Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a command of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

History

Early history

Great Britain was divided into

military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and ...

s on the outbreak of war with France in 1793. The Scottish District was commanded by the Commander-in-Chief, Scotland. In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in Great Britain and Ireland’ was published, with the ‘Active Army’ divided into eight army corps based on the District Commands. 8th Corps was to be formed within Scottish Command, based at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. This scheme disappeared in 1881, when the districts were retitled ‘District Commands.

Early twentieth century

The 1901 Army Estimates introduced by St John Brodrick allowed for six army corps based on six regional commands. As outlined in a paper published in 1903, VI Corps was to be formed in a reconstituted Scottish Command, with HQ at Edinburgh. Lieutenant General Sir Charles Tucker was appointed acting General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOCinC) of VI Corps in April 1903. Scottish Command was established in 1905 at

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

but moved to Craigiehall in 1955.

First World War

Army Order No 324, issued on 21 August 1914, authorised the formation of a 'New Army' of six Divisions, manned by volunteers who had responded to Earl Kitchener's appeal (hence the First New Army was known as 'K1'). Each division was to be under the administration of one of the Home Commands, and Scottish Command formed what became the

9th (Scottish) Division The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War. A ...

. It was followed by

15th (Scottish) Division The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served in the First World War. The 15th (Scottish) Division was formed from men volunteering for Kitchener's Army, and served from 1915 to 1918 on the West ...

of K2 in September 1914. The 64th (2nd Highland) Division was established in the Command by 1915 after the departure of

51st (Highland) Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

for France.

Second World War

In September 1939 consisted of Highland Area with

9th (Highland) Infantry Division The 9th (Highland) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army, formed just prior to the start of the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Nazi Germany, Germany as a significant mil ...

and 51st (Highland) Infantry Division, and Lowland Area with 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division and

52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Low ...

, plus other troops.Leo Niehorster
Scottish Command
Retrieved December 2008 By 1940 during the Battle of Britain the command was responsible to

Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces was a senior officer in the British Army during the First and Second World Wars. The role of the appointment was firstly to oversee the training and equipment of formations in preparation for their deployment o ...

. As France was capitulating, General

Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause for Polish ...

. the Polish commander-in-chief and prime minister, was able to evacuate many Polish troops—probably over 20,000—to the United Kingdom.Wojsko Polskie we Francji
Świat Polonii. Various sources give estimates that can differ by a few percent. After initially regrouping in southern Scotland James Dunnigan, Albert Nofi; ''Dirty Little Secrets of World War II: Military Information No One Told You By'', HarperCollins, 1996,
Google Print, p.139
/ref> these Polish ground units (as I Corps, comprising the 1st Independent Rifle Brigade, the 10th Motorised Cavalry Brigade (as infantry) and cadre brigades largely manned by surplus officers at battalion strength) took over responsibility in October 1940 for the defence of the counties of

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

and

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * Angu ...

; this included reinforcing coastal defences that had already been started. I Corps was under the direct command of Scottish Command. While in this area the Corps was reorganised and expanded.Diana M. Henderson, ''The Lion and the Eagle: Polish Second World War Veterans in Scotland'', Cualann Press, 2001,

Post War

In 1950, the 51st/52nd (Scottish) Division was split, restoring the independence of the 52nd Lowland Division, which took regional command of Territorial Army units based in the Scottish Lowlands, including the Territorial infantry battalions of the Lowland Brigade regiments. In 1948, the 9th Special Communications Unit was formed in Forfar administered by Scottish Command. The 30th Armoured Brigade was reformed in Scotland after the war as a fully Territorial Army formation, known as the

30th (Lowland) Independent Armoured Brigade The 30th Armoured Brigade was an armoured formation of the British Army that served in Western Europe Campaign as part of the 79th Armoured Division. After the reformation of the Territorial Army in 1947, the brigade was re-created within the ...

. It was headquartered in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

In 1955, Headquarters Scottish Command moved into modern facilities at Craigiehall, close to Cramond, around 9 km (5.6 mi) west of central

. At this time, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief had 92 separate locations under his command, with 2,500 regular service men and women and 8,800 members of the Territorial Army, representing 14% of the total across the UK. The Command was merged into HQ United Kingdom Land Forces (HQ UKLF) in 1972 and the headquarters in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

was downgraded to the status of a district, known as Army Headquarters Scotland. Scotland continued to have district status until 2000 when the last General Officer Commanding Scotland stood down and the Army HQ Scotland was replaced by HQ 2nd Infantry Division with control of troops in Scotland and the North of England.

