Mcdee Family History & Genealogy

Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)
Battalions of the Regular Army
1st Battalion
August 1914: at Aldershot. Part of 1st Brigade in 1st Division.Landed at Le Havre on 14 August 1914.
2nd Battalion
August 1914 : in Bareilly, India. Part of the Bareilly Brigade in Meerut Division.
21 September 1914 : Moved to France, landing at Marseilles on 12 October 1914.
26 September 1915 : amalgamated after heavy casualties with 1/4th Bn, which resumed its former identity in November 1915.
December 1915 : Moved to Mesopotamia, landing at Basra on 31 December 1915. Formation was by now renamed 21st Brigade, 7th Indian Division.
4 February 1916 : owing to heavy casualties, formed the Highland Battalion with 1st Bn, the Seaforth Highlanders.
12 July 1916 : resumed former title.January 1918 : moved to Palestine, arriving Suez 13 January 1918.
3rd (Reserve) BattalionAugust 1914 : in Perth. A depot/training unit, it remained in Scotland (at Nigg) until moving to Ireland in November 1917 (initially at Queenstown and then at the Curragh from March 1918).
Battalions of the Territorial Force
1/4th (City of Dundee) Battalion
August 1914 : in Dundee. Part of Black Watch Brigade, unallocated to a Division.
26 February 1915 : landed at Le Havre and on the 4 March 1915 joined the Bareilly Brigade in the Meerut Division.
26 September 1915 : amalgamated with 2nd Bn.
Resumed identity November 1915.
6 November 1915 : transferred to 139th Brigade in 46th (North Midland) Division.
14 November 1915 : transferred to 44th Brigade in 15th (Scottish) Division.
7 January 1916 : transferred to 154th Brigade in 51st (Highland) Division.
29 February 1916 : transferred to 118th Brigade in 39th Division.
15 March 1916 : amalgamated with 1/5th Bn to form the 4/5th Bn.
14 May 1918 : transferred to 46th Brigade in 15th (Scottish) Division.5 June 1918 : transferred to 44th Brigade in same Division.
1/5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion
August 1914 : in Arbroath. Part of Black Watch Brigade, unallocated to a Division.
2 November 1914 : landed at Le Havre.
13 November 1914 : attached to 24th Brigade in 8th Division.
18 October 1915 : converted into Pioneer Battalion to same Division.
6 January 1916 : converted back to infantry and transferred to 154th Brigade in 51st (Highland) Division.
29 February 1916 : transferred to 118th Brigade in 39th Division.15 March 1916 : amalgamated with 1/4th Bn to form the 4/5th Bn.
1/6th (Perthshire) Battalion
August 1914 : in Perth. Part of Black Watch Brigade, unallocated to a Division. Moved to Queensferry on Forth Defences.
Moved to Tay Defences in November 1914.
16 April 1915 : moved to Bedford and attached to 2nd Highland Brigade in Highland Division.
Landed at Boulogne on 2 May 1915. 12 May 1915 : formation became 153rd Brigade in 51st (Highland) Division.
1/7th (Fife) BattalionAugust 1914 : in St Andrews. record same as 1/6th Bn.
2/4th (City of Dundee) Battalion
Formed at Dundee in September 1914 as a second line unit. Moved to Broughty Ferry on Tay Defences.
January 1915 : moved to Hawick and attached to 2nd Seaforth & Cameron Highlanders Brigade in 2nd Highland Division.
Moved to Bridge of Earn mid 1915.
October 1915 : formation became 191st Brigade in 64th Division at Auchterarder.
November 1915 :absorbed 2/5th Bn. Moved to Norwich in May 1916 and soon on to Kelling Heath.Disbanded on 19 December 1917.
2/5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion
Formed at Forfar in September 1914 as a second line unit.
Moved to Hawick and then Roxburgh and by spring 1915 was on Clyde defences.
After moving to Bridge of Earn mid 1915, record same as 2/4th Bn.November 1915: absorbed into 2/4th Bn.
2/6th (Perthshire) Battalion
Formed at Perth in September 1914 as a second line unit.
January 1915 : moved to Hawick and attached to 2nd Gordon Highlanders Brigade in 2nd Highland Division.
Moved to Bridge of Earn mid 1915.
October 1915 : transferred to 192nd Brigade in 64th Division and moved to Blairgowrie. Moved to Norwich in March 1916 then Taverham. Was at North Walsham in summer 1917.Disbanded in September 1917.
2/7th (Fife) Battalion
Formed at St Andrews in September 1914 as a second line unit.
January 1915 : moved to Hawick and attached to 2nd Gordon Highlanders Brigade, 2nd Highland Division.
Moved to Kinghorn in April 1915 and Bridge of Earn mid 1915.
October 1915 : transferred to 192nd Brigade, 64th Division and moved to Grangemouth. Moved to Norwich in March 1916 then Taverham. Was at North Walsham in summer 1917.Disbanded in April 1918.
3/4th, 3/5th, 3/6th and 3/7th Battalions
Formed at home bases in March and April 1915. All moved to Bridge of Earn and later in 1915 to Ripon.
