No. 15 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps

A Machine Gun Battalion of the Machine Gun Corps was attached to each Infantry Division and was formed of four MG Companies.

The 15th Bn, MGC was formed on 17 March 1918.

Division attached to:15th (Scottish) Division
Formed from the:44th Machine Gun Company – becoming A Company
45th Machine Gun Company – becoming B Company
46th Machine Gun Company – becoming C Company
225th Machine Gun Company – becoming D Company

As a unit of the 15th (Scottish) Division, it will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.

1918
21 March to 05 AprilFIRST BATTLES OF THE SOMME [XVII Corps, Third Army].
24 and 25 MarchBattle of Bapaume [XVII Corps, Third Army].
28 MarchBattle of Arras [XVII Corps, Third Army].
THE ADVANCE TO VICTORY
BATTLES OF THE MARNE
23 July to 02 AugustBattle of the Soissonais and of the Oureq [XX (French) Corps, Tenth (French) Army].
28 JulyAttack on Buzancy.
02 October to 11 NovemberTHE FINAL ADVANCE IN ARTOIS AND FLANDERS [I Corps, Fifth Army].

The 15th Division started its final advance from the vicinity of Loos and Hulluch, where it had received its baptism of fire in 1915. Pressing forward, the Division crossed the Haute Deule Canal on the 15th October and reached the line of the Schelde to the south of Antoing, and advancing eastwards the 15th Division reached the line of the Dendre to the south of Ath by 11 a.m. on the 11th November. The Armistice then came into force and hostilities ceased.

On the 12th November the Division was informed that it would be transferred to III Corps, Second Army, and it would take part in the Advance to the Rhine. On the 21st this arrangement was cancelled, and III Corps was transferred to the Fifrth Army on the 22nd. On the 7th December H.M. the King, accompanied by T.R.H. The Prince of Wales and Prince Albert, passed through the divisional area, and all the units of the 15th Division were formed up on each side of the road. On the 10th December the first batch of men (coalminers) left for demobilization. On the 15th December the Division began to move into its new area around Nivelles, and divisional headquarters opened at Braine le Chateau on the 16th December.

In 1919 demobilization proceeded gradually and the Division slowly dwindled. On the 25th March the G.O.C. left, on the 26th the “G” office was closed down, and on the 2nd April headquarters moved to Clabecq. During the next two months cadres and equipment guards left the Division and returned to Scotland; and on the 27th June the 15th (Scottish) Division finally passed out of existence. During the Great War the 15th Division lost 45,542 killed, wounded, and missing.


Sources

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