Mobilisation The Lowland Division had been attending annual camp on the Ayrshire coast when the order to mobilise was received at 17.25 on Tuesday August 1914. Mobilisation began the following day at unit drill halls, and units undertook some guard duties until mobilisation was completed on 10 August, when the division went to its war stations as the mobile reserve in Scotland went to war stations, which for 1/III Bde was at
Dunfermline. On the outbreak of war, units of the TF were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. On 15 August the WO issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. Then on 31 August the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate batteries, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas. During the winter of 1914–15 the 1st Lowland Division underwent war training and served in the
Forth defences. It was warned for overseas service on 5 April and on 11 May 1915 it was officially numbered as the 52nd (Lowland) Division. The division was destined for the
Dardanelles Campaign but it was decided that the difficulties of operating artillery on the Gallipoli Peninsula precluded taking all the divisional artillery. 1/III Lowland Brigade was therefore left behind when the division embarked, and remained in the Forth defences, while the howitzers of
1/IV Lowland Bde accompanied the division and served in the campaign (
see below).
1/III Lowland Brigade .
Egypt The brigade finally went overseas in early 1916. It was re-armed with modern
18-pounder guns and embarked on 27 February, landing at
Alexandria in
Egypt on 10 March to rejoin 52nd (L) Division at
Kantara on 17 March. The division was then moving into No 3 Section of the
Suez Canal defences. In May 1916 the TF brigades of the RFA received numbers, the 1/III Lowland becoming
CCLXI (or 261) Brigade and the batteries became A, B and C. The guns were equipped with 'ped-rails', block of wood attached to the wheels to prevent them sinking into soft sand. In May and June 52nd (L) Division advanced its outposts east of the canal to Romani, which prompted an aggressive response from the Turks. However, unlike the howitzers of CCLXII Bde (
see below), CCLXI Bde was not engaged in the
Battle of Romani on 4–5 August. The brigades of 52nd (L) Divisional Artillery were renumbered on 15 September, the former 1/III Lowland now becoming
CCLXII (262) Brigade. In September the
Egyptian Expeditionary Force began preparing to mount an offensive into
Palestine. For this advance 52nd (L) Divisional Artillery was organised into two groups, each of two 18-pdr batteries and one of
4.5-inch howitzers; C Bty of CCLXII Bde was left behind on the lines of communication, and B Bty of
CCLXIII (Howitzer) Bde joined the group. 52nd (L) Division formed part of the
Desert Column covering the extension of the railway and water pipeline into the
Sinai Desert, and the head of the column reached
El Arish, near the Palestine frontier, on 22 December. On 25 December 1916 the divisional artillery was reorganised once more. C Bty of CCLXII Bde was brought up from the rear and then broken up, with one section going to each of the other batteries to bring them up to six guns each, and on 30 December B/CCLXIII Bty formally joined the brigade as C (Howitzer) Bty. Finally on 1 January 1917 the BACs were abolished and incorporated into the Divisional Ammunition Column, giving the brigade the following organisation: • A Bty (1st City of Glasgow + half 3rd City of Glasgow Btys) • B Bty (2nd City of Glasgow + half 3rd City of Glasgow Btys) • C (H) Bty (5th City of Glasgow Bty)
Gaza In March 1917 the EEF advanced against
Gaza. 52nd (L) Division was in reserve and its Divisional Artillery was not engaged at the
First Battle of Gaza (26–27 March), which failed to take the city. The division participated in a renewed attempt, the
Second Battle of Gaza, beginning on 17 April. At dawn the leading infantry advanced towards Mansura Ridge, while CCLXII Bde under Lt-Col Farquhar began shelling the ridge. The infantry advanced without difficulty through the Turkish outposts on the ridge onto its objective, the El Sire Ridge beyond, although both artillery brigades suffered a number of casualties. The EEF's artillery then spent 18 April bombarding the Turkish main position, before attacking the following day. 52nd (L) Division's artillery was massed behind Mansura and east of El Sire. The howitzers fired