8 April 1916 : renamed 4th to 7th Reserve Bns; on 1 September 1916 4th absorbed all others.Moved to Edinburgh in May 1918.
13th (Scottish Horse Yeomanry) Battalion
1 October 1916 : Formed at Abbassia in Egypt from three dismounted Yeomanry Regiments, the 1st and 2nd Scottish Horse and details from the 3rd.
Moved to Salonika, arriving 21 October 1916.
21 October 1916 : attached to 81st Brigade in 27th Division.
June 1918 : moved to France.15 July 1918 : transferred to 149th Brigade in 50th (Northumbrian) Division.
14th (Fife & Forfar Yeomanry) Battalion
Formed in Moascar in Egypt on 21 December 1916 from the dismounted troops of the Fife & Forfar Yeomanry.
21 December 1916 : attached to 229th Brigade in 74th (Yeomanry) Division.Landed at Marseilles on 7 May 1918.
Battalions of the New Armies
8th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Perth on 21 August 1914 as part of K1 and attached to 26th Brigade in 9th (Scottish) Division. Moved to Aldershot.
In January 1915 went on to Alton and in March to Bordon.Landed at Boulogne on 10 March 1915.
9th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Perth on 13 September 1914 as part of K2 and attached to 44th Brigade in 15th (Scottish) Division.
Moved to Aldershot, Liss, Chisledon, and Tidworth by May 1915.
Landed at Boulogne on 8 July 1915.
7 February 1918 : transferred to 46th Brigade in same Division.
19 May 1916 : reduced to cadre strength.
21 May 1918 : transferred to 118th Brigade in 39th Division.
17 June 1918 : transferred to 16th (Irish) Division. Recrossed to England.
19 June 1918 : reconstituted, absorbing the 15th Bn.
2 July 1918 : transferred to 47th Brigade in same Division.Landed at Boulogne on 28 July 1918.
10th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Perth on 13 September 1914 as part of K3 and attached to 77th Brigade in 26th Division.
Moved to Salisbury Plain, Bristol, Sutton Veny.
Landed at Boulogne 20 September 1915.
Moved to Salonika in November 1915.
July 1918 : left the Division and moved to France.
21 July 1918 : attached to 197th Brigade in 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division. 15 October 1918 : disbanded in France.
11th (Reserve) Battalion
Formed in Perth in October 1914 as a Service battalion, part of K4. Became part of 101st Brigade in the original 34th Division. Moved to Nigg.
April 1915 : converted into a Reserve battalion. Moved to Tain and in October 1915 to Catterick. Moved again in May 1916 to Dunfermline. 1 September 1916 : became 38th Training Reserve Battalion of 9th Reserve Brigade.
Other Battalions
12th (Labour) Battalion
Formed in Blairgowrie in May 1916. Moved to France June 1916.In April 1917 it became the 5th and 6th Labour Coys of the Labour Corps.
15th BattalionFormed in Deal, Kent on 1 June 1918 but soon absorbed by 9th Bn.

The battalion was the basic tactical unit of the infantry of the British army in the Great War of 1914-1918. At full establishment, it consisted of 1,007 men, of whom 30 were officers. It comprised a Battalion Headquarters and four Companies.
Battalion HQ
The battalion was usually commanded by an officer with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. A Major was Second-in-Command. Battalion HQ also had three other officers: a Captain or Lieutenant filled the role of Adjutant (in charge of battalion administration); a Captain or Lieutenant was the Quartermaster (responsible for stores and transport); and an officer of the Royal Army Medical Corps attached as Medical Officer.
Battalion HQ also included the Regimental Sergeant-Major (RSM, the most senior Non-Commissioned Officer) plus a number of specialist roles filled by Sergeants: Quartermaster, Drummer, Cook, Pioneer, Shoemaker, Transport, Signaller, Armourer (often attached from the Army Ordnance Corps) and Orderly Room Clerk.
A Corporal and 4 Privates of the Royal Army Medical Corps were attached to Battalion HQ for water duties; a Corporal and 15 Privates were employed as Signallers; 10 Privates were employed as Pioneers (on construction, repair and general engineering duties); 11 Privates acted as Drivers for the horse-drawn transport; 16 acted as Stretcher-bearers (these often being the musicians of the Battalion Band); 6 Privates acted as officers batmen (personal servants) and 2 as orderlies for the Medical Officer.
Companies
Usually lettered A to D - or in the case of the Guards Regiments numbered 1 to 4 - each of the 4 Companies numbered 227 heads at full establishment. Each was commanded by a Major or Captain, with a Captain as Second-in-Command. Company HQ included a Company Sergeant-Major (CSM), a Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS), 2 Privates acting as batmen and 3 as drivers. The body of the company was divided into 4 Platoons, each of which was commanded by a subaltern (a Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant). In total, the 4 Platoons consisted of 8 Sergeants, 10 Corporals, 4 Drummers, 4 Batmen and 188 Privates.
Each Platoon was subdivided into 4 Sections, each of 12 men under an NCO.
If asked, after his name, rank and number, a man might refer to himself as being in 3 Section, 2 Platoon, B Company, the Xth Umpshire Regiment.
