tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33187347059073289322024-03-19T08:37:22.053+00:00The Scottish Military Research GroupRegistered Scotish Charity No. SC043826. Showcasing all aspects of Scottish Military History, from Mons Graupius to AfghanistanDavid McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.comBlogger605125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-42988989056096684352016-11-12T08:58:00.008+00:002016-11-12T15:09:42.620+00:00Barracks and Battalions<div style="text-align: justify;">
A <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/565858/20161107_MOD_Better_Defence_Estate_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">recent announcement by the Ministry of Defence</a> has indicated that
nine sites in Scotland used by the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force,
Defence Equipment & Support and the Defence Infrastructure
Organisation are to be disposed of over the next few years as part of a
nationwide reduction of fifty six MoD bases. In some cases the
announcement was expected as earlier strategic reviews had already
proposed the closure of some of these properties as being surplus to
requirements and no longer fit for purpose for 21st Century armed
forces. Fort George is Georgian, Glencorse Barracks is Victorian and
Redford Barracks is Edwardian. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZFBRIVmrWAqezIyeW6-GQsqEKtIVa67SHDwfxEaEeZvwZpz29PdBdBWG9bP-z1skLe_IcaXuIZwt1WTliFKjVyV2XcPLO-1bQRY477buE5QhKiHQBqM2a6HxOUkFWoyDZaTZpBvZ7Djv/s1600/Forthside+%2526+Medowside.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZFBRIVmrWAqezIyeW6-GQsqEKtIVa67SHDwfxEaEeZvwZpz29PdBdBWG9bP-z1skLe_IcaXuIZwt1WTliFKjVyV2XcPLO-1bQRY477buE5QhKiHQBqM2a6HxOUkFWoyDZaTZpBvZ7Djv/s320/Forthside+%2526+Medowside.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forthside and Meadowforth sites in Stirling</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The closure programme in
Scotland starts with Craigiehall on the outskirts of Edinburgh in 2018.
Perhaps it will return to its old role of being a hotel? Redford follows
a few years later but it is only the old Edwardian infantry and cavalry
barracks which will go; the more modern Reserves site next door which
hosts several regular and reserve units - from the Army, Navy and Air
Force - will remain. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Recent strategic reviews and
reductions of our armed forces have left a large MoD estate with not
enough units to fill them. This has happened many times in the past.
The Royal Navy no longer has a presence at places like Invergordon, Port
Edgar or The Royal Elizabeth Yard. When the Queen Elizabeth aircraft
carriers are built and leave Rosyth for Portsmouth their crews go with
them and MoD Caledonia will move to Edinburgh. Over the past fifty years
barracks have been sold off and redeveloped in Inverness, Perth,
Aberdeen, Ayr, Glasgow and Hamilton as the Army has shrunk. That’s not
even taking into consideration all the drill halls across the country
which have disappeared as the TA became the TAVR and then Army Reserves. Two RAF
air bases in Scotland have recently been converted to army barracks
when their aircraft departed - Kinloss and Leuchars, although some
non-flying RAF units remain on the bases as lodger units alongside the
army. Former RAF bases in Scotland now host museums, racetracks, car boot
sales and annual music festivals. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are currently
four infantry barracks in Scotland – Fort George dominates the Moray
Firth and the other three are all part of the Edinburgh Garrison - Redford, Glencorse, and Dreghorn.
This announcement leaves only Dreghorn by 2032. So the question is not
so much what happens to the buildings and land but what happens to the
units occupying them? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsOKxcVXMzatT7nFcwosOw-TxewrlqXyijRyaMHXLF4Q3X_dzEMKuNSFpX2QfQNCRFD92v7JMDvF5bI1EWosaWEOr2O12k_HwUmss4nXKLARQj-ujX0ae_8DKCWAL4bRrdufeftsqVidvW/s1600/AA+Fort+George.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsOKxcVXMzatT7nFcwosOw-TxewrlqXyijRyaMHXLF4Q3X_dzEMKuNSFpX2QfQNCRFD92v7JMDvF5bI1EWosaWEOr2O12k_HwUmss4nXKLARQj-ujX0ae_8DKCWAL4bRrdufeftsqVidvW/s320/AA+Fort+George.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fort George</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Royal Regiment of Scotland has
already been reduced from five regular battalions to four in the ten
years it has been in existence. The 5th Battalion now only exists as
Balaklava Company a public duties incremental company. Will the next
sixteen years see a further reduction and a loss of the 4th Battalion
and even the 3rd? The Royal Scots Borderers are in Northern Ireland and
the Highlanders are in England. 3rd Bn The Rifles currently occupy
Dreghorn but will the next few years see a reshuffle and disbandments of
these battalions? The big battalion regiments in England have been
repeatedly reduced and amalgamated. <a href="http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/whats-in-name.html" target="_blank">Why should the Royal Regiment of Scotland not suffer a similar fate over the next sixteen years</a>? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It
should be remembered that only five years ago Dreghorn was also to go
along with Redford and Glencorse and a super-barracks was to be built at
Kirknewton airfield. <a href="http://www.forth1.com/news/local/plan-for-kirknewton-army-base-is-scrapped/" target="_blank">That plan was scrapped two years later </a>under a
further review when the army left Germany. Dreghorn has been reprieved
this time round and is unlikely to be disposed of any time soon. Who is
to say that in five, ten or fifteen years time another strategic review
will see a requirement for units to continue to be based in Glencorse or
Fort George? With continued fighting in the Middle East, a new occupant
in the White House - and an old-school one in the Kremlin - who knows
what future defence reviews will bring? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On a less
contentious note, something else which is of particular interest to us
in the Scottish Military Research Group is the war memorials currently
in the barracks. Fort George is currently shared with Historic
Environment Scotland and no doubt they will take ownership from the MoD
when the army eventually moves out. We’ve sixteen years to find out what
the Scottish Government will do with the site but it’s likely the
Seaforth Highlanders’ memorials will remain. But what happens to the
regimental memorials at Glencorse and Redford? Based on previous barrack
sales, these estates will probably be redeveloped into housing and it
is unlikely the memorials will remain. Perhaps they will relocate to
Dreghorn or the Castle. We’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on what
happens to them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
These are the sites being disposed of and what is happening to the current occupants:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
(Click on the table to make it larger)</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxu1LUnB9AL-RalrtATBiKQT2jKUZPKZy_9m9ZV3wiGoQFWNSGd7sf0thY6tjDmwhqZEOwrR1t6wTZhcAYLehyphenhyphenRvd6WxkHsIVREfReVuBocJqYduZbE3KLvxOi-2jtpDCjiR5X1ya1d1C/s1600/Barrack.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxu1LUnB9AL-RalrtATBiKQT2jKUZPKZy_9m9ZV3wiGoQFWNSGd7sf0thY6tjDmwhqZEOwrR1t6wTZhcAYLehyphenhyphenRvd6WxkHsIVREfReVuBocJqYduZbE3KLvxOi-2jtpDCjiR5X1ya1d1C/s400/Barrack.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-22747349680360116252016-10-09T12:29:00.003+01:002016-10-09T12:31:26.881+01:00Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-18939691326919619002016-10-09T12:29:00.002+01:002016-10-09T12:31:21.551+01:00Joint Warrior Time<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It's
that time of year for another Exercise Joint Warrior. If you've never heard of
it you've probably had an inkling that it was on if you lived anywhere near the
Lower Clyde, Moray, Leith or the Western Highlands and the Islands. It's always a good
opportunity to see some of our own warships and warplanes and those of our NATO allies. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Here's a couple of images from previous exercises</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ul_ZYqCKaQKynPQooxOIc-Uifs2Xr36JSOEfKtaNOIcEX5WKlzWu-uiKaVWfWotUzGZnPbI8Lz44-cmgJrHdHKb_Qz6-mbtvFFgIv1odOALun2gZb6nrpnAbzOmw5ZEEnTtfaxsoOu2_/s1600/Joint-Warrior+Type+45+Destroyer+HMS+Diamond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ul_ZYqCKaQKynPQooxOIc-Uifs2Xr36JSOEfKtaNOIcEX5WKlzWu-uiKaVWfWotUzGZnPbI8Lz44-cmgJrHdHKb_Qz6-mbtvFFgIv1odOALun2gZb6nrpnAbzOmw5ZEEnTtfaxsoOu2_/s320/Joint-Warrior+Type+45+Destroyer+HMS+Diamond.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HMS Diamond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Z-qC9Uo2oT2SBaicb6bTwdPDER1vOiGiVldoageLmvXlf1BnTOT_IRgiHNOeTh2bWAFh9-gCjtldCuKPooUvRsuwHV9P7XPcvcihYuP_Fk3vWcPCMFsmGp-PC79XoA_FJLhC-Heq1bgL/s1600/KNM+Gnist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Z-qC9Uo2oT2SBaicb6bTwdPDER1vOiGiVldoageLmvXlf1BnTOT_IRgiHNOeTh2bWAFh9-gCjtldCuKPooUvRsuwHV9P7XPcvcihYuP_Fk3vWcPCMFsmGp-PC79XoA_FJLhC-Heq1bgL/s320/KNM+Gnist.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KNM Gnist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWhhX7rczHOWdguEOo6QqbbGvSB9L4e6Qr8OBmQJ4xwx7yc25uyhLFfbsOKVVNOXSBBRhsvTLTdjAj7p1X3pqleWeD5RrEVAhNdFvUxeyXHs0S0kXUHwugnUz2ogAwqj_2NQ2rin_xfka/s1600/JW+Lossiemouth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWhhX7rczHOWdguEOo6QqbbGvSB9L4e6Qr8OBmQJ4xwx7yc25uyhLFfbsOKVVNOXSBBRhsvTLTdjAj7p1X3pqleWeD5RrEVAhNdFvUxeyXHs0S0kXUHwugnUz2ogAwqj_2NQ2rin_xfka/s320/JW+Lossiemouth.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RAF Lossiemouth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
And here's
what the Royal Navy say about it <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h1 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0in 0in 22.5pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/qhm/clyde/jw" target="_blank">Major military exercise comes to Scotland</a></span></span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
Around 5,700 military personnel from armed forces across the world will take part in the UK-led training which will run from 8 to 20 October.</div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
Thirty-one warships and submarines, as well as some 67 aircraft will be involved, with much of the activity taking place off the Scottish coast, at RAF Lossiemouth, at Prestwick and on military ranges across the country. </div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 21.6pt; margin-bottom: 18.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
At the same time as Joint Warrior, the world’s first large scale, multi environment demonstration of unmanned technology will also take place in the Western Isles. Unmanned Warrior, as it is known, will give industry an opportunity to show the latest systems at military ranges in Benbecula, Stornoway, Applecross and Kyle of Lochalsh</div>
Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-11948704869478408592016-09-01T09:58:00.001+01:002016-09-01T10:00:25.319+01:00Remembering the Raceland: Righting a Wrong<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">During the
Second World War one of the most perilous duties of any Allied ship was to
round the North Cape under threat of attack from the Luftwaffe, U-boats and the
Arctic weather. In March 1942 one of the hundreds of merchant ships which
braved those waters in the PQ Arctic convoys sailing that route became one of
the victims. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Clydebuilt
SS <i>Raceland</i> had been the Italian
owned ship<i> Ircana</i> berthed in Florida.
In 1941 she was requisitioned, passed into US ownership, and as was common for
the day was registered under her new name in Panama. The ports of the USA were
filled with sailors from all over the world in 1942 and her crew was as multi-national
as her background. The bulk of her crew
were Scandinavian – Norwegians, Danes and Swedes but there were also Estonians,
Dutch, Canadian, English and Scots sailing her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">On 28<sup>th</sup>
March 1942 the<i> Raceland </i>was attacked
by Junkers 88 Luftwaffe bombers as she rounded the tip of Norway on her way to
Murmansk as part of convoy PQ13. After taking several hits the<i> Raceland’s</i> engines gave up and the ship
began to sink. She was already a slow ship and the convoy couldn’t wait for her
as she settled in the water. It was a still day in the Arctic waters and with
their ship sinking beneath them the forty-five crew took to four lifeboats in
the hope of reaching the fairly close Norwegian coast. Their luck took a turn
for the worse that night as the weather changed and a storm scattered the
lifeboats and capsized two, killing all occupants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">For the next few
days the two remaining lifeboats endured the hardships of small boats in Arctic
waters. Exposure took its toll in both boats and many men died before they separately
reached the inhospitable shores of northern Norway; one boat after five days
and the other after eleven. The bodies of those who died after reaching land
first were recovered, but were buried at a remote location on the island of
Söröy. All the Scots sailing on the Raceland had died on the lifeboats and had
no grave but the sea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">A few men did
survive, and it is from the survivors - passing the details via the Red Cross,
from a German prisoner-of-war camp, to the next of kin of their dead shipmates
- that we know this story of the <i>Raceland’s</i>
fate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Unfortunately - and shamefully -the Scots of the <i>Raceland</i>
who laid down their lives for freedom were not commemorated by the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission after the war. Out of ten Commonwealth crew members of
the ship only one was commemorated by the CWGC. I think it is no coincidence
that Ship's Boy Roy Currie - who was one of those whose bodies were recovered on land
- is the only one commemorated. Either the German or Norwegian authorities will
have recorded his death and burial, and ensured his recording in the official
registers. The rest have been lost in a gap of recording British and Canadian
nationals serving in non-British registered ships. The recording of British
sailors lost in British ships during both World Wars was already patchy; adding
an extra level of administration had obviously been too much. In April 1942 the
US Coastguard informed the British Consulate in Washington of the British
nationals who were missing after the loss of the <i>Raceland</i>. We don’t know if this was the only occasion when the
details of the names were passed on to UK authorities from the US authorities
but there are other paper trails between next of kin and US authorities and
ship owners to suspect it wasn’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">A nephew of one
of the Dutchmen who died when the <i>Raceland
</i>foundered has been researching the fate of the ship and the men for a book
he is going to publish. Jos Odjink in the Netherlands has already pieced
together the facts around the sinking of the ship and has researched the
background to many of the crew. It is thanks to Jos’s hard work that we know so
much about the <i>Raceland </i>and we are
very grateful that he has put a lot of the details online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.ss-raceland.com/indexEnglish.html">http://www.ss-raceland.com/indexEnglish.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Consulting
archives in London and Washington whilst on business trips, Jos has uncovered
several useful documents. From Jos’s information and the work of some members
of the Scottish War Memorials Project this is what we know of the Scottish
sailors of the <i>Raceland</i> so far:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">John G Keogh <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">He was born at Carntyne Street, Shettleston on 28th March 1902. The
ship was sunk on his 40th birthday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">His parents were John and Ellen Keough (nee McKeown) and in the 1911
Census he was one of five children. His next-of-kin address during the war was
given as 703 Shettleston Road, Glasgow - his mother was living there. She died
in the same location in July 1949. One of the survivors wrote to her from a PoW
camp and said her son had died the day after the sinking. A Merchant Navy index
card from 1937 for John Keough survives and gives his rating as Fireman. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">James Joseph Burns <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">No date of birth has been found yet, but his age is given as 38 by
the US Coastguard so it should be around 1904. No James Joseph Burns has been
found to match this date of birth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">His next-of-kin address was given as 117 Florence Street, Glasgow -
it was his mother who was living there. The same survivor in the PoW camp who
gave information to John Keogh’s mother told James Burns’ mother that her son
had died in a lifeboat on the 2nd of April. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">Hugh McKenzie<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">This man is more difficult to track down and not just because of the
name. He was listed by the US Coastguard as 48 years old, so he should have a
date of birth around the mid 1890's. His next of kin address is given as 1913,
75th St Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Jos thinks he may have taken US
citizenship even though the US Coastguard sent his details to the British
Embassy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">We have managed to find a Merchant Navy index card for a Hugh Brown
Mckenzie with a birth of 2nd November 1896 in Glasgow which is a possible lead
but will need to be confirmed. Interestingly it also features a photo of the
man concerned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonEE-yUX8fTi0NJRWmc2zRvcCCut-XoYmtmmWOGguDN6OLYhVjzwyxQ-HIgbuiAZGaGDBk2GQpHEQVz_7WtbzikdAhW0cxsZlxfF6pnLYeGBVuGY6Os34koE2v6frcJlEjzsKMnW2vcbW/s1600/High+Mackenzie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonEE-yUX8fTi0NJRWmc2zRvcCCut-XoYmtmmWOGguDN6OLYhVjzwyxQ-HIgbuiAZGaGDBk2GQpHEQVz_7WtbzikdAhW0cxsZlxfF6pnLYeGBVuGY6Os34koE2v6frcJlEjzsKMnW2vcbW/s320/High+Mackenzie.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Could this be Hugh McKenzie?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN-GB">Jack Kleinberg</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">This man is actually listed on the SNWM roll of honour at Edinburgh
Castle. This is because his sister approached the Secretary to the SNWM
Trustees in the 1990’s with the information she had about her brother’s death.
The SNWM entry says he was born in Glasgow:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Able Seaman Jack
Kleinberg <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Place of birth:
Glasgow <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Date of death: 28
March 1942 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Theatre of death:
Unknown <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">SNWM roll:
MERCHANT NAVY & FISHING FLEETS (Part 1) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Unit attached to
MERCHANT NAVY & FISHING FLEETS <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Other detail S.S.
"RACELAND" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Jos Odjink has found a letter from Kleinberg’s fiancée -an Etta
Bernstein of Glasgow -looking for information from the ship owners about his
fate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Along with his place of birth, that would seem to suggest he was a
Glaswegian but intriguingly he is also listed on the Jewish War Memorial in
Piershill Cemetery in Edinburgh. This memorial also gives his age as 23. It was
the investigation of this man’s name on which prompted the SMRG investigation
of the fate of the other Scottish crewmen of the Raceland – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=8363&mforum=warmemscot">http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=8363&mforum=warmemscot</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_i1025"
type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:145.5pt;height:195pt;visibility:visible;
mso-wrap-style:square'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:/Users/Daddy/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image003.jpg"
o:title=""/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO-RvP99ks9ngQGj4sWZbpf6_2m66RKIXm6INf1mJUFnprZ6gCvYz_W2Qi8rSHh5Rgp0HbY1TZjXJkxfUuvJJc1Ee1TgSEfuNMuazzigZZTCpRRntiNT-3syTuJ3m0DvZKhkElPftEdEUF/s1600/Piershill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO-RvP99ks9ngQGj4sWZbpf6_2m66RKIXm6INf1mJUFnprZ6gCvYz_W2Qi8rSHh5Rgp0HbY1TZjXJkxfUuvJJc1Ee1TgSEfuNMuazzigZZTCpRRntiNT-3syTuJ3m0DvZKhkElPftEdEUF/s320/Piershill.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px; line-height: 11.3067px; text-indent: 48px;">Jewish War Memorial in Piershill Cemetery</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Earlier this
year Jack Kleinberg’s name came to the attention of Martin Sugarman. Martin has
set himself the task of identifying Jewish servicemen and women who had died
during the World Wars but had not been commemorated by the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission. We passed on all we had on Jack Kleinberg to Martin as did
Jos Odjink. Martin lives in London and is able to make regular visits to The
National Archives and was able to track down the vital pieces of information
which could be used as evidence in progressing Jack Kleinberg’s case with the
CWGC. The good news is Jack Kleinberg
has been accepted by the CWGC for commemoration and he will be added to their
database. At some point in the future his name will also be added to the Tower
Hill Memorial to the Merchant Navy in London.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The other
Commonwealth war dead lost on the<i>
Raceland</i> deserve to be commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, and the three Scots by the Scottish National War Memorial. With
Martin’s successful submission to the CWGC that commemoration looks a step
closer and the SMRG will look for the evidence and provide them to the relevant
authorities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s not just
the men of the <i>Raceland.</i> Other Scots
serving on US merchant ships are not commemorated either. There will be some
amount of work to identify the unrecorded Scots and get them commemorated, but
the men who manned our lifeline, the unsung heroes of the Second World War,
deserve nothing less. Men like:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Thomas Mullin. Lost on the <i>Nathaniel Green</i> 02/24/43 F/W from
Rothesay, Bute, Scotland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">C. W Hunter. Lost on the <i>Nimba</i> 09/13/42 Scotland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Joseph Sutherland. Lost on the <i>Rochester </i>01/30/42 3rd Engineer, from
Glasgow, Scotland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Edward M Mackin. Lost on the <i>Tambour</i> 09/26/42 Donkeyman, from
Scotland, Aged 32<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">John McRae. Lost on the <i>Winkler</i> 02/23/43 Able Seaman, from
Scotland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Hugh J. Smith. Lost on the <i>Winkler</i> 02/23/43 Ordinary Seaman, from
Scotland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-2663387198261903462016-07-22T14:35:00.000+01:002016-07-22T14:35:07.981+01:00Private war memorials in churches<div style="text-align: justify;">
Just south of Dunnotar Castle in the old county of Kincardine is the small village of Catterline. There is no civic war memorial in the village but there are memorials in the Church of Scotland and Episcopal Church to the men of the village who lost their lives in the World Wars. The cross in the churchyard of St James’ Episcopal Church lists eight First World War names and one for the Second World War. Like many church memorials is lists only names and gives no other details such as rank, unit or date of death to help anyone researching the names. There are also two men with the same name - William Stephen - which is always a challenge when there are no other details. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIU9OhsiPzUDcqwDutf21sKL-hYcwPh4jL2SDrM1Yk6np2OXuUm6ib_KgdkCoMVx-Bgs5oLKT_K2Q81N3Pis2_zsVTGcO2J_HxohIvuEPS3K9gdtdAxCk3WRA3kcri3tH8mwsj3uP7w-N/s1600/steven+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIU9OhsiPzUDcqwDutf21sKL-hYcwPh4jL2SDrM1Yk6np2OXuUm6ib_KgdkCoMVx-Bgs5oLKT_K2Q81N3Pis2_zsVTGcO2J_HxohIvuEPS3K9gdtdAxCk3WRA3kcri3tH8mwsj3uP7w-N/s320/steven+2.jpg" width="176" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church War Memorial, St James' Catterline</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Luckily, inside the church is a private memorial to one of the William Stephens with more information to help identify who he was. </div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAGHZljlEAqYSTi4Dzz6GYxrYZr8FjKnuWEe5W7nwVwFF4P6dOCaqcJDdT02U7v0WO9kw5rwmD1Xq6_YQkO0PvIBmF65bzGdGtSfbhdd7Pz5YDs31oK1ZDqlg9-5sb4s4xuvX6iHN07YA/s1600/stephen+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAGHZljlEAqYSTi4Dzz6GYxrYZr8FjKnuWEe5W7nwVwFF4P6dOCaqcJDdT02U7v0WO9kw5rwmD1Xq6_YQkO0PvIBmF65bzGdGtSfbhdd7Pz5YDs31oK1ZDqlg9-5sb4s4xuvX6iHN07YA/s320/stephen+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Private Memorial in St James', Catterline</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unlike civic memorials or other public memorials, privately purchased memorials often have a lot of information on them. They can be simple memorials such as an inscription on a headstone of they could be a brass or marble plaque on a church wall; or sometimes they are stained glass windows or other church fittings. Private memorials often give details of the cause and place of death and family information. Sometimes they will give the citations for gallantry awards or their war service before their deaths. A private memorial such as the one to William Stephen should be a very useful source of information for researchers then. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The one in Catterline Church certainly has plenty of information. It records William Stephen’s rank, ship, next of kin, date of death and age. It was erected by the officers and engineers of the Australian Transport ship A.49 – a ship used to ferry Australian service personnel and cargo. Engineer Stephen had been in the crew of the SS “Seang Choon” before it had been requisitioned in 1915 as the HMAT 49 and had remained on the ship – still in the Mercantile Marine – when it was under Australian orders.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Engineer Stephen died in early 1917 but a search on the fate of the ship shows it was not lost in early January but in mid-1917. The HMAT 49 was torpedoed by U-87 off Ireland in June 1917. There is also no record of the ship being in any action which would have caused the death of Engineer Stephen.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stephen’s private memorial records that he died on “Active Service” on 2nd January 1917 but a search on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database does not show an entry for him, neither does the Scottish National War Memorial database. The CWGC and SNWM have strict criteria for inclusion for men of the Mercantile Marine on their databases. Engineer Stephen may have faced many of the same risks as his Royal Navy colleagues on the high seas but if he did not die as a result of enemy action then he would not qualify for inclusion on the CWGC or SNWM databases. The inscription “Active Service” is a red herring. This is unfortunately quite common on private headstones where ranks, units and dates can all be inscribed incorrectly and send researchers down blind alleys.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As it turns out 2nd Engineer William Stephen did not die on active service. At the time of his death he was not even at sea, he was in Greenwich Hospital and died of Meningitis & Hypostatic Pneumonia. If he had been in the Royal Navy rather than a civilian organisation he would have qualified for commemoration. He is one of many Scottish mariners who did their bit in the war but are not remembered in official records as a war death. However he is still remembered in his home village, and by the Scottish Military Research Group Commemorations Project (SMRGCP)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-15221863636682192342014-12-02T18:50:00.002+00:002014-12-02T18:51:54.844+00:00Donald Where's Your Troosers?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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 <a href="http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/mixed-fortunes-for-scotlands-regimental.html" target="_blank">in a Blog before</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The first was the <a href="http://news.stv.tv/east-central/268552-soldiers-killed-during-first-world-war-buried-100-years-after-death/" target="_blank">reburial of Private William McAleer</a> of the
7<sup>th</sup> 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?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZpUYpf1o7nz_WoQAnMo2XYViQEpOkdAoQrHDRxbSUMheSxgMtfBwrGsw43G09uJ-Mx1834cMLDvvqCWJCt9Js5ebkNgsETJem2eVAZ6WmYaweb65epPU5Js0umWRAiB26sFldQdVbYDS/s1600/RS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZpUYpf1o7nz_WoQAnMo2XYViQEpOkdAoQrHDRxbSUMheSxgMtfBwrGsw43G09uJ-Mx1834cMLDvvqCWJCt9Js5ebkNgsETJem2eVAZ6WmYaweb65epPU5Js0umWRAiB26sFldQdVbYDS/s1600/RS.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to John Duncan for the photograph</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The second occasion was last week’s naming of the square
outside the Usher Hall in Edinburgh to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-30236001" target="_blank">McCrae’s Place</a>. This was
to commemorate the centenary of the raising of the 16<sup>th</sup> (2<sup>nd</sup>
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?</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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 52<sup>nd</sup> Lowland to be uniformed in trews for these events? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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 <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?url=http://rhf.org.uk/Books/RROS%2520Dress%2520Regs.pdf&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=dEJ8VO3RGcnQ7Aa6uYHYDw&ved=0CBQQFjAA&sig2=lz_pnBgB8VFoH_mWnhJ_sQ&usg=AFQjCNGdUQ1jHAU2slk-VFP4KPwgNP52CA" target="_blank">which are online</a> it is No. 2c Dress. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Currently it specifies it is to be worn “..<i>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</i>" 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?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
To try and rectify this sometimes incongruous use of kilts
by the Royal Regiment of Scotland, an <a href="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/72626" target="_blank">e-petition</a> has been raised with the MoD to change the dress
regulations to allow trews to be worn by certain units on ceremonial
occasions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If you would like to see Scottish infantrymen parade in
trews again, please take the time to sign the petition here:
<a href="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/72626">http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/72626</a> and please spread the word.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-49794246073614634012014-10-26T11:50:00.000+00:002014-10-26T11:50:50.181+00:00CWGC Mobile app<span class="userContent">Did you know the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission has an app? It's available for Windows, Android and iOS, and
can be downloaded from the link below.<br /> <br /> It primarily can be used for finding burials near you, but at the moment it seems you c<span class="text_exposed_show">an't
see the list of those buried in a particular cemetery (although that
might just be the ones near me that I've looked at). It also seems to
only show those very close to you. I scrolled around the map and it
still only had pinpoints for the two cemeteries in Carluke where I'm
currently located. Wishaw and Lanark (the two nearest towns to Carluke)
both have CWGC burials and nothing showed up for them. I also scrolled
to France and Belgium and nothing showed up there either!<br /> <br /> Some
cemeteries are "featured" - you get a little more information, and a
cemetery plan, but again no list of those buried. There is a further
"featured" option in the page for these cemeteries, but that takes you
to a page on the CWGC site with some selected casualties. Still no
option to help you find a particular casualty. If you plan to use this
app to find where your relative is buried, I wouldn't bother.<br /> <br />
The search facility could use some work - I searched for "Airbles" and
it came up blank, but "Dalziel" brought me up Dalziel (Airbles) Cemetery
in Motherwell. Given that the cemetery is commonly known as Airbles
Cemetery, that's not a particularly useful search. Searching "etaples"
found Etaples British Cemetery with no problem. It seems it might simply search for the first word in the name - a wildcard search option would
be of more use.<br /> <br /> To sum up - could do better. It's reasonably useful
for finding a cemetery you might not know about, but it needs a little
work. It needs to show you more on the "nearby" map, and to make it
REALLY useful it needs to give the list of those buried in each
cemetery, or at the very least provide a link to the relevant page on
