1st Fife Artillery Volunteers
The 1st Fife Artillery Volunteers, later the Highland (Fifeshire) Heavy Battery, was a volunteer unit first recruited in Fife, Scotland, in 1860, which fought on the Western Front in the First World War. Its successor units expanded recruitment to Aberdeenshire and again fought in North West Europe, during the Second World War. Volunteer Force (1859–1908) The Volunteer Force came into existence in 1859 as a result of an invasion scare, and the subsequent enthusiasm for joining local Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer Corps. By 1860, there were 11 Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) in Fifeshire, mainly in coastal towns: 1st (Tayport) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed at Ferryport on Craig, 26 January 1860 2nd (Newport) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed at Newport-on-Tay, 13 April 1860 3rd (St Andrews) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed on 6 March 1860 4th (Inverkeithing) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed on 3 March 1860 5th (Kirkcaldy) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed on 22 March 1860 6th (Burntisland) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed on 20 February 1860 7th (Anstruther) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed at Elie on 8 March 1860 8th (Leven) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed two batteries on 24 July 1860 9th (Dysart) Fife Artillery Volunteers, formed on 19 September 1860 10th (Wemyss) Fife