Liverpool Scottish The Liverpool Scottish , known diminutively as " the Scottish " , is a unit of the British Territorial Army , raised in 1900 as an infantry battalion of the King ' s ( Liverpool Regiment ) . The Liverpool Scottish became affiliated to the Queen ' s Own Cameron Highlanders in the 1920s and formally transferred to the regiment in 1937 with its identity preserved . Reflecting the Territorial Army ' s decline in size since the 1940s , the battalion was reduced to a company in 1967 , then to a platoon of " A " ( King ' s ) Company , King ' s and Cheshire Regiment in 1999 . In 2006 , the company was incorporated into the 4th Battalion , The Duke of Lancaster ' s Regiment . Service in the First World War was extensive and the Liverpool Scottish was one of the first territorial battalions to arrive in France when it deployed in November 1914 . Approximately 1 , 000 of more than 10 , 000 men who served with the Scottish died during the war . The first major battle of the Scottish during the war was on 16 June 1915 in what is officially known as " The First Action at Bellewaarde " , which was designed to pin down German reserves while other Allied forces were engaged elsewhere . The action is known to the Liverpool Scottish as the " Battle of Hooge " . Hooge being a village a few miles East of Ypres in Belgium . The unit ' s most acclaimed soldier during the war was Noel Godfrey Chavasse , who was awarded two Victoria Cross es while attached from the Royal Army Medical Corps . Sgt Albert Baybut , Chavasse ' s Medical Orderly , is technically the most highly decorated soldier in the history of Liverpool Scottish due to Chavasse ' s parent unit actually being the Royal Army Medical Corps ( RAMC ) . Baybut would receive a Distinguished Conduct Medal , and Bar , together with the Military Medal for his actions alongside Chavasse during WWI . Chavasse remains one of only three people to have been awarded the VC twice , and the only recipient from the Liverpool Scottish . Although expanded to two battalions during the Second World War , the Liverpool Scottish did not serve abroad as intact battalions . Contingents were instead supplied to other battalions and the Army Commandos . With the commandos , the Liverpool Scottish actively served in operations in Europe , including the Norwegian Campaign and the St Nazaire Raid . 1900 – 1914 . There had been a previous attempt to raise a formation of Scots in Liverpool . Heightened tension with France in the late 1850s had provided the impetus for the emergence of the Volunteer movement . Three " Scottish " companies ( one " Highland " and two " Lowland " ) were formed as the 19th ( Liverpool Scottish ) Lancashire Volunteer Rifle Corps , composed predominantly of the middle class . Disputes between members over the use of kilts and the colour of their tartan culminated in the 19th ' s fragmentation . By 1861 , four companies of Liverpool Scottish existed within the 19th and 79th Corps . Neither corps survived : the 19th was subsumed by the Liverpool Volunteer Rifle Brigade while the 79th disbanded in 1863 . The Second Boer War catalysed a renewed interest in establishing a unit composed of Scottish Liverpudlians . On 30 April 1900 , the 8th ( Scottish ) Volunteer Battalion was formed within the King ' s ( Liverpool Regiment ) , with headquarters later being located at 22 Highgate Street , Edge Hill . The Liverpool Scottish became one of four battalions in English infantry regiments to explicitly associate with the Irish and Scottish communities . The battalions were the London Scottish , Liverpool Irish and the London Irish Rifles . Traditional highland attire adopted for the battalion ' s dress uniform included the Clan Forbes pattern tartan and the glengarry headdress . A former major in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion , Christopher Forbes Bell , was appointed commanding officer and officially assumed command on 24 October . Bell was succeeded to command by Andrew Laurie Macfie in 1902 . In common with other volunteer battalions , the Liverpool Scottish organised a detachment for overseas service in South Africa during the Second Boer War . The contingent of 22 volunteers under Lieutenant John Watson was dispatched in 1902 and attached to the 4th Service Company of the 1st Gordon Highlanders . The battalion had already suffered its first fatatality after Lieutenant J . A . Bingham succumbed to wounds incurred at Klip River while serving with the Imperial Yeomanry in February 1902 . They had only limited duties , primarily occupying blockhouse s , as the conflict was reaching its conclusion . Nevertheless , the British Army recognised the battalion ' s contribution with the reward of a battle honour : " South Africa 1902 " . The Liverpool Scottish acquired purpose - built accommodation for its headquarters in 1904 at Fraser Street , in Liverpool City Centre , which the battalion maintained until 1967 . The construction of the building was partially subsidised by public donation ( some £4 , 000 ) but its cost required additional funds generated through a three - day " bazaar " hosted at St George ' s Hall . The Liverpool Scottish became the King ' s 10th Battalion in 1908 when Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane ' s reforms established the Territorial Force , which grouped the volunteers and yeomanry into 14 county - administered divisions and 14 mounted brigades . The Liverpool Scottish , renumbered the 10th , would by 1914 be subordinate to the South Lancashire Brigade , West Lancashire Division . First World War . 