gas shells for 40 minutes beginning at 05.30, followed by 80 minutes of
high explosive (HE). The 18-pounders joined in for the last 10 minutes before the infantry assault went in, laying down a barrage on the objectives and then providing a
Creeping barrage for the advance. 52nd (L) Division attacked the key Ali Muntar position, but it was soon obvious that the gas shelling had not suppressed the Turkish artillery and machine gun positions, and shortage of ammunition meant that these were never silenced. The Turkish artillery searched the El Sire Ridge and the area behind. At 11.00 the single tank on the division's front, 'War Baby', advanced under covering fire from the artillery and crushed the wire at Outpost Hill, allowing the infantry into the position, but it was then knocked out by Turkish artillery, and the Turks launched repeated counter-attacks. The rest of the attacks were held up, and Outpost Hill had to be abandoned after dark. The division's casualties had been very heavy, but the infantry dug in on the positions they had retained. A period of trench warfare then set in, with occasional
raids and frequent exchanges of artillery fire, in which 52nd (L) Divisional Artillery suffered numerous casualties in men and guns because of the superiority of enemy observation aircraft. Lieutenant-Col Farquhar transferred to CCLXI Bde when that unit's CO was badly wounded by a sniper; he was succeeded in command by Lt-Col J.C. Gaskell. In case of wire-tapping, units were given codenames for use on the telephone: these were based on Scottish football teams, with CCLXII RFA assigned 'Hibs' (as in
Hibernian F.C.). On 1 July 1917 C (H) Bty left to join a reformed CCLXIV Bde, leaving CCLXII Bde with just two 18-pdr batteries. The pursuit continued. 157th Brigade and B/CCLXII Bty were ordered to take
Ashdod on 10 November. After an extremely difficult approach march they found the high ground to the east in enemy hands and immediately attacked, B Bty moving up rapidly to open fire despite enemy shellfire. The attack went in at 16.25, 15 minutes before sunset (which ended the observed artillery fire), and the position was taken by midnight. 157th Brigade joined the Australian
1st Light Horse Brigade at Ashdod, when both men and horses could be watered. The Turks still held a position at
El Mughar, which XXI Corps assaulted after a 60-minute bombardment on 13 November. The important Junction Station fell to the British the day following the
Battle of Mughar Ridge, while 52nd (L) Division's artillery made for Mansurah On 19 November the EEF moved east into the
Judaean Hills to begin closing in on
Jerusalem. XXI Corps was sent to
capture the Nebi Samwill ridge. The village itself was captured by surprise on 21 November, but moving artillery on the hill roads was difficult. The onset of heavy rain made the conditions worse, but by employing 10-horse teams, 52nd (L) Divisional Artillery got 10 guns (including a section of each of A and B/CCLXII) up for
75th Division's attack on El Jib on 23 November, described by the corps commander as 'a magnificent feat'. Although too late to prevent that attack from failing, the sections were in position in a dip in the ground south-east of Biddu when the attack was renewed next day by 52nd (L) Division. Nevertheless, that attack also failed, and while Nebi Samwill itself had been successfully held, the wider attacks were called off and 52nd (L) Division went into reserve. The Turks threw in fierce counter-attacks, but when they had been beaten off
Jerusalem fell without a fight on 9 December. 52nd (L) Division had already marched out on 5 December to take over the line north of
Jaffa on the coast. After a tough march it was overlooking the
River Auja by 8 December. The Turks were in a strong position on the other side. To drive them out XXI Corps planned a 24-hour bombardment to launch the
Battle of Jaffa, but 52nd (L) Division got infantry across the Auja during the night of 20/21 December, initially covered by the artillery's normal nightly fire, which then became a creeping barrage. The
Royal Engineers then built bridges and the whole divisional artillery crossed during 22 December as the division advanced rapidly to
Arsuf.
