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. The battalion served throughout the war, which ended in June 1902. The battalion of 700 men left
Durban for Egypt on the
SS Plassy in January 1903, and was subsequently stationed there in the following years. 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 reassigned 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. and entered the trenches near
Festubert. It fought in 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 Members of the 17th (Service) Battalion were painted by the
war artist Frederick Farrell in
Flanders in 1917. The 18th (Service) Battalion (4th Glasgow) landed in France as part of the
106th Brigade in the
35th Division in February 1916 for service on the Western Front.
David Niven was commissioned into the regiment in 1930 and served with the 2nd Battalion.
Second World War The 1st Battalion landed in France in September 1939 as part of the
127th (Manchester) Brigade in the
42nd (East Lancashire) Division for service with the
British Expeditionary Force and then took part in the
Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940. As part of the
71st Infantry Brigade in the
53rd (Welsh) Division, it later took part in the
Normandy landings in June 1944 and saw action at the
Battle of the Bulge in January 1945, the
Battle of the Reichswald in March 1945 and the final advance into
Germany. ==Uniform==