1914 – 1915 . When war was declared in August 1914 , the Liverpool Scottish mobilised and moved to Scotland under the command of Lieutenant - Colonel William Nicholl . Duplicate battalions were formed in Liverpool from personnel unable to volunteer for overseas service . The second - line battalion , designated as the 2 / 10th to distinguish it from the original , was organised in October , the third - line in May 1915 . They became responsible for the training of recruits and provision of drafts for overseas service . The 2 / 10th , raised and organised by Captain ( later Lieutenant - Colonel ) Adam Fairrie , was committed to the Western Front in 1917 . The third - line remained in Britain for the duration of the war . Considered by contemporaries to be socially élite and reasonably well - trained compared to other territorial units , the 1 / 10th volunteered for overseas service and became the seventh territorial battalion to be dispatched to the Western Front . The battalion took passage aboard the SS " Maidan " at Southampton on 1 November 1914 , completing its disembarkation at Le Havre on the morning of the third with the Queen ' s Westminster Rifles . The battalion ' s original strength - those who qualified for the 1914 Star - became known as the " Maidaners " in reference to the vessel . Assigned to the 9th Brigade , 3rd Division , the Liverpool Scottish occupied trenches in the Kemmel area , five miles south of Ypres . The 1 / 10th suffered its first fatality on 29 November : Captain Arthur Twentyman , killed while attempting to return to British lines . The combination of severe winter and trench warfare soon depleted the strength of the Liverpool Scottish . From an establishment of 26 officers and 829 men recorded in November , the battalion had dwindled to 370 able - bodied men by January 1915 . Within weeks of the battalion ' s arrival , Major Blair , Lieutenant - Colonel Nicholl ' s successor , was replaced by J . R . Davidson due to ill - health . Davidson would command the battalion , albeit interrupted by wounds sustained during the Somme Offensive , until 1917 , when he returned to Liverpool to become the city ' s Chief Engineer . Obsolete equipment and organisational differences with the regular army became some of the earliest challenges the battalion and other territorials contended with in France . The Scottish employed the long version of the Lee - Enfield ( MLE ) rifle , which had been superseded by the SMLE ( Short Magazine Lee - Enfield ) in the Regular Army . Unsuited to newer ammunition and the conditions of the Western Front , the 10th ' s MLEs began to be phased out by the SMLE in early 1915 — a process that would not be entirely complete until 1916 . Structurally different from their regular counterparts , territorial battalions were reorganised early in the war to conform with the regulars . Unlike the Regular Army , which had adopted a four - company system in 1913 , territorial battalions were organised into eight companies . When the system was extended to the Liverpool Scottish , the battalion designated its consolidated companies " V " , " X , " Y " , and " Z " . This contrasted with the more conventional " A " to " D " or " 1 " to " 4 " — considered by the battalion to be potentially confusing . The battalion ' s first major engagement happened on 16 June 1915 , at Hooge , east of Ypres . The 9th Brigade , with the 7th Brigade in support , was chosen to conduct a three - phased attack with the ultimate intention being to reach trenches on the south - western edge of Bellewaarde Lake . Situated behind German lines was Bellewaarde Ridge , a tactically - important feature that overlooked British positions . At 0415 , the first wave of troops moved on their objective and quickly secured the first - line trenches , which continued to be shelled by British artillery . The Liverpool Scottish and 1st Lincolnshire Regiment , forming the second wave , then left their trenches to pass through the first wave of attackers and reach the German second - line . Although the advance was relatively unopposed , " V " Company encountered resistance on its front from machine - gun fire . After briefly suspending its advance , the company , reinforced by " Z " , charged the opposing positions and took about forty prisoners . On capturing the second - line , elements of