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Liverpool Scottish. In
1859 the United Kingdom was threatened with invasion
by Napoleon III of France. This led to the raising
of Rifle and Artillery Volunteer Corps for the
purposes of meeting such an invasion. Queen
Victoria signified her acceptance of a Corps of
Volunteers under the title of 'The Liverpool
Scottish Rifle Volunteers (XIXth Lancashire)'.
There were two companies, a Lowland company and a
Highland company, which wore the MacKenzie tartan.
These units were, in general, equipped and
maintained at their own expense; members paid a
subscription and bought their own uniforms and, in
many cases, their commanders maintained them at
their own expense.
The Liverpool Scottish was formed as an infantry
battalion in 1900 in response to the crisis of
the Boer War. It was raised from amongst the body of
highly educated and professional young Scotsmen in
the city as the 8th
(Scottish) Volunteer Battalion, The
King's (Liverpool Regiment). There was an annual
subscription of 10 shillings (50p) and an entrance
fee of £2. The first Commanding Officer was Colonel
C. Forbes Bell. The Forbes tartan kilt was
adopted by the regiment and the Highland full dress
uniform featured a khaki tunic with scarlet collar
and facings together with a feather bonnet or
glengarry and tartan plaid. A party of men went
to South Africa with the 4th Service Company of the
Gordon Highlanders and were attached to the 1st
Battalion of that regiment. With HQ established in
Fraser Street in the Liverpool city centre, the home
of the Scottish until 1967.
In 1914 the Liverpool Scottish was mobilised
at the outset of war and moved to France on 1st/2nd
November 1914, one of the first Territorial
battalions to do so. At this stage of the war,
officers still carried swords.... but not for long!
The Regimental Museum is the responsibility of the
Regimental Museum Trust, established in 1979 to
protect the collection of artifacts which have been
acquired since the foundation of the 8th (Scottish)
Volunteer Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment)
in 1900. This and its successor units have been
known generally as "The Liverpool Scottish". The
Museum moved from Forbes House in Childwall in 1999
where it had reached provisional registration status
with the Museums and Galleries Commission. In its
new location (officially re-opened in November 2002)
it has been awarded 'Fully Registered' status by
Resource (Council for Museums, Libraries, Archives
and Libraries), the successor to the MGC. It is
affiliated to the Army Museums Ogilby Trust and
receives professional curatorial advice from the
National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside. It
receives no public funds on a regular basis (though
there have been some recent specific purposes
grants) and is maintained otherwise entirely by
voluntary donations from well wishers, private
regimental sources and from those who have made use
of its research services. The Museum has occupied
new premises in Botanic Road, Liverpool and has now
re-established its displays. It will need to raise
substantial funds to ensure the proper provision for
display, conservation and storage of its collection.
The Museum is open to visitors on a limited basis at
present, normally on a Wednesday afternoon/early
evening (2pm to 6 pm and later by arrangement) and
other times by arrangement. A phone call to the
Secretary or Curator is advised beforehand to
confirm availability. See 'Visiting and Contact'
page The Chairman of the Museum Trust is Professor
Donald Ritchie CBE FRSE DL (Emeritus Professor of
Genetics, University of Liverpool). The Honorary
Secretary is Major IL Riley TD FSA Scot (01925
766157), the Honorary Curator is Mr. Dennis Reeves.
(Tel: 0151 645 5717) and the Honorary Treasurer is
Major K. Ravenscroft (contact via the Secretary)
The first major battalion action of the Liverpool
Scottish was on 16th. June 1915 in what is
officially known as 'The First Action at Bellewaarde'
which was designed to pin down German reserves
whilst there were British and French attacks
elsewhere. This action is known in The Liverpool
Scottish as 'The Battle of Hooge'. Hooge is a
village is a few miles East of Ieper (Ypres),
straddling the Menin Road. The Liverpool Scottish,
as part of 9th Brigade were to take part in the
second phase of the attack on ground just North of
The Menin Road between (and including) Railway Wood
(still to be seen) in the North and a hedge row seen
on the map (just North of a feature known as Y-Wood
to the South which no longer exists). They were to
be the left hand battalion and to their right was to
be a battalion of the Lincolns. The battalion's
frontage appears to have been about 400 yards. The
assembly position was on the line of 'Cambridge
Road', a feature which exists today as a metalled
track running North from the Menin Road and a
Liverpool Scottish memorial was unveiled and
dedicated here on Saturday 29th July 2000 during the
centenary year, a project in which the Museum was
actively involved. Detail is on
 
In 1920, The Liverpool Scottish reformed as the 10th
(Liverpool Scottish) Battalion, The King's Regiment
(Liverpool) TA but in 1937 was officially redesignated as The Liverpool Scottish, The Queen's
Own Cameron Highlanders to become an integral
Territorial battalion of the Cameron Highlanders.
The bonnet badge changed to a Liverpool Scottish
version of the Cameron badge. Colours were presented
to the battalion by H.M. King George VI at Goodison
Park football ground in 1938. A second battalion was
formed immediately before the outbreak of war in
1939. During the 1939-45 war, the 1st
Battalion of The Liverpool Scottish remained in
Great Britain but found many reinforcements for The
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders battalions (and
other Highland regiments) on active service
overseas. Additionally the 1st and 2nd. Battalions
of the Liverpool Scottish provided a contingent for
No. 4 Independent Company which went to Norway in
1940 to face the German invasion. Subsequently, many
members served with the Army Commandos including
Captain Donald Roy DSO, decorated for his courage
and skill in the raid on St. Nazaire in 1942 in
which many other Liverpool Scots took part.
Donald Roy, known as 'The Laird', insisted that his
men wore kilts both in training and in action.
The 2nd. Battalion, The Liverpool
Scottish, also supplied reinforcements for Highland
regiments and, after serving in a home defence role,
converted to the 89th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal
Artillery, disbanding in 1946. The 1st. Battalion
served in Gibraltar from 1945 to 1947. Another major
Museum project has been to identify the names and
details of men of The Liverpool Scottish who died
serving with other units such as 56th Recce Regt .
This research continues and any additional
information would be welcomed.
1947 - 1967 The 1st Battalion The Liverpool
Scottish reformed at the Fraser Street Drill
Hall in Liverpool in 1947 and, until its disbandment
in 1967 when the Territorial Army was reorganised,
it was firstly a motor battalion and then an
infantry battalion. In April 1967, The
Liverpool Scottish reformed as V (The Liverpool
Scottish) Company, 51st. Highland Volunteers AVR II
with battalion HQ in Perth.
The company adopted the Highland Brigade bonnet
badge (a stag's head upon a saltire) worn on a cloth
Forbes tartan background and continued to wear the
blue hackle of The Queen's Own Highlanders. The
Forbes tartan kilt (as with all other forms of
dress) was retained. On leaving Fraser Street, a new
HQ for the Territorial company was established at
the TA barracks in Score Lane in Childwall which had
previously been Signal House. It was renamed Forbes
House. The Liverpool Scottish tradition was thus
blended for the next twenty five years with that of
the famous 51st Highland Division.
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