| 51st (Scottish) Brigade | |
|---|---|
Insignia of 51st (Scottish) Brigade |
|
| Active | World War I 1914 - 1918 1952 - Present |
| Country | Scotland, UK |
| Branch | Territorial Army |
| Type | All Arms and Services |
| Role | Training and Administration Military Aid to the Civil Community Military Aid to the Civil Power |
| Part of | 2nd Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Stirling |
| Nickname | The Army In Scotland |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Brigadier GE Lowder |
The British 51st Infantry Brigade is currently known as 51 (Scottish) Brigade, part of the 2nd Division. It is currently the regional administrative formation responsible for all the units of the Territorial Army based in Scotland. It is the largest Regional Brigade in the United Kingdom in terms of geographic area. It is directly descended from the 51st Highland Division, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908 and which fought during the First and Second World Wars.
Contents |
The British 51st Infantry Brigade began as a formation of the 17th (Northern) Division during the First World War. It spent the entirety of the war with the Division on the Western Front.
This brigade was not raised during the Second World War.
The Brigade was reformed in the Canal Zone in 1952, and then moved to Famagusta in Cyprus in 1955 to combat the EOKA insurgency. It had the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and 40 Field Regiment Royal Artillery under its command. By 1962 it had returned to the United Kingdom and become 51st Gurkha Brigade. It is recorded that Brigadier Philip Tower was commander of the 51st Infantry Brigade Group from 15 December 1961 to 28 March 1962. From 1963 to 1965 later-General Harry Tuzo commanded the Brigade in Borneo and Brunei. His Gurkha battalions worked to win the "hearts and minds" of the locals, but also participated with the SAS in Operation Claret which interdicted Indonesian troops as they attempted to cross the border.
The Brigade was later disbanded in Hong Kong in 1976.
The dominant historical threads behind the current 51st Scottish Brigade come from the famed 51st Highland Division. It existed initially from August 1908 - March 1919, and then was reformed in the Territorial Army in the interwar period. Deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force, the 51st Division was attached to the French Southern Group of Armies and fought a lone battle as the remainder of the BEF was forced to retreat toward Dunkirk. For some time, it was forced to hold a line four times longer than that which would normally be expected of a division. During this period, the 154th Brigade was detached and withdrawn successfully. However, the 152nd and 153rd Brigades were trapped at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux, and surrendered on June 12. Later the Division was reformed from the second line 9th Highland Division and fought with the Eighth Army in the Western Desert campaign. It was later part of Second Army in the North-West Europe campaign.
The Territorial Army in Scotland re-raised the 51st/52nd Scottish Division in the late 1940s, which was in existence until the TA was disbanded and reorganised as the TAVR in 1967.
The 51st/52nd Scottish Division was split into two separate Brigades in 1968, with the 51st Highland component reformed as Highland District, commanded by a Brigadier and the Lowland component forming 52nd Lowland Brigade. Since then the name of the formation changed first to Highland Area and then to a subordinate formation of Scottish District, Highlands, as 51st Highland Brigade. In 1975 the Brigade Headquarters moved from Highland House, St Catherine’s Road, Perth to the old 51st Highland Division Officers’ Mess building at St Leonard’s Bank, Perth. As 51 Highland Brigade it consisted of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 51st Highland Volunteers, as well as other Territorial Army units based in the Highlands.
The Brigade is now part of 2nd Division and was redesignated 51 (Scottish) Brigade taking on the regional responsibility for the whole of Scotland, instead of just the Highlands, on 1 April 2002, with its Headquarters at Forthside in Stirling and its Regional Training Centre situated at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh. This enabled 52 (Lowland) Brigade, which previously administered all Lowland TA units, to be specifically reorganised to parent Regular light role infantry battalions for operational deployments. 51st (Scottish) Brigade also co-ordinates operational deployments within its regional area of responsibility, such as in scenarios requiring Military Aid to the Civil Community. The Brigade also has its own military band, administered by 51st Highland, 7th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
51 (Scottish) Brigade has a total manpower strength of over 2600 ranks, accounting for the majority of the 3100 Territorials based in Scotland. Over 700 Territorials from the Brigade have served in either Operation Telic in Iraq or Operation Herrick in Afghanistan since the beginning of the decade - including two formed units – 7 SCOTS' Alamein Company in Iraq; and 6 SCOTS' Bremen Platoon in Afghanistan.
The Brigade's nominal ORBAT currently consists of the following units of the Territorial Army in Scotland: