in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. Under this scheme the 4th VB was included in the Forth Brigade based at 51 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, later at Surgeons' Hall. In 1902 the Forth Brigade was split into the 1st and 2nd Lothian Brigades, with the 4th VB in the 1st Brigade. It also belonged to the 32nd Brigade of the field army and trained with it for a fortnight each year. The unit's headquarters (HQ) was at Gilmore Place drill hall, Edinburgh, and in common with other Edinburgh Volunteer units it used a rifle range at Hunters Bog in Holyrood Park Second Boer War Sixty-four volunteers from 4th VB served in Volunteer Service Companies of the Royal Scots and the Scottish Volunteer Cyclist Company in the Second Boer War, earning ihe battalion its first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–02. From 1905, the commanding officer (CO) was Lt-Col George McCrae, VD, who in 1914 raised the 16th Bn Royal Scots ('McCrae's Battalion'), a Kitchener's Army unit containing a number of players from Heart of Midlothian F.C. Territorial Force When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the 4th VB became the 6th Battalion, Royal Scots, with its HQ remaining at Gilmore Place. The battalion remained attached to the Lothian Bde, which did not join any of the TF's new infantry divisions but continued independently in its coast defence role. World War I Mobilisation On the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, the Lothian Brigade mobilised at Edinburgh as part of Scottish Coastal Defences. Almost immediately, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. On 15 August 1914, the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. 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, and a 2nd Lothian Brigade was formed from these units. 3rd Line training units were formed in 1915. The only TF battalion of the Royal Scots that did not immediately form a 2nd line was the 6th Bn, which instead