The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at numbering in the two regular battalions of The Black Watch between 1881 and 1914. Service records for all of the sample numbers and dates below survive in the series WO 363 and WO 364 at the National Archives (and also online at Ancestry.co.uk) and WO 97 (on line courtesy of Find My Past).

In fact, there are over 28,000 Black Watch pension and service records (for this regiment - and its antecedents) in various War Office series held at the National Archives. Clicking on the link will take you to the results on Findmypast but you will need a subscription or Pay-Per-View credits to actually view the records. Some of these records can also be viewed on-line on Ancestry although Findmypast has by far the most comprehensive service record collection.

Use the regimental numbers and dates on which these were issued, below, to determine parameters for when your own Black Watch ancestor would have joined up. Note though that these numbers are only for regular enlistments. Special Reserve and Territorial Force battalions operated completely separate regimental number sequences.

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) was formed on the 1st July 1881; the 1st Battalion from the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot (The Black Watch), and the 2nd Battalion from the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot. The newly formed regiment was established as the county regiment for Fifeshire, Forfarshire and Perthshire. It started numbering from 1 in July 1881.

22 joined on 14th July 1881
1152 joined on 18th February 1882
2074 joined on 22nd March 1883
2222 joined on 16th January 1884
2566 joined on 8th January 1885
2852 joined on 5th January 1886
3177 joined on 2nd February 1887
3658 joined on 19th January 1888
3882 joined on 16th May 1889
4049 joined on 11th March 1890
4530 joined on 22nd April 1891
4962 joined on 28th March 1892
5290 joined on 4th July 1893
5460 joined on 8th January 1894
5916 joined on 28th January 1895
6359 joined on 25th February 1896
6642 joined on 18th March 1897
6874 joined on 13th January 1898
7226 joined on 14th March 1899
7228 joined on 27th February 1900

During the South African War the Black Watch raised three Volunteer Service Companies. Men joining the 1st VSC in January 1900 were issued numbers in continuance of the series then in use for the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions and not allowing the clear one thousand digit gap that had been stipulated in AO 29 of the 2nd January that year. Numbers in the range 7540 to 7666 were issued to these men and on the 17th February 1900, the 1st VSC comprising three officers: Captain Cook, Lieutenant Hunter and Lieutenant McArthur,and 114 men embarked aboard SS Gascon for South Africa.

Men joining the 2nd VSC were issued numbers from within a wide range of numbers which I had originally noted as within the range 8522 to 9024. More work needed here.

Men joining the 3rd VSC in January 1902 were issued numbers between 9083 and 9176.

Meanwhile, numbering of regular enlistments in the regular battalions continued apace:

8083 joined on 16th January 1901
8525 joined on 2nd January 1902
9424 joined on 13th January 1903
9735 joined on 11th January 1904
9999 enlisted on 29th September 1904

A new number series commences
Queen’s regulations for the Army, 1895 had stated: “The regimental series of numbers will commence with 1. The numbers will be given in sequence, according to the date of application. When the series approaches 9,999, application should be made to the Adjutant-General in sufficient time to obtain authority to commence a new series.” The new King’s Regulations of 1904 which permitted infantry regiments to number up to 19,999 came too late for the Black Watch which reached 9,999 in September 1904 and immediately started a new series from 1.

12 enlisted 2nd October 1904
182 joined on 20th March 1905
495 joined on 18th January 1906
876 joined on 5th April 1907
1243 joined on 30th March 1908
1580 joined on 28th January 1909
1791 joined on 4th February 1910
1955 joined on 6th January 1911
2333 joined on 10th April 1912
2560 joined on 18th August 1913
2652 joined on 20th January 1914

The First World War
When Britain went to war in August 1914, men joining the new service battalions were issued with numbers from the same series that had, up until that point, been the sole preserve of the regiment’s two regular battalions. The only difference between men enlisting for war-time service only and those enlisting as career soldiers, was that the former’s numbers were supposed to be prefixed with the letter S/.

Recruitment rates 1881-1911

Between 1st July 1881 and 22nd April 1891, The Black Watch recruited 4,530 men, a very high average of 461 men each year. Of the sixty-nine infantry regiments recruiting at this time, The Black Watch was the most successful Scottish regiment and the third most successful infantry recruiter over all.

The following decade though, was not so kind. Recruiting dipped to a yearly average of 364 men with the Black Watch recruiting nearly a thousand men less than it had done the in the 1880s. Between the 22nd April 1891 and 16th January 1901, the regiment recruited 3,553 men.

Recruitment picked up again in the early years of the twentieth century. The Black Watch added 3871 men to its books between January 1901 and January 1913 and finished the decade as the thirteenth most successful British Army infantry recruiter.

1st Battalion stations 1881-1914

1881 Edinburgh
1882 Egypt
1885 Sudan
1889 Malta
1892 Gibraltar
1893 Egypt
1893 Mauritius (half battalion)
1893 South Africa (half battalion)
1897 Subathu (entire battalion)
1899 Sitapur
1901 South Africa
1902 Edinburgh
1904 Fort George
1906 Curragh
1908 Limerick
1911 Edinburgh
1912 Aldershot
1914 France & Flanders (from August)

2nd Battalion stations 1881-1914
1881 Portsmouth
1884 Aldershot
1889 Belfast
1892 Limerick
1894 Glasgow
1897 York
1899 South Africa
1902 Umballa
1905 Solon
1906 Dalhousie
1908 Barian (northern Punjab)
1911 Calcutta
1914 Bareilly
1914 France & Flanders (from October)

The photo

I've borrowed the image on this post from the Royal Highlanders website and I hope this acknowledgement will be sufficient to permit me to re-publish it here. It shows those men of the 3rd (Dundee Highland) Volunteer Battalion who served with the 1st VSC during the 2nd South African War. The men are named as follows:

Rear (left to right) - Private J. Kelly, Private J. Gray, Private A. Greig, Bugler A. Chalmers, Private J. Duncan, and Private H. Harris.