the CWGC website.<br /> <br /> Hopefully they'll get similar feedback from others and make some amendments.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.cwgc.org/app.aspx" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.cwgc.org/app.aspx</a></span></span>David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-10726000415935301632014-07-25T23:28:00.000+01:002014-07-26T22:31:34.173+01:00Celebrating Scotland's disproportionate WW1 deaths<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
The Commonwealth Games is now upon us,
and whilst that means one countdown is now finished for Glasgow another one is
entering its final days. On 4<sup>th</sup> August 2014 the Commonwealth Heads
will gather in Glasgow Cathedral for a service of commemoration to mark the
centenary of the start of the Great War. There will also be another ceremony
later in the day in George Square at the City’s Cenotaph.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
A week later on 10<sup>th</sup> August,
the Scottish Government’s own commemoration will take place in Edinburgh - at
the Castle Esplanade and then Holyrood Park. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Around both dates I’m sure we can
expect social media, online comments and letter pages to be filled with an indignant
section of the Scottish population complaining about us <b>celebrating the
start of war in which the number of Scots killed was disproportionally higher
than the other parts of Britain (26.4% compared to 11.8%)</b>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
I guarantee you will see these words
and you will see these figures trotted out repeatedly over the next few weeks.
With that in mind it’s worth having a look in some detail about the facts
behind them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<b>Celebrating the
Start of the War<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Some people, and to be fair this isn’t
just a Scottish trait, seem to find it highly offensive that the start of the
First World War should be commemorated. They consider no centenary event before
11<sup>th</sup> November 2018 is worthy of commemoration. None of the battles
where Scots fought so bravely to defeat the Germans should be marked – The Germans remember were the ones
who had invaded and occupied parts of Belgium, France, Poland, the Baltic
states, Russia and Ukraine. To some it is only the end of the “futile war”
which should be remembered and nothing else. That is nonsense. If we are to
learn anything from this - and Scotland WW100, the Scottish Government’s
First World War centenary programme, uses as its tagline “What do we learn from
all th1s” (the 1 is their choice, not my typo) - then we must commemorate
the war’s events from August 2014 onwards. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
For a list of the events being
officially commemorated by the Scottish Government between 2014 and 2019, under
the direction of Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop’s Scottish Commemoration Panel,
there is a <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Review/WW1-Commemoration-Panel">Scottish Government webpage</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Notice I have repeatedly used the
words “commemorated” or “commemoration” and not used the words “celebrated” or
“celebration”. The use of “celebrate” has been seized on by many with an agenda
after a comment by David Cameron, at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/speech-at-imperial-war-museum-on-first-world-war-centenary-plans">a speech in the Imperial War Museum in
October 2012</a> after a very
successful summer of celebrations across the UK for the Olympics and the
Jubilee.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN">“Our ambition is a truly national commemoration, worth of this historic
centenary. I want a commemoration that captures our national spirit, in
every corner of the country, from our schools to our workplaces, to our town
halls and local communities. A commemoration that, like the Diamond
Jubilee celebrated this year, says something about who we are as a people.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">It was ill-judged analogy, and Jeremy Paxman amongst others has </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global/2013/oct/08/jeremy-paxman-david-cameron-first-world-war"><span lang="EN">criticised its
use</span></a><span lang="EN">. </span>Since that time,
anyone involved in organising official events for the First World War centenary
have been preparing for <u>commemorations</u> and certainly not Diamond Jubilee-like
celebrations. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<b>The number of
Scots killed in WW1 was disproportionally higher than the other nationalities
in Britain<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Thanks
to two prominent Scottish academic history professors – Niall Ferguson and Sir
Tom Devine – we have incorrect figures being quoted as fact by many Scottish commentators
and our media. Because the good professors have quoted these figures <b>it must be true</b>. Even Trevor Royle, the
Scottish Commemorations Panel’s historical advisor, has <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/my-2014-any-sense-of-celebration-has-been-kicked-into-the-long-grass.23074192">recently quoted the incorrect total
for our war dead</a>,
even though he has been on record as quoting more accurate figures in the past,
and admits on page 529 of his First World War chapter in <i>A
Military History of Scotland,</i>
published in 2012, that “<i>it is impossible
to get absolute agreement on the exact number of Scottish war deaths</i>”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Niall
Ferguson first quoted the figure of 26.4% as a total number of Scots killed as
a percentage of those who mobilised, on page 299 of his book <i>The Pity of War</i>
in 1998 . On the previous page of his book he also said the following:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN">"The Scots were (after
the Serbs and Turks) the soldiers who suffered the highest death rate of the
war</span></i><span lang="EN">"</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Ferguson
cites American historian Professor Jay Winter’s 1986 book <i><span lang="EN">The Great War and
the British People</span></i> as
his source of data. He compares Scotland’s 26.4% with the figure of 11.8% for
the same numbers of dead for Britain and Ireland as a whole. Winter’s book
shows a table on page 75 – <i>Table 3.4</i>,
<i><span lang="EN">Some Estimates of
Military Losses Among Combatant Countries in the 1914-1918 War</span></i><i><span lang="EN">. </span></i><span lang="EN">The table<i>
</i></span>includes the
11.8% figure for Britain and Ireland, and Serbia and Turkey, but there is no
mention of Scotland. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Winter’s
figures in his book are based on the statistics in the publications <i><span lang="EN">Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great
War 1914-1920; </span></i><i><span lang="EN">General Annual Report of the British Army 1913-1919;</span></i><span lang="EN"> <i>History of the War, Naval
Operations </i>and <i>History of the Great
War. War in the Air. </i>In none of these publications is the figure of
Scotland’s war dead quoted. Ferguson seems to have come up with that figure
himself but does not explain his calculations. Some fact! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Sir
Tom Devine’s figures are in his book <i>The Scottish Nation 1700-2000</i>.