the Liverpool Scottish decided to consolidate the shallow trenches that afforded little protection . The battle had quickly degenerated into a disorganised and chaotic affair , with British battalions losing cohesion and becoming mixed up with each other . An intensive German barrage decimated the occupants of the second - line trenches , while the 10th ' s temporary commanding officer , Lieutenant - Colonel E . G . Thin , was wounded by gunfire . The remainder of the Liverpool Scottish continued onto the third - line with portions of the Royal Scots Fusiliers and 1st Northumberland Fusiliers . Consolidating the third - line proved difficult under relentless bombardment and determined opposition from the uncaptured right of the trench system . Some of the Liverpool Scottish nevertheless impulsively carried on beyond the third - line , towards a position called Dead Man ' s Bottom and probable death . The battalion ' s left flank became compromised in the afternoon by the retreat of the surviving Northumberland Fusiliers . The Liverpool Scottish eventually retreated first to the second - line , then to the more viable entrechments of the former German frontline . The battle persisted into the night , and abortive attempts were made by the Germans to retake the first - line trenches . For about of gained territory , the Liverpool Scottish had suffered heavy casualties : 79 killed , 212 wounded , and 109 missing from a pre - battle strength of 542 officers and other ranks . A memorial to this battle was erected in the area in 2000 . An experienced Company - Quartermaster Sergeant , R . A . Scott Macfie , described the aftermath at camp in a letter to his father : 1916 – 1917 . The West Lancashire Division reformed in January 1916 as the 55th , under the command of Major - General Hugh Jeudwine . Many of the division ' s original constituent battalions returned and the Liverpool Scottish joined the 166th Brigade . Before being committed to the Somme Offensive in July 1916 , the 55th had concentrated in the Amiens area . The Liverpool Scottish moved to the Somme in mid - July and relieved the 18th King ' s near Montauban on the 31st . After spending six days under constant artillery fire undertaking auxiliary duties in the vicinity of Bernafay and Trônes Woods , the Liverpool Scottish moved to Mansel Copse in preparation for an assault on Guillemont . The village had already been subjected to two attacks since the opening battles of the Somme . At 0420 on 8 August , brigades from the 2nd and 55th divisions began a concerted effort to take Guillemont . The operation failed with resultingly heavy losses . Despite that , the Liverpool Irish and part of the 1st King ' s managed to enter Guillemont , but became isolated . More than 700 men from the two battalions were killed , wounded , or missing , many becoming prisoners of war . Amid reports that the Liverpool Irish were holding out in Guillemont , orders were issued for the 55th Division to renew the attack the next day . Resuming the battle on the night of the 8th had been considered before the decision to attack in the early hours of the 9th . The Liverpool Scottish , which had been in reserve on the 8th , was to advance along a front of with the 1 / 5th Loyals on its left flank , penetrate the German frontline , and establish itself on Guillemont ' s eastern boundary . In the prelude to the battle , the Liverpool Scottish waited behind lines , constantly moving to avoid sporadic German bombardment . Further difficulties arose for the battalion when it attempted to navigate to its starting positions through unfamiliar territory , compounded at one stage by the absence of guides . While the battalion reached its destination at 0400 , just 20 minutes before the attack was to begin , the Loyals did not arrive until an hour later . Final orders were received late , giving Colonel Davidson only minutes to brief his company commanders . A five - minute artillery bombardment preceded " Zero " hour , which provoked an immediate counter - barrage . At 0420 , the Liverpool Scottish went over the top from the same positions that the 164th Brigade had the previous day . The barrage enveloped the Liverpool Scottish in no man ' s land , which , combined with machine - gun fire , stifled the battalion ' s progress . Lieutenant - Colonel Davidson personally rallied his battalion , seeking to regain momemtum , but was wounded during the repulsed attack . Two further attempts by the remnants of the battalion to reach the frontline yielded no success . Few had entered the German trenches , the majority having been obstructed by uncut barbed wire . Of the 20 officers and about 600 other ranks engaged at Guillemont , 74 had been killed , 174 were wounded , and 32 were unaccounted for . Most of the missing would later be confirmed killed . Another attempt was made days later by the 1 / 9th King ' s . The village would not be captured until September . Among the wounded was Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse , attached to the Liverpool Scottish from the Royal Army Medical Corps , who was awarded the Victoria Cross . He became the battalion ' s first and only recipient , and had previously been awarded the Military Cross for his conduct at Hooges . In the subsequent battles of Ginchy and Morval , the 1 / 10th was engaged in a purely supporting role : trench networks were constructed and improved near Delville Wood , and the dead collected and buried . A party of two officers and 100 other ranks was attached to the Third West Lancashire Field Ambulance during the Battle of Morval . After bivouacking at Pont Rémy , the battalion transferred with its division to the relatively quiet Ypres Salient in October . The routine of alternating between the front line , being in support , and in reserve preoccupied the battalion until the Third Battle of Ypres in July 1917 . Casualties were nevertheless sustained by the battalion during this period , invariably as a result of shelling and sniping . The battalion was subsequently returned to the Ypres salient , positioned at Wieltje . On 31 July 1917 , a new offensive around Ypres was launched to try to penetrate the German lines , advance to the Belgian coast and capture German submarine bases . The Liverpool Scottish experienced some of the heaviest resistance in 166th Brigade ' s area , taking heavy losses around the fortified farms . The battalion remained in some captured German trenches until they were relieved on 3 August . Captain Chavasse died of wounds the next day having again tended to wounded soldiers . His actions earned him a posthumous Bar to his Victoria Cross , one of only three men to be so decorated , and the sole double recipient of the First World War . In September the Scottish moved south to Epehy , thirteen miles south of Cambrai , where its division took part in the Battle of Cambrai in November . 1918 . On 21 March 1918 , the Central Powers launched their expected Spring Offensive ( Operation Michael ) , signifying the beginning of Germany ' s final attempt to achieve a decisive victory before significant American forces arrived on the Western Front . By the 25th , substantial gains in territory had been made in the direction of Amiens . Although prepared for a possible attack , the Liverpool Scottish and the 55th Division did not participate in the desperate Allied defence until the next phase of the offensive , Operation Georgette . Begun on 9 April , Operation Georgette shifted the focus to the devastated town of Ypres , in Flanders . The bombardment which preceded the attack was of considerable scale and included phosgene gas shells , causing severe casualties among the Liverpool Scottish . The Liverpool Scottish were involved in the defence of the Givenchy sector during the Battle of Estaires , sustaining such losses that they absorbed the 2 / 10th Battalion that had landed in France in February 1917 . After the Spring Offensive was halted , the Western Front entered its final phase — a series of Allied drives from August to November known as the Hundred Days Offensive . The Liverpool Scottish fought one of its last actions of the war , at La Bassée Canal , in October . The final month of the war offered little respite to the battalion . In the days leading up to the Armistice of 11 November , the Liverpool Scottish helped to secure numerous villages without opposition and crossed the River Scheldt on 9 November . On the day of the Armistice , the Liverpool Scottish were situated at Villers - Notre - Dame . With the 165th and 166th brigades , the battalion had been readied to assault German positions obstructing passage into the town of Ath . Such a prospect was averted , however , when the 2 / 5th Lancashire Fusiliers attacked and seized one of the bridges before it could be demolished . Interbellum and Second World War . Following reconstitution into the Territorial Army in 1920 , the Liverpool Scottish formalised its relationship with the Queen ' s Own Cameron Highlanders and transferred in 1937 to become the regiment ' s second territorial battalion . In comparison to the densely urbanised region that the King ' s Regiment encompassed in north - west England , the Cameron Highlanders area of recruitment in the Highlands was sparsely populated . Although it had its numerical designation omitted , the battalion ' s identity was preserved and headquarters at Fraser Street , Liverpool were retained . During a royal visit to Liverpool in 1938 , George VI presented the battalion with new colours at Everton Football Club ' s Goodison Park stadium . After the Territorial Army began to expand following a Government announcement in March 1939 , the Liverpool Scottish formed a second battalion . Mobilisation was later authorised , but both battalions would remain in Britain for the duration of the Second World War . The 2nd Battalion converted to artillery in 1942 as the 89th Anti - Tank Regiment , Royal Artillery . In addition , the Liverpool Scottish supplied drafts to other units , principally to the Cameron Highlanders , and formed contingents for the embryonic " Independent Companies " that became the Army " Commandos " . The Liverpool Scottish contributed a troop to the composite No . 