Tip: how do I find out my soldier's battalion? This will be given on his army service record if it exists. For infantrymen who went overseas in 1914, their battalion when they embarked is often shown on thier medal index card. But to be sure, and for all others, you need to refer to the medal rolls, which are given as references on the index card. It is, even for men whose service record exists, often difficult to find out his Company.
Also on the strength of the battalion
Each battalion had, in 1914, a Machine Gun Section consisting of a Lieutenant, a Sergeant, a Corporal, 2 Drivers, a Batman and 12 Privates trained in the maintenance, transport, loading and firing of the Vickers heavy machine gun. These men made up two six-man gun teams.
Also on the strength were 8 Lance-Sergeants and 49 Lance-Corporals (these being included in the figures already given above).
Each battalion had a detachment at its Base Depot, which did not take the field when the battalion was on active service. The Base Detachment consisted - in theory - of a subaltern, 2 Sergeants and 91 Privates to form a first reinforcement (to make good battalion casualties or other losses); 4 Storemen, the Band Sergeant and the Sergeant Master Tailor. When the battalion went on active service, it left behind the Bandmaster and the Sergeant-Instructor of Musketry for service with the Reserve Battalion.
Battalion equipment
Battalion Transport consisted of 13 riding and 43 draught and pack horses. The provided the power for drawing the six ammunition carts, two water carts, three General Service Wagons (for tools and machine guns) and the Medical Officer's Maltese Cart. The Signallers had 9 bicycles. (Note: the Divisional Train also provided four more two-horsed GS Wagons for each battalion).
Most men carried a rifle - which for the regular battalions (and after the early days when all sorts of older equipment was supplied to the Territorial and Service Battalions, all of these were eventually similarly equipped) was the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE). The only exceptions were officers, Pipers, Drummers, Buglers and the five man in each battalion who carried range-finding instruments. All those carrying a rifle, except the RSM and other Staff-Sergeants, were also armed with the sword-bayonet.
Other battalion equipment, over and above that carried by the men, included 120 shovels, 73 pickaxes, 20 felling axes, 8 hand axes, 46 billhooks, 20 reaping hooks, a hand saw, 32 folding saws and 8 crowbars. There was also a plethora of minor stores and spares.
The battalion also carried a certain amount of ammunition, although this was backed up by the echelons of transport at Brigade, Divisional and Lines of Communication levels. When added together, the supply per rifle came to 550 rounds per man. The battalion transport carried 32 boxes of 1,000 rounds, and each man could carry up to 120 rounds. The machine guns were each supplied with a total of 41,500 rounds of which 3,500 was carried with the gun, and 8,000 in regimental reserve.
Changes during the war
By February 1915 the allocation of machine-guns to each battalion had been doubled to 4. This, plus other minor adjustments, changed the full establishment of the battalion to 1,021 men of all ranks. Pioneer Battalions, which were introduced in 1915, had 1,034.
In action, battalion machine gun sections were increasingly collected into a brigade group of 16 guns, under a Brigade Machine Gun Officer. This arrangement was made permanent in January 1916: a month later, the gunners were formally transferred from their regiments into the newly-formed Machine Gun Corps. When they lost control of the Vickers guns in this move, the infantry battalions received 4 Lewis light machine guns. By the opening of the 1916 Somme offensive this had been increased to 16 guns per battalion, and early in 1918 this was increased again to 36 guns. The firepower of the battalion was thus considerably increased throughout the war.
Battle experience also led to orders to ensure that bBattalions would leave behind a number of men when going into action, to form a nucleus for rebuilding, in the event of heavy casualties being suffered. A total of 108 all ranks, consisting of a mix of instructors, trained signallers and other specialists, were to be left out.
The number of men acting as stretcher-bearers was increased from 16 to 32.
Battle reality
Once they had been overseas for a while it was rare indeed for a battalion to be at full establishment. It was not unknown at times for battalions with a nominal strength of over a 1000 men to go into fighting with perhaps only 200.
Equipment was lost and damaged, and not always replaced quickly or fully. Battalion subalterns and CQMS's faced the brunt of continual Brigade and Divisional Staff questions about equipment state and availability. Lucky was the battalion with a wise Quartermaster, who knew his way around the Lines of Communication, Brigade and even Engineers dumpsand did not shy at "finding" equipment for his battalion.
Certain types of heavy equipment were eventually left in trenches and other positions, being handed over to the relieving unit in exchange for a chit describing the 'trench stores' they had received.
A typical battalion spent perhaps only 5-10 days in a year in intensive action; they would also spend 60-100 days in front-line trench activities without being in action, with the rest of the time being in reserve or at rest, both of which entailed continual effort on fatigues or training.
Exceptions
Battalions of the Scots Guards and the other Highland Regiments were also allowed a Sergeant-Piper and 5 Pipers. Neither the Scottish Lowland or Irish Regiments were allowed this extra strength, although they did have Pipers from within the basic headcount shown above. This was also true of the Tyneside Scottish and Tyneside Irish (Service) Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers and even the London Scottish Territorials..