Middle (left to right) - Lance Corporal D. Florence, Private J. Jack, Private W. Cosgrove, Private J. Cameron, Private H. Low, Lance Corporal A. Malcolm.

Front (left to right) - Corporal J. Burt, Lance Sergeant G. Brander, Sergeant J. Gegan, Lieutenant Harry Kebel Smith (Dundee), Lance Sergeant L. Bisset, Corporal W. Carnegie, Corporal W. Donaldson.

Not Shown - Private E. S. High, Private T. Sprunt, Private J. G. Sweeney, and Private D. T. Thomson.

I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.

Further Reading

History of the Black Watch in the Great War 1914-1918

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), entered the Great War with two regular, one Special Reserve battalion (the 3rd) and four Territorial Force (TF) battalions (4th to 7th). By the end of the war the total had grown to twenty-two battalions (Becke), twenty-five according to the History's foreword. Thirty thousand served in the Regiment in France, Belgium, Salonika, Palestine and Mesopotamia and of these 8,390 died. The Regiment was awarded 69 Battle Honours. Three VCs were won and a fourth was awarded to a Black Watch officer in 1917 whilst he was commanding the 1st Lincolnshire Regiment.

This three-volume history is outstanding. Vol 1 deals with the Regular and the Special Reserve battalions, Vol 2 the TF battalions and Vol 3 the New Army (Service or Kitchener) battalions. Common to all three volumes are the Preface, Foreword (by the Colonel of the Regiment) and the page listing the Regiment's Battle Honours. In each volume the battalions are treated separately and for all the front line battalions, following the narrative describing their war service there are the same six appendices: Record of Officers' Service, Summary of Casualties, Officer casualty list, Other Rank casualty list, Honours and Awards and finally the list of Actions and Operations. In Volume 1 there is a seventh appendix to the 1st and 2nd Battalion narratives - a list of Other Ranks of each battalion who were commissioned during the war. In the case of the TF the second and third line battalions, which did not leave the UK, all are dealt with together. There is a bonus in Volume 2; at the end there is a section on the Royal Highlanders of Canada represented by the 13th, 42nd and 73rd Canadian Infantry Battalions, giving a brief account of their actions with appendices showing for each battalion a summary of killed, list of Honours and Awards and list of Actions and Operations. As regimental histories go, this is as detailed as they come.

Note. Original sets of these books sell for upwards of £200 which makes these modern re-prints something of a bargain.

With a Highland Regiment in Mesopotamia (2nd Battalion)

On the outbreak of  the First World War, the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch was stationed in Bareilly, India, where it had been since the end of the Boer War. On mobilization it formed part of the Bareilly Brigade of the 7th (Meerut) Division and went to France with the Indian Corps, landing in France in October 1914. At the end of 1915 the Indian Corps was withdrawn from France and sent to Mesopotamia where the battalion arrived on the last day of 1915< Before the week was out it was in action at Shaikh Saad (6th-8th Jan 1916) where it had some 60 killed. The Official History speaks of 400 casualties in the battalion.

This account covers about 18 months, to the capture of Samarrah on 24th April 1917 when the winter campaign of 1916-17 came to an end. There are not many battalion histories dealing solely with the war in Mesopotamia (there was only one British division in that theatre, the 13th) and that makes this narrative interesting, not only from the point of view of the numerous actions in which the battalion was involved, but also because of the descriptions of the country, the inhabitants and the conditions in which they fought - the casualty lists shows disease, heat stroke and suffocation among the causes of death.

Two of the chapters consist of articles written by the CO. The full casualty roll of the other ranks is given from 1st Jan 1916 to 15th Jun 1917 with the names arranged in regimental number order, starting with 72 Sgt T.Archer. It shows the date, cause and place of death and place of burial; many of these are shown as on the battlefield with grid reference. There is also a full list of officers who served in the battalion showing in each case dates of movements such as date and place of embarkation and disembarkation, date of any casualty.

The Royal Highland Regiment, The Black Watch, Formerly 42nd and 73rd Foot, medal roll 1801-1911

This is an extremely useful resource for historians, medallists and genealogists. Here are nominal rolls of officers and men of the two regiments present at the various campaigns and battles for which medals were awarded. Prior to 1881 they were two separate regiments and the lists are shown under 42nd and 73rd Foot. In 1881 they became the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Black Watch and are listed accordingly.

This detailed record Covers the Peninsula War and Waterloo and continues with the Kaffir Wars, Crimean War, Indian Mutiny, Gold Coast, Egypt, Suakin, Sudan and on to South Africa (1899-1902). Where there were clasps awarded for battles in a campaign the entitlement to a particular clasp is shown. A remarks/comments column provides additional information on individuals such as deaths, casualties, discharges, desertions, forfeitures. Victoria Cross awards (with citations), and those of the DSO, DCM, MSM and LSGC constitute separate lists as do awards to Volunteers and Territorials. Also included are the affiliated Royal Highlanders of Canada (5th Regiment) and the New South Wales Scottish Rifle Regiment.