Editing Black Watch (section)

=====9th (Service) Battalion=====
The 9th (Service) Battalion was raised from an initial draft of 200 men sent from [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] to join the 8th (Service) Battalion at [[Aldershot Garrison|Aldershot]] on 6 September 1914. As the 8th Battalion was already fully manned, permission was granted to form a second unit from the drafts reaching the 8th Battalion between 6 September and 9 September, forming part of Kitchener's K2 Army. This became the 9th (Service) Battalion under the command of Major T.O. Lloyd, an ex-regular Black Watch officer who had retired from 1st Battalion in 1909.<ref name=wau>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |pages=107–113 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref>

The new battalion lacked experienced officers and [[John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill|Lord Sempill]], the Commanding Officer of 8th Battalion, consented to transfer one of his three regular officers to 9th Battalion to act as Adjutant. At company level, almost all of the officers were newly commissioned Second Lieutenants with no prior military experience. The same was true of the non-commissioned officers, with the exception of the RSM, two former Colour Sergeants and a few old and bold ex soldiers, all NCO's were new to the army and promoted to acting rank on the recommendation of their company commander.<ref name=wau/>

September to November was spent training at Albuhera Barracks in Aldershot, where on 26 September the battalion paraded for the first time as a complete unit in front of the King, Queen and Lord Kitchener as part of the [[44th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|44th Brigade]] in the [[15th (Scottish) Infantry Division|15th (Scottish) Division]]. On this first formal parade, all of the division wore civilian clothes as uniforms had yet to be issued; it was not until the middle of October that the men were all dressed alike. and kilts did not arrive until 20 January 1915. by which time the battalion had taken up billets in the village of [[Liss, Hampshire|Liss]] in Hampshire. On 23 February 1915, the battalion moved to [[Chiseldon Camp]] in Wiltshire and commenced musketry training on 1 March; at this point only 25 service rifles were available. 12 May 1915 saw the battalion move with the rest of the [[44th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|44th Brigade]] to Parkhouse Camp in the [[Salisbury Plain Training Area]] to conduct brigade manoeuvres. The King inspected the 15th Division a second time on 21 June 1915 and was greatly impressed at the progress made in such a short space of time.<ref name=wau/>

On 4 July 1915, the battalion received embarkation orders for France. The machine gun and transport sections led the way and departed Parkhouse Camp on 7 July sailing on the {{SS|Mount Temple}} that night from [[Southampton]] to Le Havre. The bulk of the battalion left Parkhouse early on 8 July, sailing on the SS ''Invicta'' from [[Folkestone]] and arriving in [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne]] that same evening.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |page=114 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref> The 9th (Service) Battalion first entered the trenches on 2 August 1915 when it relieved 23rd/24th Battalions of the [[London Regiment (1908-1938)|London Regiment]] in a section of the line East of Maroc and opposite the famous 'Double Crassier'.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |page=117 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref> The battalion was in turn relieved on 9 August 1915 by 10th Battalion [[Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)|Scottish Rifles]]. To their credit, the battalion suffered no casualties during this first introduction to trench warfare.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |page=118 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref> On 25 September 1915. the battalion went in to action at the [[Battle of Loos]] where it suffered severe losses in two days of hard fighting. Of the 940 officers and men who went into action on 25 September, only 98 returned to their billets when the battalion was relieved by [[21st Division (United Kingdom)|21st Division]] on 26 September. The battalion lost a total of 701 men at Loos: 11 officers killed and 10 wounded with 360 other ranks killed or missing and 320 wounded.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |page=127 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref>

The 9th (Service) Battalion spent the rest of the war in the trenches of the Western Front and took part in a number of key battles.

*1916 – [[Battle of Delville Wood]], [[Battle of Flers-Courcelette]]
*1917 – [[Battle of Arras (1917)|First battle of the Scarpe]], [[Battle of Arras (1917)|Second Battle of the Scarpe]], [[Battle of Pilckem Ridge]], [[Battle of the Menin Road Ridge]]
*1918 – [[Operation Michael|First Battle of Bapaume]], [[Operation Michael|First Battle of Arras]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |page=201 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref>

On 11 May 1918, the original 9th (Service) Battalion left the line for the final time and was merged with the 4/5th Territorial Battalion. This amalgamation was part of measures taken to address the drain on manpower across the British Army.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Two: Territorial Force |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |page=97 |isbn=978-1-84734-572-1}}</ref> Whilst the bulk of the 9th went to the 4/5th a small training cadre of 10 officers and 51 other ranks remained and were initially employed training newly arrived American troops. Later that month the cadre returned to Aldershot where they spent two months raising and training a new unit which became 2/9th (Service) Battalion assigned to the [[47th Brigade (United Kingdom)|47th Brigade]], [[16th (Irish) Division]]. The 2/9th left [[Aldershot Garrison|Aldershot]] on 30 July 1918 sailing from Folkestone to Boulogne and reaching billets at Hodecq the following day. The next eighteen days were spent training before 2/9th entered the battle area at [[Noeux-les-Mines]] on 19 August 1918 where it relieved the 1st Battalion. On 21 August the battalion proceeded by rail to Sailly-Labourse where it supported the [[Leicester Town Rifles|14th Leicesters]] and [[welch Regiment|18th Welch]] holding the line in the Hohenzollern Sector. On 2 September 1918, the battalion was involved in a costly trench raid losing 31 men. The battalion advanced with the 16th Division until 20 October 1918 when it was assigned the task of repairing roads around Escoeuilles where it was when the armistice was declared on 11 November 1918. Following the armistice, the battalion started the process of demobilization and found itself at [[Fretin]] by 27 November 1918 where it remained until Spring 1919 when it was reduced to cadre strength and moved to Pont-a-Marcq. The cadre returned to Scotland in July 1919 where the 2/9th was finally disbanded.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |pages=174–175 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref> During active service between 1915 and 1918 the battalion lost 140 officers (46 killed/88 wounded/6 missing) and 2,899 other ranks (645 killed/2,029 wounded/225 missing).<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |page=186 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref> The bravery of the 9th is reflected in the number of gallantry decorations awarded, including 3 [[Distinguished Service Order]]s, 28 [[Military Cross]]es, 7 [[Distinguished Conduct Medal]]s, 2 [[Meritorious Service Medal (United Kingdom)|Meritorious Service Medals]] and 65 [[Military Medal]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wauchope |first=Arthur Grenfell |author-link=Arthur Grenfell Wauchope |date=1925 |title=A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in The Great War, 1914-1918, Volume Three: New Army |location=Eastbounre |publisher=Antony Rowe Ltd |pages=198–199 |isbn=978-1-84734-573-8}}</ref>