General Officers Commanding

Commanders-in-Chief have included:

Commander-in-Chief, Scottish Army

* 1661–1663: John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton * 1663–1667: John Leslie, 7th Earl of Rothes * 1667–1674: George Livingston, 3rd Earl of Linlithgow (acting) * 1674–1677: Sir George Munro * 1677–1679: George Livingston, 3rd Earl of Linlithgow * 1679–1679:

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, KG, PC (9 April 1649 – 15 July 1685) was a Dutch-born English nobleman and military officer. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherla ...

and Buccleuch * 1679–1685: Thomas Dalyell * 1685–1685: George Douglas, 1st Earl of Dumbarton * 1685–1688: William Drummond, 1st Viscount StrathallanCharles Dalton,
The Scots army, 1661–1688, with memoirs of the commanders-in-chief
' (London, 1909). * 1688–1688: James Douglas * 1689–1690: Hugh Mackay * 1690–1697: Sir Thomas Livingstone, Viscount Teviot

Commander-in-Chief, Scotland (or North Britain)

* 1702–1705: George Ramsay * 1706–1710: David Melville, 3rd Earl of Leven * 1710–1712: David Colyear, 1st Earl of Portmore * 1712–1716:

John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll Field Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich, (10 October 1680 – 4 October 1743), styled Lord Lorne from 1680 to 1703, was a Scottish nobleman and senior commander in the British Army. He served on the continen ...

* 1716–1724: George Carpenter, 1st Baron Carpenter * 1724–1740: George Wade * ... * 1743–1745: Sir John Cope * 1745–1745: Roger Handasyd * 1745–1746:

Henry Hawley Henry Hawley (12 January 1685 – 24 March 1759) was a British army officer who served in the wars of the first half of the 18th century. He fought in a number of significant battles, including the Capture of Vigo in 1719, Dettingen, F ...

(

Prince William, Duke of Cumberland Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S./nowiki> – 31 October 1765) was the third and youngest son of Great Britain and Kingdom of Irel ...

in overall command) * 1746–1747: William Anne Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle * 1747–1752: Humphrey Bland * 1752–1753: George Churchill * 1753–1756: Humphrey Bland * 1756–1767: Lord George Beauclerk * 1767–1778:

John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, (6 August 1845 – 2 May 1914), usually better known by the courtesy title Marquess of Lorne, by which he was known between 1847 and 1900, was a British nobleman who wa ...

* 1778–1780: Sir James Adolphus Oughton * 1780–1787: Alexander Mackay * ... * 1789–1798:

Lord Adam Gordon Major Lord Adam Granville Gordon (1 March 1909 – 5 July 1984) was a British royal courtier. Gordon was the second son of Lt.-Col. Granville Cecil Douglas Gordon (1883–1930), who was later an equerry to the Duke of Connaught, and Violet ...

* 1798–1799: Sir Ralph Abercromby * ... * 1803–1806: Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira * 1806–1812: William Cathcart, 1st Viscount Cathcart * 1812–1816:

Henry Wynyard General Henry Wynyard (8 June 1761 – 3 April 1838) was a British Army officer who became Commander-in-Chief, Scotland. Military career Wynyard was commissioned as an ensign in the First Regiment of Footguards on 6 June 1778. He took pa ...

* 1816–1819: Sir John Hope * 1819–1825: Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Bradford * 1825–1830: Lieutenant-General Sir Robert O'Callaghan * 1830–1837: General Patrick Stuart * 1837–1842: General Lord Greenock * 1842–1847: Lieutenant-General Sir Neil Douglas * 1847–1852: General

Henry Riddell General Henry James Riddell KH (died 8 March 1861) was a British Army officer who became Commander-in-Chief, Scotland. Military career Riddell was commissioned in 1798 and took part in the Battle of Copenhagen in August 1807 during the Nap ...

* 1852–1854: General Sir Thomas Napier * 1854–1860: General Viscount Melville * 1860–1861: Major-General Duncan Cameron * 1861–1867: Major-General

Edward Forestier-Walker General Sir Edward Walter Forestier-Walker (born Walker; 18 February 1812 – 27 July 1881) was a British Army officer who became Commander-in-Chief, Scotland. Early life Sir Edward was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Gen. Frederick Nathaniel ...

Commanding the troops in the North British District

* 1868–1873: Major-General Randal Rumley * 1873–1875: Major-General

Sir John Douglas ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

* 1875–1878: Major-General John Stuart * 1878–1880: Major-General Robert Bruce * 1880–1881: Major-General

William Hope William Hope may refer to: *William Johnstone Hope (1766–1831), prominent and controversial British Royal Navy officer and politician *Sir William Hope, 14th Baronet (1819–1898), British Army officer * William Hope (VC) (1834–1909), Scottish ...

