These units of the Territorial Force were raised in 1914 as “second line” or reserve brigades of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Lowland Brigades RFA. The latter comprised the artillery of the 52nd (Lowland) Division, while the “second line” came under orders of the 65th (2nd Lowland) Division.
The original titles were the 2/1st, 2/2nd, 2/3rd and 2/4th (Howitzer) Lowland Brigades. They remained as such until 6 May 1916, when the brigades were given numbers. These are sometimes shown as Roman numerals but for simplicity I have used Arabic numerals on this page. At the same time, the batteries were given letters, so for example, the 1st City of Edinburgh Battery of 325 Brigade became its A Battery. The format such as A/325 is often seen in men’s service records.
The history of the 65th (2nd Lowland) Division can be found via the link at the foot of this page. It did not go overseas.
By November 1915 the brigades were in Edinburgh, Larbert, Callandar and Tillicoultry, while the Heavy Battery was at Buddon. In March 1916 the division moved to Essex in England and in January 1917 it went on to Ireland. The artillery was posted to Kildare and Limerick. The divisional structure was broken up in January and February 1918.
CCCXXV Brigade
- Raised as the 2/1st Lowland Brigade. Comprised of Brigade Headquarters, 2/1st City of Edinburgh Battery Battery, 2/2nd City of Edinburgh Battery Battery, 2/1st Midlothian Battery, and the Brigade Ammunition Column (all based at 30 Grindlay Street in Edinburgh).
- By July 1916: 2/4th City of Glasgow Howitzer Battery joined from 328 (Hoitzer) Brigade and became this brigade’s D (Howitzer) Battery.
- 29 December 1919: completed disbandment at Fermoy.
CCCXXVI Brigade
- Raised as the 2/2nd Lowland Brigade. Comprised of Brigade Headquarters (located at Irvine), 2/1st Ayrshire Battery (Irvine), 2/2nd Ayrshire Battery (Kilmarnock), 2/1sxt Kirkcudbrightshire Battery (Kirkcudbright), and the Brigade Ammunition Column (Ardrossan).
- By July 1916: 2/5th City of Glasgow Howitzer Battery joined from 328 (Hoitzer) Brigade and became this brigade’s D (Howitzer) Battery.
- 27 October 1919: completed disbandment at Kildare.
CCCXXVII Brigade
- Raised as the 2/3rd Lowland Brigade. Comprised of Brigade Headquarters (located at 8 Newton Terrace, Glasgow), 2/1st City of Glasgow Battery (Berkeley Street), 2/1st City of Glasgow Battery (Percy Street, Maryhill), 2/3rd City of Glasgow Battery (Keppchill, Springburn) and the Brigade Ammunition Column (Percy Street).
- Details of history are sparse, but men’s service records appear to indicate that the brigade was broken up in September 1916, with at least some of the troops being dispersed to RFA training depots.
CCCXXVIII (Howitzer) Brigade
- Raised as the 2/4th Lowland (Howitzer) Brigade. Comprised of Brigade Headquarters, (located at 8 Newton Terrace, Glasgow), 2/4th City of Glasgow Howitzer Battery (Butterbiggins Road, Govanhill), 2/5th City of Glasgow Howitzer Battery (Elder Street, Govan) and the Brigade Ammunition Column (Butterbiggins Road).
- Brigade broken up in February-July 1916. Some men were transferred to the 1st Provisional Battery (possibly all coming from theAmmunition Column); the 2/4th City of Glasgow Howitzer Battery went to 325 Brigades as its D (Howitzer) Battery, while 2/5th City of Glasgow Howitzer Battery did the same in 326 Brigade.
65th Divisional Ammunition Column
- Rsied in Scotland by November 1915.
Other
- 2/1st Lowland (City of Edinburgh) Heavy Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery served with the division until May 1916, at which point it went to France, initially under VI Corps Heavy Artillery near Arras.