4 Independent Company , which also contained troops from the King ' s Regiment and South Lancashires , collectively under the command of Major J . R . Paterson — an officer from the Scottish . Formed on 21 April 1940 , at Sizewell , the company soon after embarked aboard the " Ulster Prince " , bound for Norway to join the Allied campaign against Germany . After landing in early May , No . 4 Company relieved a French force and occupied positions near Mosjoen . The company , in conjunction with others , operated under the aegis of Scisserforce , commanded by Brigadier Colin Gubbins . When a German landing cut off Mosjoen from the north on 11 May , No . 4 Company had to be evacuated by a Norwegian steamer and transported to Sandnessjøen , then to Bodø with No . 5 Company . By the 24th , Allied troops had established a line of defence near the town of Pothus to facilitate the defence of Bodø against Germany ' s northern advance . While his forces were engaged in battle , Brigadier Gubbins was informed that the British Government had decided to evacuate northern Norway . The withdrawal of Allied forces commenced on 29 May , with Nos . 1 and 4 Companies being embarked on two destroyers carrying other passengers , including administrative personnel and wounded . After returning to Britain , the Liverpool Scottish troop obtained approval from the Government to readopt the kilt as an integral part of its Battle Dress . The Commando units and the independent companies consolidated later in the year into " Special Service " battalions , administered by a single brigade . For various reason , the system proved unpopular and in 1941 the battalions were sub - divided , reverting to distinct Commando units . The 1st Special Service Battalion , which had absorbed No . 4 Company , became Nos . 1 and 2 Commando - the later including a number of the Liverpool Scottish , designated as 5 Troop . In March 1942 , the troop participated with 2 Commando in the raid on St Nazaire , codenamed Operation Chariot . Conceived to neutralise the western French port as an Atlantic sanctuary for the battleship " Tirpitz " , Operation Chariot involved 611 men , the antiquated lend - lease destroyer " Campbeltown " , and numerous small craft . The " Campbeltown " was converted into a platform designed to deliver of explosives , and her appearance was reconfigured to resemble a German destroyer . Post - war . The 1st Scottish deployed to the garrison of Gibraltar in 1945 . Conversion to motorised infantry occurred in 1947 ; however , the battalion soon reverted to a standard infantry role . Economic constraints and alignment towards nuclear weapons and other military technology necessitated the reorganisation and rationalisation of the Territorial Army in the 1960s . Most battalions were reduced to cadre - strength or disbanded . Although the Liverpool Scottish avoided extinction , the battalion disbanded and reconstituted into two separate infantry and artillery units : " V " Company , 51st Highland Volunteers , and " G " Troop of " R " ( King ' s ) Company , The West Lancashire Regiment , RA . Both maintained their headquarters at Forbes House , Score Lane , in Childwall , Liverpool . While the troop disbanded with " R " Battery in 1969 , the company remained an integral component of the 51st Highland until 1992 . During company exercises in Cyprus in 1974 , Greek Cypriots seeking enosis with Greece deposed the island ' s government - an action illicitly supported by the Greek Junta and followed by the Turkish invasion . Unable to intervene in the ethnic conflict , the Liverpool Scottish were eventually evacuated from Akamas , through Greek - controlled territory , to the British base at Akrotiri . Post - Cold War restructuring incorporated " V " Company into the 5th / 8th ( Volunteer ) Battalion of the King ' s Regiment , successor to the King ' s Regiment ( Liverpool ) . Further reorganisation in 1999 reduced the Scottish to a platoon of A ( King ' s ) Company , King ' s and Cheshire Regiment . The platoon relocated to Townsend Avenue , Norris Green , where territorial infantry in Liverpool are concentrated . In 2006 , the King ' s Regiment amalgamated with two others to become the Duke of Lancaster ' s Regiment . The regiment ' s 4th Battalion was formed by the integration of the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers with the King ' s companies of the King ' s and Cheshire Regiment . The Liverpool Scottish Platoon remained a part of the retitled " A " ( Ladysmith ) Company . Individuals from the platoon have been attached to other units deployed on operational tours in Bosnia , Afghanistan , and Iraq .