* 1881–1885: Major-General Alastair Macdonald * 1885–1888: Major-General Alexander Elliot * 1888–1893: Major-General Sir Arthur Lyttelton-Annesley

Commanding the troops in the Scottish District

* 1893–1894: Major-General Arthur Lyon Fremantle * 1894–1896: Major-General Sir Hugh Rowlands

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Scottish District

*1896 – 1901 Lieutenant General Sir Edward Chapman *1901 – 1903 Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Hunter *1903 – 1905 Lieutenant General Sir Charles Tucker

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Scottish Command

*1905 Lieutenant General Sir Charles Tucker *1905 – 1909 Lieutenant General Sir Edward Leach *1909 – 1913 Lieutenant General Sir Bruce Hamilton *1913 – 1914 Lieutenant General Sir James Wolfe Murray *1914 – 1918 Lieutenant General Sir Spencer Ewart *1918 – 1919 Lieutenant General Sir Frederick McCracken *1919 – 1923 Lieutenant General Sir Francis Davies *1923 – 1926 Lieutenant General Sir Walter Braithwaite *1926 – 1930 Lieutenant General Sir William Peyton *1930 – 1933 General Sir Percy Radcliffe *1933 – 1937 General Sir Archibald Cameron *1937 – 1940 General Sir

Charles Grant Charles or Charlie Grant may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Charles Jameson Grant (), American editorial cartoonist * Charles L. Grant (1942–2006), American novelist * Charles Grant (actor) (born 1957), American actor * Charles Grant (dance ...

*1940 – 1941 Lieutenant General Sir

Harold Carrington Lieutenant General Sir Robert Harold Carrington KCB DSO (7 November 1882 – 5 September 1964) was a British Army General during World War II. Military career Harold Carrington was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in 1901; he se ...

*1941 – 1945 Lieutenant General Sir

Andrew Thorne General Sir Augustus Francis Andrew Nicol Thorne, (20 September 1885 – 25 September 1970) was a senior British Army officer who served in the First and Second World Wars, where he commanded the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division during th ...

*1945 – 1947 Lieutenant General Sir Neil Ritchie *1947 – 1949 Lieutenant General Sir Philip Christison *1949 – 1952 Lieutenant General Sir

Gordon MacMillan General Sir Gordon Holmes Alexander MacMillan of MacMillan and Knap, (7 January 1897 – 21 January 1986) was a professional soldier who rose to become a general in the British Army. As a young officer during the First World War, he displayed o ...

*1952 – 1955 Lieutenant General Sir Colin Barber *1955 – 1958 Lieutenant General Sir Horatius Murray *1958 – 1961 Lieutenant General Sir George Collingwood *1961 – 1964 Lieutenant General Sir William Turner *1964 – 1966 Lieutenant General Sir George Gordon-Lennox *1966 – 1969 Lieutenant General Sir Derek Lang *1969 – 1972 Lieutenant General Sir

Henry Leask Lieutenant General Sir Henry Lowther Ewart Clark Leask KCB DSO OBE (30 June 1913 – 10 January 2004) was a senior British Army officer who served in World War II and held high command during the 1960s. Military career Henry Leask was commis ...

General Officer Commanding, Scotland

*1972 – 1976 Lieutenant General Sir Chandos Blair *1976 – 1979 Lieutenant General Sir David Scott-Barrett *1979 – 1980 Lieutenant General Sir Michael Gow *1980 – 1982 Lieutenant General Sir David Young *1982 – 1985 Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Boswell *1985 – 1988 Lieutenant General Sir Norman Arthur *1988 – 1991 Lieutenant General Sir John MacMillan *1991 – 1993 Lieutenant General Sir Peter Graham *1993 – 1995 Major-General Michael Scott *1995 – 1997 Major-General Jonathan Hall *1997 – 2000 Major-General Mark Strudwick :''Note: There was no General Officer Commanding, Scotland between 2000 and 2012'' *2012 – 2015 Major-General Nick Eeles

Military Secretary and General Officer, Scotland

*2015–2017 Major-General

Nicholas Ashmore Major-General Nicholas David Ashmore CB OBE (born September 1961) is a British Army officer who served as Military Secretary and General Officer Scotland. Military career Ashmore was commissioned into the Royal Artillery on 3 January 1984. A ...

*2017–2019 Major-General Bob Bruce *2019–2021 Major-General

Tim Hyams Major General Timothy David Hyams, is a senior British Army officer. Military career Hyams was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards in 1986. His regiment was amalgamated with the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards to form the R ...

*2021–present Major-General William Wright

References

{{British armies, commands, and corps during the Second World War Commands of the British Army Military of Scotland 1905 establishments in Scotland