(published 2000) on page 309. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">"<i>Of the 557,000 Scots who
enlisted in all services, 26.4 per cent lost their lives. This compares with an
average death rate of 11.8 per cent for the rest of the British army between
1914 and 1918. Of all the combatant nations, only the Serbs and the Turks had
higher per capita mortality rates”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">This looks quite familiar. 26.4% versus 11.8% and references to Serbia and
Turkey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">Unfortunately, Devine does not cite his sources for these statistics and
compares the number of Scots in all services - army, navy and air-force - against
a figure for British Army deaths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">With neither professor providing the detail behind their calculations we
will have to make some assumptions on where they got their figures from. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">Devine gives us a figure of 557,000 of Scots who enlisted in all services
in WW1 as a basis for his statement. </span><span lang="EN">On page 740 of </span><i><span lang="EN">Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great
War 1914-1920, </span></i><span lang="EN">published by HMSO in 1920, we
get a figure of 557,618 as the men and women recruited (or “mobilised” as
Ferguson would say) in Scotland during the war. This is presumably where Devine
gets his 557,000 figure. If anyone knows differently, please let me know. </span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">So where does Professor Devine get 26.4% from? If you compare the </span><span lang="EN">figure of 147,000 - which was the total number of WW1 dead recorded in
the rolls in the Scottish National War Memorial (SNWM) in the 1990s - against
557,000, you get 26.39%, or rounded up, 26.4%. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">This SNWM total will also give you Ferguson’s
figure:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
Total number of Scots killed
(147,000) as a percentage of those who mobilised (557,618) equals 26.36%, rounded
up to 26.4%<span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">Two eminent historians, two ostensibly
collaborating statistics and both complete tosh. We can discount the statistics
from both men because:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Both professors have derived
their figures from the same data. Devine’s statistics do not prove Ferguson’s
are true and vice-versa.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN" style="text-indent: -18pt;">The Scottish National War
Memorial figure of 147,000 includes many non-Scots serving in Scottish
regiments and the double and triple counting of entries. We’ve covered this
subject in a bit more detail before </span><a href="http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/lies-damned-lies-and-statistics.html" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN">in another Blog post</span></a><span lang="EN" style="text-indent: -18pt;">. The gist of it is this; the number of
Scottish war dead is likely to be nearer 100,000 - 110,000 than 150,000. One
hundred thousand Scottish war dead is the figure Trevor Royle used in his <i>Flowers of the Forest</i> (published 2006)
and was also used by Doctor Catriona M.M. McDonald and Professor Elaine W.
