The British 52nd (Lowland) Division was a Territorial Army division. During the First World War the division fought at Gallipoli, in the Middle East (Sinai and Palestine) and on the Western Front in France.

Unit history

The division began landing at the Helles front on the Gallipoli peninsula in June, 1915. The 156th Brigade was landed in time to be mauled in the Battle of Gully Ravine. Advancing along Fig Tree Spur, to the right of the ravine, the brigade had little artillery support and no experience of the Gallipoli battlefield. The brigade suffered 1400 casualties, or about half its strength, of which 800 were killed.

When the remaining brigades were landed, they were sent in to attack towards Krithia along Achi Baba Nullah on July 12. They succeeded in capturing the Turkish trenches but were left unsupported and vulnerable to counter-attack. For a modest gain in ground, they suffered 30% casualties and were in no fit state to exploit their position.

The division moved to Egypt where it manned the east-facing defensive fortifications during the Battle of Romani but was not heavily involved in the fighting which was concentrated on the Australian light horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade to the south. Following the battle they advanced across the Sinai but remained in a supporting role as the fluid nature of the fighting suited the mounted troops best.

Second and Third Battles of Gaza.

Battle of Jerusalem.

In March, 1918 the division moved to France where it fought in the 2nd Battles of the Somme, the 2nd Battles of Arras and at the Hindenburg Line.

After the war the Division remained in existance as a Territorial Army division and was mobilised again in 1939 as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France.

After evacuation from France in 1940 having been part of the 'Second BEF' that remained in France after Dunkirk, it trained as a mountain warfare formation but was never used in that role. It fought through Northern France, Belgium, Holland and Germany as part of the British Liberation Army in 1944-45. The Division Commander was Major General E Hakewell Smith, late of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

Formation

The division comprised three infantry brigades and one mounted (yeomanry) brigade:

155th (South Scottish) Brigade 

• 1/4th Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers
• 1/5th Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers
• 1/4th (The Border) Battalion, the King's Own Scottish Borderers
• 1/5th (Dumfries and Galloway) Battalion, the King's Own Scottish Borderers

156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade 

• 1/4th (Queens Edinburgh Rifles) Battalion, the Royal Scots
• 1/7th Battalion, the Royal Scots
• 1/5th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
• 1/6th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
• 1/7th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
• 1/8th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigade 

• 1/5th (City of Glasgow) Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry Regiment
• 1/6th (City of Glasgow) Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry Regiment
• 1/7th (Blythswood) Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry Regiment
• 1/9th (Glasgow Highlanders) Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry Regiment
• 1/5th (Renfrewshire) Battalion, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

Lowland Mounted Brigade 

• 1/1st Ayrshire Yeomanry Regiment

Battles

• Battle of Gallipoli
  • Battle of Gully Ravine and Achi Baba Nullah
• Battle of Romani

External links

The British Army in the Great War: The 52nd (Lowland) Division