52nd Lowland Regiment

Encyclopedia : 5 : 52 : 52N : 52nd Lowland Regiment

52nd Lowland Regiment (now called 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 6 SCOTS) is the senior Infantry Volunteer Regiment of the British Army and it traces its lineage to the Battalions of the former 52nd Lowland Division. This Division was the only completely Territorial Division to fight in the Second World War, which trained as a Mountain Division and fought with distinction in Holland and Germany until its Battalions were disbanded from regular service at the end of the war.

Fewer Battalions were required in peace than in war so in 1948 the Division became 52nd Lowland Brigade and its peacetime Battalions were returned to the Territorial Army order of battle. Throughout the 1960s, reductions in manning and equipment saw amalgamations of Territorial Battalions within Regiments until 1967, when the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve was radically reorganised. The Battalions were reduced to Company or Platoon strength cadres and a new Regiment was raised to incorporate them - 52nd Lowland Volunteers.

A second Battalion was raised in 1971 and throughout the cold war era of the 70s and 80s, the 1st Battalion of 52nd Lowland Volunteers (1/52), based in Glasgow and the west lowlands, trained for the NATO reinforcement role whilst the 2nd Battalion (2/52), based in Edinburgh and the east, trained for home defence.

Following the Options for Change reforms of the British Army of the early 90s, the 1st Battalion was retitled the 3rd (Volunteer) Battalion, The Royal Highland Fusiliers in 1995. The 2nd Battalion, still a multi cap-badged Battalion, became simply The Lowland Volunteers until 1999 when, as a result of the Strategic Defence Review of Britain's reserve forces, the two Battalions were re-amalgamated to take the name and form held today. . . 52nd Lowland Regiment.

Currently, Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Company are in Glasgow and the Regiment has four Rifle Companies:

A (Royal Scots) Company in Edinburgh and Bathgate
B (Royal Highland Fusiliers) Company in Ayr and Dumfries
C (Royal Highland Fusiliers) Company in Glasgow and Motherwell
D (King's Own Scottish Borderers) Company in Galashiels and Motherwell

The Companies maintain their affiliations to The Royal Scots, The Royal Highland Fusiliers and The King's Own Scottish Borderers and they are still located in the same TA Centres and Drill Halls as their distinguished Territorial predecessors. 52nd Lowland Regiment, though, has its own identity in the British Army's order of battle and its soldiers take the greatest of pride in being Lowland Volunteers.

Since 1999, 52nd Lowland Regiment has trained as a formed unit in places such as France, Belgium, Cyprus, the USA, the Slovak Republic and the Ukraine. Many members have also served with regular Battalions on exercise and operations all over the world, including Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya and, most recently, on Operation TELIC in Iraq.

As part of the restructuring of the British Army, the 52nd Lowland Regiment became the 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland which was formed on 28 March 2006.

External links

[52nd Lowland Regiment's Website]

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