52nd Lowland Regiment
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| 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland | |
|---|---|
 Cap Badge of The Royal Regiment of Scotland |
|
| Active | 28 March 2006 - Present |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Line Infantry |
| Role | TA Reserve Light Role |
| Size | One Support Company Three Rifle Companies |
| Part of | 51st (Scottish) Brigade 2nd Division Scottish Division |
| Garrison/HQ | HQ Company - Glasgow A Company - Edinburgh B Company - Ayr C Company - Glasgow |
| Motto | Nemo Me Impune Lacessit (No One Assails Me With Impunity) (Latin) |
| March | Quick - Scotland the Brave Slow - The Garb of Auld Gaul |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel in Chief | HRH Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, KG, KT, GCVO |
| Colonel of the Regiment |
Major General William Euan Buchanan Loudon, CBE |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash |  |
| Tartan |  |
The 52nd Lowland Regiment now forms the 6th Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 6 SCOTS. It is the senior British Territorial Line Infantry Battalion.
[edit] Regimental Heritage
The current Battalion traces its lineage back to the Battalions of the former 52nd Lowland Division that was formed as as part of the 1908 Haldane Reforms of the Volunteer Army and fought in the First World War at Gallipoli, in the Middle East (Sinai and Palestine) and on the Western Front in France. The Division was the only completely Territorial Division to fight in the Second World War, initially as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It later trained as a mountain and airborne Division fighting with distinction in Holland and Germany as part of the First Allied Airborne Army 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 the 52nd Lowland Brigade and its peacetime Battalions were returned to the Territorial Army order of battle. As a result of the 1966 Defence White Paper, a major reorganisation of the Army took place, brought about in part by the end of National Service, with the TA being disbanded and the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) formed. Instead of forming large reserve formations, the role of the new TAVR was to provide smaller unit-sized reinforcements for the Regular Army via a multi-tier system established to meet the NATO reserve (TAVR II) and Home Defence (TAVR III) requirements. The Battalions were reduced to Company or Platoon strength cadres, such as the Glasgow Highlanders, and a new Regiment was raised to incorporate them, The 52nd Lowland Volunteers, under the command of the 52nd Lowland Brigade.
A second Battalion was raised in 1971 and throughout the remainder of the Cold War, the 1st Battalion of 52nd Lowland Volunteers, based in Glasgow and the West of Scotland, trained for the NATO reinforcement role whilst the 2nd Battalion, based in Edinburgh and the Lothians, trained for home defence.
Following the Options for Change reforms of the British Army of the early 1990's, the 1st Battalion was retitled the 3rd (Volunteer) Battalion, The Royal Highland Fusiliers in 1995. The 2nd Battalion, remained a multi cap-badged Battalion, and 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 transferred under the command of the 51st (Scottish) Brigade and re-amalgamated to take the name and single battalion form of The 52nd Lowland Regiment.
As part of the Delivering Security in a Changing World Review of the Armed Forces, the 52nd Lowland Regiment was amalgamated with the other Regiments of the Scottish Division to become the 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, which was formed on 28 March 2006.
[edit] Locations and Operations
The Battalion Headquarters is based at Walcheren Barracks in Maryhill, Glasgow and the Battalion currently has one Support Company and three Rifle Companies with various Support Weapons platoons based throughout the Scottish Lowlands:
- HQ (Royal Highland Fusiliers) Company is based in Glasgow and consists of the various departments responsible for supporting the Battalion. This includes elements of the RLC, RAMC, AGC and a REME Light Aid Detachment (LAD) as well as the Battalion's Signals Platoon and the Pipes and Drums.
- A (Royal Scots Borderers) Company has it's Headquarters and a Rifle Platoon based in Edinburgh, an Anti-Tank Platoon and Rifle Platoon in Galashiels and a Machine Gun Platoon in Bathgate.
- B (Royal Highland Fusiliers) Company have the Company Headquarters and two Rifle Platoons based in Ayr, with a Mortar Platoon in Dumfries.
- C (Royal Highland Fusiliers) Company has it's Company Headquarters and a Rifle Platoon based in Glasgow with the Battalion's Assault Pioneer Platoon in Motherwell
The Companies maintain their separate affiliations to The Royal Scots Borderers (A Company) and The Royal Highland Fusiliers (HQ, B and C Company), which now form the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions of The Royal Regiment of Scotland and cover the same recuiting areas. In recognition of this, its members wear a black or white hackle on their Tam o' Shanters, the same as those worn by the 1st and 2nd Battalions respectively. In the past, two companies also maintained an affiliation with The Cameronians, however one company was disbanded in 1992, and the other changed it's affiliation to the King's Own Scottish Borderers in 1997. 52nd Lowland, though, has its own identity in the British Army's order of battle and its members take the greatest pride in being Lowland Volunteers.
In ceremonial duties, The Lowland Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland is administered by the Battalion, both the band and The 6 SCOTS' Pipes and Drums take part in military and civilian events all over the UK and the world on behalf of the Battalion, the Regiment and 52nd Lowland Brigade, including the World Pipe Band Championships and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Since 1999, 52nd Lowland, now 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, has trained as a formed unit in places such as France, Belgium, Cyprus, the United States, Slovakia and the Ukraine. Many members have also served alongside their affiliated regular Battalions on exercise and operations all over the world, including Canada, Kenya, Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland and, most recently, on Operation Herrick in Afghanistan and Operation TELIC in Iraq.
