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Blythswood Rifles AI simulator
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Blythswood Rifles AI simulator
(@Blythswood Rifles_simulator)
Blythswood Rifles
The Blythswood Rifles was a Scottish Volunteer unit of the British Army. Raised in Glasgow from 1859, it later became a battalion of the Highland Light Infantry. During World War I it served at Gallipoli, in Egypt and Palestine, in Ireland, and on the Western Front. Converted into an anti-aircraft artillery regiment just before World War II, it served in The Blitz and in the Middle East during the war, and continued in the postwar Territorial Army until 1955.
An invasion scare in 1859 led to the emergence of the Volunteer Movement, and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need began to be organised throughout Great Britain. The 2nd Administrative Battalion of Lanarkshire RVCs (shown in the Army List as the 4th Admin Bn until March 1861) was formed in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, on 4 July 1860 to administer 11 company-sized RVCs that had been raised in that city:
On 20 June 1865 the 2nd Admin Battalion was consolidated as the 31st Lanarkshire RVC (taking the number of its senior surviving company) with headquarters (HQ) in North Frederick Street, Glasgow. In June 1869 it received the additional title The Blythswood Rifles in honour of its Commanding Officer (CO), Archibald Campbell of Blythswood House, who later took the title of Lord Blythswood. Campbell had served with the Scots Fusilier Guards in the Crimean War and had retired with the rank of 'Captain and Lieutenant–Colonel'. He was commissioned as Lt-Col in command of the 31st RVC on 1 December 1864.
In 1873, the Blythswood Rifles absorbed the 5th Lanarkshire RVC, previously the 7th Admin Bn formed in September 1860 to administer the following Glasgow RVCs:
The initial 12 companies in the 7th Admin Bn (consolidated as the 5th Lanarkshire RVC in 1860) had been reduced to 10 in 1864 and dwindled thereafter until it was absorbed into the 31st.
When the RVCs were consolidated in 1880, the battalion was renumbered as the 8th (Blythswood Rifles) Lanarkshire RVC. Under the 'Localisation of Forces' scheme introduced in 1872 by the Cardwell reforms, the 31st Lanarkshire RVC had been grouped with the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot, the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) and the 2nd Royal Lanark Militia in Brigade No 60. However, this affiliation was broken up in the Childers Reforms, under which the battalion became a volunteer battalion of the Highland Light Infantry (The Glasgow Regiment) (HLI) on 1 July 1881. It was formally redesignated as the 3rd (Blythswood) Volunteer Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in December 1887.
The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. Under this scheme the Volunteer Battalions of the HLI were included in the Clyde Brigade, later the Glasgow Brigade based at Hamilton.
Lord Blythswood was succeeded as Lt-Col Commandant in 1897 by Colonel W. Clark, VD, who had been the unit's second Lt-Col since 1877. Sixty-one volunteers from the battalion served alongside the Regulars in the Second Boer War, mostly in the 1st 2nd and 3rd Volunteer Service Companies of the HLI, earning the battalion its first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–02.
Blythswood Rifles
The Blythswood Rifles was a Scottish Volunteer unit of the British Army. Raised in Glasgow from 1859, it later became a battalion of the Highland Light Infantry. During World War I it served at Gallipoli, in Egypt and Palestine, in Ireland, and on the Western Front. Converted into an anti-aircraft artillery regiment just before World War II, it served in The Blitz and in the Middle East during the war, and continued in the postwar Territorial Army until 1955.
An invasion scare in 1859 led to the emergence of the Volunteer Movement, and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need began to be organised throughout Great Britain. The 2nd Administrative Battalion of Lanarkshire RVCs (shown in the Army List as the 4th Admin Bn until March 1861) was formed in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, on 4 July 1860 to administer 11 company-sized RVCs that had been raised in that city:
On 20 June 1865 the 2nd Admin Battalion was consolidated as the 31st Lanarkshire RVC (taking the number of its senior surviving company) with headquarters (HQ) in North Frederick Street, Glasgow. In June 1869 it received the additional title The Blythswood Rifles in honour of its Commanding Officer (CO), Archibald Campbell of Blythswood House, who later took the title of Lord Blythswood. Campbell had served with the Scots Fusilier Guards in the Crimean War and had retired with the rank of 'Captain and Lieutenant–Colonel'. He was commissioned as Lt-Col in command of the 31st RVC on 1 December 1864.
In 1873, the Blythswood Rifles absorbed the 5th Lanarkshire RVC, previously the 7th Admin Bn formed in September 1860 to administer the following Glasgow RVCs:
The initial 12 companies in the 7th Admin Bn (consolidated as the 5th Lanarkshire RVC in 1860) had been reduced to 10 in 1864 and dwindled thereafter until it was absorbed into the 31st.
When the RVCs were consolidated in 1880, the battalion was renumbered as the 8th (Blythswood Rifles) Lanarkshire RVC. Under the 'Localisation of Forces' scheme introduced in 1872 by the Cardwell reforms, the 31st Lanarkshire RVC had been grouped with the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot, the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) and the 2nd Royal Lanark Militia in Brigade No 60. However, this affiliation was broken up in the Childers Reforms, under which the battalion became a volunteer battalion of the Highland Light Infantry (The Glasgow Regiment) (HLI) on 1 July 1881. It was formally redesignated as the 3rd (Blythswood) Volunteer Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in December 1887.
The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. Under this scheme the Volunteer Battalions of the HLI were included in the Clyde Brigade, later the Glasgow Brigade based at Hamilton.
Lord Blythswood was succeeded as Lt-Col Commandant in 1897 by Colonel W. Clark, VD, who had been the unit's second Lt-Col since 1877. Sixty-one volunteers from the battalion served alongside the Regulars in the Second Boer War, mostly in the 1st 2nd and 3rd Volunteer Service Companies of the HLI, earning the battalion its first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–02.