Megiddo The division remained in the line near Arsuf until March 1918. The
German spring offensive on the Western Front meant that urgent reinforcements were required, and 52nd (L) Division was sent. It was relieved in the line by
7th (Meerut) Division, but as part of the relief the whole of 52nd (L) Divisional Artillery was exchanged with 7th (Meerut) Divisional Artillery on 3 April 1918. The Lowland artillery served with this
Indian Army formation in Palestine until the end of the war. On 5 April CCLXII Bde was joined by 438 (H) Bty with four 4.5-inch howitzers. There was little activity in the coastal sector during the summer of 1918. On 28/29 May the divisional artillery supported an advance of about , then on 8 June 7 (Meerut) Division seized the 'Two Sisters' hills being used as OPs by the Turks: the attack was launched at 03.45 after a 15-minuted bombardment. It also caused heavy casualties to the Turks when the division raided 'Piffer Ridge' on 27 July. The EEF was now ready to launch its final offensive in Palestine, the
Battle of Megiddo on 19 September. For XXI Corps' opening attack (the
Battle of Sharon) there was no preparatory 'softening up' bombardment: when the guns opened fire at 04.30 it was the signal for the infantry to advance with 35 minutes' moonlight followed by 35 minutes darkness before dawn. The field guns bombarded the enemy front line positions until the infantry arrived, then the 18-pdrs lifted to begin a creeping barrage while the 4.5s concentrated on important targets beyond the barrage. On 7th (Meerut) Division's front the barrage advanced at a rate of per minute. Once it broke through the front line its attack on the crossings of the Zerqiye marsh was supported by the heavy artillery while its divisional artillery moved up. The division drive the Turks off a rearguard position at 15.00, and opposition ended. The advanced troops
bivouacked in Taiyibe that night. The advanced guard of the Desert Mounted Corps had already passed through the division to begin the exploitation phase. XXI Corps continued the pressure next day, with 7th (Meerut) Division advancing in two columns.
21st Indian Brigade was supported by a mixed field brigade including two of the howitzer batteries and one 18-pdr battery, but under the hot sun the artillery horses were unable to go on. After a rest and drink at midday, the infantry continued advancing and outpaced the artillery. The cavalry were now fanning out across the Plain of Sharon and all XXI Corps had to do was follow up. 7th (Meerut) Division reached
Haifa and 29 September and set off in three columns for
Beirut on 3 October. A composite RFA brigade went with Column C, following the advance guard and the engineers and pioneers who widened the '
Ladder of Tyre' route for artillery. Column C marched in 8 days After a few days' rest the advance continued, seeing few Turkish troops, and the Lowland gunners reached
Tripoli on 26 October, having marched in 38 days. Hostilities with Turkey ended with the
Armistice of Mudros on 30 October. The Lowland Artillery remained at Tripoli until 22 November, suffering a large number of deaths from disease. The brigades then began moving back to Egypt, reaching
Cairo on 20 December. In March 1919 there were
civil disturbances in Egypt, and the gunners formed several mobile columns for patrol work. They remained at
Abbassia Barracks outside Cairo until August, when their
demobilisation was completed.
1/IV Lowland Brigade 1/IV Lowland Brigade served with 52nd (Lowland) Division at
Gallipoli, where its howitzers were the only guns of the division present. It was evacuated to
Egypt, where it was numbered as
CCLXII (or 262) (H) Brigade, RFA, and re-equipped with
4.5-inch howitzers. It fought in the
Battle of Romani, then was renumbered
CCLXIII (263) (H) Brigade in September 1916 but broken up at the end of the year.
2/IV Lowland Brigade 2/IV Lowland Brigade served with 65th (Lowland) Division. It was renumbered
CCCXXVIII (or 328) (H) Brigade, RFA in May 1916 but immediately broken up to provide howitzer batteries to other brigades in the division. ==Interwar years==