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5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers were a territorial unit based in Ayr serving with the South Scottish Brigade, Lowland Division. They had just departed for annual summer camp war broke out in August 1914, they were at once recalled to base. They were mobilised for war service on the 5th of August and moved to take up position on the Scottish coastal defences at Stirling. In May 1915 the formation was renamed 155th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division. They sailed from Liverpool on the 21st of May for Gallipoli, via Mudros. They were in action at Gully Ravine, Achi Baba Nullah, Krithia Nullahs and The evcuation of Helles on the 7th and 8th of January 1916. They moved to Egypt and concentrated at Abbassia near Cairo. They moved to El Kantara and took over No 3 Section of the Suez Canal defences on the 2nd of March. They were in action at Dueidar in April and The Battle of Romani in August. In 1917 they were in action during The First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza, at Wadi el Hesi, The capture of Junction Station, The Battle of Nabi Samweil and The Battle of Jaffa including the passage of the Nahr-el-Auja. 52nd Division remained in the line near Arsuf until March 1918 when it was relieved by the 7th (Meerut) Division and proceedrd to France, sailing from Alexandria in early April, via Marseilles they concentrated near Abbeville. 52nd Divisiobn took over a sector of front line near Vimy on the 6th of May until the 23rd of July when they moved to take over the line north east of Arras. They were in action inThe Battle of Albert, The Battle of the Scarpe, The Battle of the Drocourt-Queant Line, The Battle of the Canal du Nord and The Final Advance in Artois. At the Armistice 52nd Division was north of the Mons canal engaged in clearing Herchies.
25th Apr 1915 Training
12th Jul 1915 Attack Made
5th July 1918 l56th Infantry Brigade Order No.42 
6th July 1918 Operational Orders.
8th July 1918 Lt. Col. J.G.P. Romanes D.S.O. resumes Command
23rd September 1918 Medals
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| Want to know more about 5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers? There are:5236 items tagged 5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers during the Great War 1914-1918. - Ballantyne Thomas. Pte. (d.25th Apr 1916)
- McCaig John. Pte. (d.19th Sept 1915)
- McPhee James Anderson. A/Sgt.
- Meikle Gilbert Eliot. Pte. (d.12th July 1915)
- Mill William Henry. 2nd Lt. (d.12th July 1915)
- Perrie John. Pte. (d.13th Jul 1915)
- Roberts MC, DCM Frederick George . Captain
- Stanton Francis Stanislaus. 2Lt. (d.27th Sep 1918)
- Walker Robert Cooper. Pte.
- Wilson David Mills. Qm
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers from other sources.
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Qm David Mills Wilson 5th Btn Royal Scots Fusiliers David Wilson was my grandfather.
I know he served in Gallipoli and France and was a crack shot.
He worked for Afflecks estimating for refurbishing houses all over Ayrshire.
He had been an upholsterer and my grandmother was a French polisher before she married.
They lived in various houses in Ayr finally settling in Newton on Ayr. They had seven children.
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A/Sgt. James Anderson McPhee 1/5th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers James McPhee was a piper and came out to Canada in 1911.
At the outbreak of war, he was working as a chauffeur in New York City.
He came back to Scotland in the fall of 1914 on the SS Ausonia. He enlisted in the 1/5th Royal Scots Fusiliers as a Private and presumably fought with the battalion in Turkey, the Middle East, and in France.
He was demobilized as an Acting Sergeant in 1919 and lived the rest of his live in Perth.
Pipes of War, lists him as the Pipe Major of the 5th RSF but call him John vs James.
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2Lt. Francis Stanislaus Stanton 5th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.27th Sep 1918) Frank Stanton was my paternal grandmother's half-brother but I'm afraid I know nothing else about him.
