Tayforth Universities Officers' Training Corps is a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

reserve unit, of the

University Officers' Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

based in Scotland. It is formed of three sub-units: ''A'' Squadron, which draws its members from the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, ''B'' Squadron, which draws its members from the universities of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and Abertay, and ''C'' Company, which draws its members from

Stirling University The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airthr ...

. Blair, JSG (2003). ''Tayforth Universities O.T.C. A History''.

History

Pre-UOTC

Tayforth is descended from a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

formed from the time of Charles II and the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745. In 1859 a committee was formed in St Andrews to form a volunteer corps of both rifle and artillery. This was carried out in a town meeting on 5 December 1859 and was carried unanimously and 3rd (St Andrews) Fife Artillery Volunteers was formed. In 1881 Professor Peter Redford Scott Lang formed the St Andrews University Volunteer Battery of Artillery, named the Anstruther No 7 Battery of the 1st Fife Brigade of Garrison Artillery, although made up entirely of university students and staff. In 1883 the Battery changed its name to University Company 1st Fife VA and the

Senatus Academicus An academic senate, sometimes termed faculty senate, academic board or simply senate, is a governing body in some universities and colleges, typically with responsibility for academic matters and primarily drawing its membership from the academic ...

pledged £20 per year to the Battery. Throughout its early history, the Battery followed an annual training programme including an annual camp, an annual dinner and a

church service A church service (or a worship service) is a formalized period of Christian communal Christian worship, worship, often held in a Church (building), church building. Most Christian denominations hold church services on the Lord's Day (offering Su ...

and parade in St Salvator's Quadrangle. In conjunction with the Battery, in 1906 the University formed a Military Education Committee (MEC) to commence a course in

Military Education Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...

Post-UOTC

In 1908 the concept of the

Officers' Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

was formed, and St Andrews, being the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the UK, was naturally interested in this. A Military Education Committee was required to constitute the new Unit. As St Andrews already had an MEC set up, they were able to complete the whole range of business in one afternoon, forming St Andrews University OTC. Such business included deciding on the uniform. The

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as ...

was decided to be the University shield surmounted by the King's Crown. Whilst this is no longer the cap badge it is still worn as the undress sporran badge and can be seen in A Squadron mess as the squadron crest. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 415 former members of the University Company served in the army. The contingent continued to train throughout the war, although with depleted numbers. In 1916 the medical students began to train independently and were recognised as a sub-unit of the contingent. Sadly 78 members of the corps lost their lives, their names are remembered on a memorial board in the A Squadron Mess. Following the formation of

Dundee University The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

from University College Dundee, a part of the University of St Andrews, the OTC became St Andrews and Dundee University OTC. With the Addition of

, the OTC was renamed Tayforth Universities OTC, as St Andrews, Dundee and Stirling Universities OTC was considered a bit of a mouthful. The name Tayforth was chosen as Dundee is situated on the River Tay and Stirling on the River Forth. The concern was that St Andrews, as the senior university may not agree with this name, however as the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

and the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for the ...

are the boundaries of the

Kingdom of Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council area and lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the south, Perth and Kinross to the west and Clackmannanshire t ...

, within which St Andrews is located, it was approved by the MEC. In May 1976, the Old Wyvernians formed as a non-regimental association for the former officer cadets of St Andrews University OTC at the instigation of Rob Wherrett, then one of the 2nd Lieutenants based in St. Andrews who served with the unit from 1971-1976. The inaugural meeting of the Tayforth Regimental Association was held on 16 June 1984 and was the first of its kind. Whilst other OTC's followed suit The Tayforth Regimental Association is the oldest of its kind. In 2024

Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor (born 8 November 2003) is the elder child and only daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. She is the youngest niece of King Charles III. She was bor ...

, the daughter of

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibling of King ...

, attested and joined Tayforth UOTC.

External links

Official site

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Highland regiments Military of Scotland Scottish regiments Training establishments of the British Army Officers' Training Corps

History

Pre-UOTC

Post-UOTC

See also

External links

References