The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) which later merged with the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland, becoming the 2nd Battalion of the new regiment.
History
Early history
The regiment was formed as part of the Childers Reforms on 1 July 1881 by the amalgamation of the 71st (Highland) Light Infantry (as the 1st Battalion) and the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot (as the 2nd Battalion) as the city regiment of Glasgow, absorbing local Militia and Rifle Volunteer units. Its exact status was ambiguous: although the regiment insisted on being classified as a non-kilted Highland regiment, it recruited mainly from Glasgow in Lowland Scotland.
The 1st battalion was posted to South Africa in October 1899, after the outbreak of the Second Boer War. They were stationed in Egypt in 1902.
The 2nd Battalion saw action at the Battle of Tell El Kebir in September 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War: Lieutenant William Edwards was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the battle. The battalion was stationed in England from 1883, but moved to India the following year. In February 1900 the battalion departed from Colombo to return home, and in October 1902 they were posted to Jersey, but three months later they were re-assigned to Alderney.
Following heavy British losses in the early part of the Second Boer War in 1899, many of the militia battalions were embodied for active service, including the 3rd battalion Highland Light (formerly the 1st Royal Lanark Militia), under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Story. The battalion served throughout the war, and 890 officers and men were reported to return home on the SS Doune Castle in September 1902, after the war had ended earlier that year.
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had two Reserve and five Territorial battalions.
First World War
Regular Army
The 1st Battalion landed at Marseille as part of the Sirhind Brigade in the 3rd (Lahore) Division in December 1914 for service on the Western Front and saw action at the Defence of Festubert in November 1914, the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915, the Battle of St Julien in May 1915 and the Second Battle of Ypres later in May 1915. It then moved to Mesopotamia in December 1915 and saw action at the Siege of Kut in Spring 1916 and the Battle of Sharqat in October 1918.
The 2nd Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 5th Brigade in the 2nd Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front. It saw action at the Battle of Aisne in September 1914, the Battle of Ypres in November 1914, the Battle of Loos in October 1915, the Battle of the Somme in Summer 1916, the Battle of Arras in April 1917, the Battle of Cambrai in December 1917 and the advance to the Hindenburg Line in September 1918.
Territorial Force
The 1/5th (City of Glasgow) Battalion, the 1/6th (City of Glasgow) Battalion and the 1/7th (Blythswood) Battalion landed at Cape Helles in Gallipoli as part of the 157th Brigade in the 52nd (Lowland) Division in July 1915; after being evacuated to Egypt in January 1916 they moved to Marseille in April 1918 for service on the Western Front. The 1/9th (Glasgow Highland) Battalion landed in France as part of the 5th Brigade in the 2nd Division in November 1914 for service on the Western Front.
New Armies
The 10th and 11th (Service) Battalions landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 28th Brigade in the 9th (Scottish) Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 12th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 46th Brigade in the 15th (Scottish) Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 14th (Service) Battalion landed in France as part of the 120th Brigade in the 40th Division in June 1916 for service on the Western Front.