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Pte. Thomas Ballantyne 1/5th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.25th Apr 1916) Thomas Ballantyne was the son of a slater, Andrew Ballantyne, and the youngest of his two sons. The 1st/5th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers was a territorial unit based in Ayr and Thomas sailed with his comrades for Gallipoli on the 21st May 1915 where he fought in the battles of Gulley Ravine, Achi BabaNullah and Krithia Nullahs, in one of the bloodiest campaigns ever known. Thomas survived, unlike many others, and was evacuated to Abbassia, near Cairo on 7th and 8th January 1916. By April, Thomas had moved to defending the Suez Canal and was posted to an oasis at Dueidar where his battalion repelled the advancing Turks. Sadly Thomas was one of the wounded and died shortly after on 25th April 1916, aged 22. He is buried in the war cemetery in Port Said, Egypt.
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Pte. John Perrie 1/5th Btn Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.13th Jul 1915) John Perrie was just 24, when killed in action during the 2nd battle for the Kereves Dere, Helles, Gallipoli.
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2nd Lt. William Henry Mill 1/5th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.12th July 1915) William, or Willie as he was known to his family, was the only son of William Henry Mill, an Edinburgh lawyer, and his wife, Caroline, and was brother to four sisters, Caroline, Helen, Jane and Ruth. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, and on leaving school enlisted with the Royal Scots Fusiliers, gaining his comission in 1914. He sailed from Liverpool on the S.S Mauretania with his Battalion and the 1/4th on May 1915, arriving at the huge harbour of Mudros on Lemnos, before sailing on to Gallipoli, landing there on June 7th. His battalion took part in the Battles of Gully Ravine and Achi Baba Nullah. Hand-written notes in his pocket Bible, recovered from his body, show him at rest camp on June 19th, in support trenches on June 25th, 27th, 29th and 30th, and in the support trenches at 'Clapham Junction' on July 3rd. His last entries show him in a rest camp on July 7th and 8th. Under-lined passages from the Bible clearly show that he took support from the book and was determined to do the right thing. He was killed in action on July 12th, in the Battle of Achi Baba Nullah, aged 19. His body was recovered and lies in a marked grave not far from where he fell, in Redoubt Cemetery. His parents visited the grave shortly after the war but as far as I know it was not re-visited until his sister Jane, my Grandmother, travelled there around 1965. I have his pocket Bible and one of his lapel badges, recovered from his body, and his medals.
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Pte. Robert Cooper Walker 4th Battalion Royal Scots Fusilers My Grandfather Bob Walker, served in the Great War with his 4 brothers James, Alexander, John and Peter. As far as I know all 5 brothers survived the war. Bob who was first with the 5th Battalion Royal Scots and was wounded, when he recovered he joined the 4th Battalion Royal Scots Fusilers. He died in November 1977.
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Pte. John McCaig 1st/5th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.19th Sept 1915) John McCaig enlisted in Troon Ayrshire and after initial training was sent to Gallipoli. Unfortunately, my grandfather`s brother was one of those destined to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was killed in action 19th September 1915. His body was never found, he is mentioned on the Helles Memorial to the Missing overlooking the Dardenelles.
I try to imagine a young Scotsman from a rural area, probably hardly having travelled anywhere before enlisting in the Army and then finding himself on board a troopship heading across the Mediterranean bound for Turkey. Foreign travel was the preserve of the rich in those times,it must have been the greatest adventure of his life!
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Captain Frederick George Roberts MC, DCM 1/5th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers Served in the Boer war with the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers, as a sergeant. Awarded the DCM in 1900. In 1901 was promoted to Colour Sergeant in the 12th Mounted Infantry for further distinguished service in the field.
Awarded the Military Cross for the defence of Dueidar (Egygt, 1916) when a Turkish force, 1,000 strong, with onegun, attacked Dueidar, the most advanced defensible post, which was held by 100 men of the 5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, under the command of Captain Roberts, 5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. The citation states that this officer, who throughout showed conspicuous skill and ability, succeeded in repelling two determined attacks on the position at 6.30 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. respectively. Both attempts cost the enemy dear.
Served in Gallipoli, Egypt, Palestine and France
Retired 1923
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