Is it just me or do others find it odd to see kilted
soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Scotland commemorate the men of the Lowland
regiments at First World War Centenary events?
Since 2006 and the formation of the Royal Regiment of
Scotland the uniform for all battalions, no matter what their precedence, has
been the same – a Government tartan kilt. We’ve briefly covered this in a Blog before.
The First World War Centenary will be with us until 2019. At
many events the Royal Regiment of Scotland will provide a contingent, and
invariably they will be in No. 2 Dress – Khaki tunic, glengarry, kilt, sporran,
hose and spats. It’s a very smart uniform, and appropriate for many WW100
events as the uniform looks very similar to the service dress worn by the
Highland regiments in 1914.
What irks- and will undoubtedly continue do so throughout
the next few years - is seeing the men of the Royal Regiment of Scotland parade
in kilts when they are commemorating men of the Lowland regiments; or when they
are at Centenary events in the former recruiting areas of the Royal Scots (RS),
Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF), King’s Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) , Cameronians
(Scottish Rifles)(SR) and Highland Light Infantry (HLI).
Apart from their pipers (and three Territorial battalions)
the men of the Lowland regiments did not wear kilts in 1914. Until 1881 most
Lowland regiments did not even wear tartan. They were proud of their Lowland
status and their history of not being Highlanders; two Lowland regiments were
first raised in 1689 to fight a Jacobite army full of Highlanders. Before 2006
only one Lowland regiment – the Highland Light Infantry - fought
with the War Office to be uniformed in kilts because of its Highland regimental
history. In the early twentieth century the HLI had two Territorial battalions
in kilts - but during the First World War it was not a kilted regiment.
It was not until after the Second World War that the HLI once more parade in
kilts after a one hundred and forty year hiatus.
Two recent First World War related occasions particularly
stick in the mind where it would have been befitting for the Royal Regiment of
Scotland to be wearing trews rather than kilts.
The first was the reburial of Private William McAleer of the
7th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in May this year.
Private McAleer was killed in action at Loos in 1915 and his body was only
found during building work on the battlefield in 2010. At a well attended event
organised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was re-buried with full
military honours and the Royal Highland Fusiliers provided the burial party.
How much more appropriate would it have been for the pall bearers to have been
in trews on that day?
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| Thanks to John Duncan for the photograph |
The second occasion was last week’s naming of the square
outside the Usher Hall in Edinburgh to McCrae’s Place. This was
to commemorate the centenary of the raising of the 16th (2nd
Edinburgh) Battalion, Royal Scots by local man George McCrae. The Royal
Regiment of Scotland were there to commemorate the men of the Royal Scots who
served in the First World War in this battalion. How much more appropriate
would it have been for them to be there in trews like the Royal Scots
Association men they stood beside?
Next year we will see the Royal Regiment of Scotland take
part in official commemorations for the Gretna Rail Crash (RS), Gallipoli (RS,
RSF, KOSB,S, HLI), and Loos (RS, RSF, KOSB,S, HLI). How much more apt
will it be for the men of the Royal Scots Borderers, Royal Highland Fusiliers
and the 52nd Lowland to be uniformed in trews for these events?
The Royal Regiment of Scotland already has an order of dress
which combines the khaki tunic and the trews – According to the RHF’s dress
regulations which are online it is No. 2c Dress.
Currently it specifies it is to be worn “..on Battalion duties during cold weather at the discretion of Commanding Officers. It is to be worn by all ranks on Regimental duties at Retreat-Staff Parade after 1800 hrs daily" but
surely that could be changed for the two senior battalions of the regiment, and
the Lowland volunteers, to allow trews instead of kilts to be worn on
ceremonial occasions in place of 2a or 2b dress?
To try and rectify this sometimes incongruous use of kilts
by the Royal Regiment of Scotland, an e-petition has been raised with the MoD to change the dress
regulations to allow trews to be worn by certain units on ceremonial
occasions.
If you would like to see Scottish infantrymen parade in
trews again, please take the time to sign the petition here:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/72626 and please spread the word.
