (Service) Battalion King's Own Cameron Highlanders, 44th Infantry Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division during the trench warfare along the Western Front and vividly described his war experiences in verse.[2]

Outpost manned by men of the 11th (Service) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on a road beside the Lys Canal near Saint-Floris, 9 May 1918.

General officers commanding

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See also: General officer commanding

The division had the following commanders:[3]

Appointed Name
14 September 1914 Major-General A. Wallace
12 December 1914 Brigadier-General M. G. Wilkinson (acting)
15 December 1914 Major-General C. J. Mackenzie
15 March 1915 Brigadier-General F. E. Wallerstein (acting)
22 March 1915 Major-General F. W. N. McCracken
17 June 1917 Major-General H. F. Thullier
11 October 1917 Major-General H. L. Reed VC (sick 4 July 1918)
4 July 1918 Brigadier-General E. B. MacNaghten (acting)
9 July 1918 Major-General H. L. Reed VC

Order of battle

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See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Stewart & Buchan 2003, pp. 301–305.
  2. ^ Fred MacAulay (editor), Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna, Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, (1995), p. xxxiv
  3. ^ Becke 2007, p. 53.
  4. ^ Stewart & Buchan 2003, pp. 285–288.
  5. ^ Baker 2020.
  6. ^ Becke 2007, pp. 56–58.

References

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  • Baker, Chris (2020). "15th (Scottish) Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  • Becke, Major A. F. (2007) [1945]. Order of Battle of Divisions Part 3a. New Army Divisions (9–26). Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84734-741-1.
  • Stewart, J.; Buchan, J. (2003) [1926]. The Fifteenth (Scottish) Division 1914–1919 (repr. The Naval & Military Press, Uckfield ed.). Edinburgh: Blackwood. ISBN 978-1-84342-639-4.

Further reading

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  • Goss, J. (1920). Ferguson, J. (ed.). A Border Battalion. The history of the 7/8th-Service-Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers (1st ed.). Edinburgh: T. N. Foulis. OCLC 558549942.
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