McFarland in their publication <i>Scotland
And The Great War</i> (published 1998).</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN" style="text-indent: -18pt;">557,618 is the total number of Scotsmen and women
recruited by the British Army – from 1914 to 1918. On page 740 of </span><a href="https://archive.org/stream/statisticsofmili00grea#page/n3/mode/2up" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><i><span lang="EN">Statistics of the Military Effort of the British
Empire During the Great War 1914-1920</span></i></a><span lang="EN" style="text-indent: -18pt;"> it clearly states at
the top of the list (e) that the figures represent “<i>The provision of men for the armed Forces of the Crown (as far as the
Army is concerned)”. </i>It does not include tens of thousands of pre-war
Scottish recruits to the regular army, the reserve and the Territorial Force,
which is only given as a UK-wide total at the top of the table. It also does
not include the Scots who served in the Royal Navy and later the Royal Air
Force. It is also missing the Scotsmen in the armed services of the Dominions –
Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and India. </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Trevor Royle in </span><i style="text-indent: -18pt;">A Military History of Scotland</i><span lang="EN" style="text-indent: -18pt;"> (2012) says that 690,235 Scots had been
mobilised in the First World War but does not give any detail on where he got
this figure. I think it’s safe to assume this figure is for Scots in UK forces only and does not include the Scottish diaspora's service. </span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">So if Devine and Ferguson are
wrong and 26.4% of Scots mobilised didn’t die during the First World War, what
is the correct number? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">Using Royle’s figures of
c.100,000 dead and 690,235 served, gives a percentage of 14.4%. Still higher
than 11.8%, but nowhere close to 26.4%. 14.4% also compares a total of the dead
which includes the Scots diaspora serving in Dominion and Imperial units
against a mobilised total for UK units. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">If the mobilised figure
includes the Scots who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Australian Imperial Force and other overseas
forces, the total number of Scots who served in the Great War might be as high
as 800k. This would give us a Scottish </span><span lang="EN">dead compared to </span><span lang="EN">mobilised percentage of 12.5% - less than half Ferguson and Devine’s statistic
and much closer to the UK total of 11.8%. It’s worth remembering at this point that
the 11.8% doesn’t include English, Welsh and Irish diaspora numbers, so by
factoring that in would there actually be any difference between Scottish and UK
war dead percentages? Personally, I doubt it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">As a founder member of the
Scottish War Memorial Project I have seen thousands of war memorials over the
last few years and take a close interest in memorials wherever I go. If I’m in </span><span lang="EN">Caithness </span><span lang="EN">the First World War memorials
certainly don’t have </span><span lang="EN">twice as many names as ones I
see on memorials in similar sized towns and villages in</span><span lang="EN"> </span><span lang="EN">Cumberland, Carmarthenshire, or County Down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN">Devine and Ferguson’s calculations
don’t stand up to scrutiny, and they certainly don’t add up when you are
standing in front of any tragically long list of names carved in stone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-57189528499078529392014-06-11T00:02:00.000+01:002014-07-26T22:29:18.664+01:00Sending My Laundry Forward: A Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.troubador.co.uk/image/books/9781783064182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.troubador.co.uk/image/books/9781783064182.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sending My Laundry
Forward: A Staff Officer's Account of the First Gulf War</i> is based upon
author Stuart Crawford's diary, which he wrote for the duration of the
conflict. While his unit as a whole was not sent to the Gulf they did make up
the numbers in other regiments, and for various admin tasks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stuart Crawford was assigned as a staff officer based in
Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and while his time in the Gulf was not spent in the thick of combat in the front line his account is no less interesting for this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead of an account of modern-day combat, you instead get
a glimpse of a side of a British military campaign that some might not be happy
to let you see. It is clear from this account that there was a large element of
making things up as they went along, of improvising and figuring out things on
the hoof.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The supply situation in particular makes for interesting
reading, as the tank regiments remaining in Germany are stripped of every
serviceable part and engine, leaving them with tanks which were nothing more
than empty hulks. Copious amounts of supplies are ordered but never reach their
destination, and units send men on scavenging missions which further confuse
the supply situation. Crawford makes clear in his book that one of the lessons
which had to be learned from the first Gulf War was to take a leaf from private
businesses and sort out some kind of inventory system.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The situation at headquarters appears confused and
disorganised, taking time to get into any kind of routine, but it remains clear
that communication between the front line troops and headquarters is patchy at
best. Once air superiority is gained the flow of information becomes a deluge,
often leading to an overload of information of little use to those who need it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being written from a staff perspective actually makes this a
more refreshing read than some modern-day combat memoirs – this gives a
different viewpoint from that which you would normally expect to read and it is
all the more enjoyable for that. Having said that it would be unfair to say
that this was a story of a cushy position well out of danger – with regular
missile attacks this was in no way a danger-free position, and you do get a
sense of concern for the well-being of himself and his colleagues. Despite this
it is clear that the end result of the war was never in doubt, and you can feel
the sense of distaste as the killing continues beyond the point where it might
have been necessary. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I must admit to not having read many books on the first Gulf
War – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bravo Two Zero</i> being possibly
the only other memoir I have read, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sending
My Laundry Forward</i> joins the engaging <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gulf War One</i>
by Hugh McManners on my Desert Storm reading list, and it has made me
determined to seek out others like it. Truthful, humorous and enlightening; I
recommend you seek out a copy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sending My Laundry Forward can be purchased <a href="http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=2693" target="_blank">direct from the publisher</a> or through <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sending-My-Laundry-Forward-Officers/dp/1783064188" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-52171543498789032432013-11-06T23:55:00.000+00:002014-07-26T22:31:11.024+01:00Lies, damned lies, and statistics<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was interesting to see two articles in Scottish
newspapers today about the commemoration of the First World War. One was by
<a href="http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/joan-mcalpine-slaughter-great-war-2677005" target="_blank">Joan McAlpine MSP in the Daily Record</a> and the other was by <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/alex-massie-war-that-changed-a-nation-1-3175229" target="_blank">Alex Massie in The Scotsman</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Both writers came to different conclusions but in both
cases they used incorrect and widely quoted statistics about Scotland and the
Great War.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first is the number of Scottish WW1 war dead. This is
often quoted as 150,000. This figure is taken from the total number of war dead
recorded in the rolls of honour in the <a href="http://www.snwm.org/" target="_blank">Scottish National War Memorial</a>.
Researchers are still finding names to add so the current total is just over
147,00 names.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This figure is based on all the names in all the rolls.
That means the men of the Lovat Scouts who died in Salonika after December 1916
are recorded in two rolls - The Lovat Scouts and the Queens Own Cameron
Highlanders - because between then and the end of the war they were the 10th Bn
Cameron Highlanders. There were several other yeomanry regiments in the same
situation; Black Watch battalions of Scottish Horse and Ayrshire Yeomanry in the
Royal Scots Fusiliers. All these men died once but are recorded twice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Many men served in more than one regiment during the war
for a variety of reasons. A man may have enlisted in the Highland Light
Infantry, transferred to the Royal Scots and by the time of his death be
serving in The Northumberland Fusiliers. One soldier, one death but three entries in the rolls of honour in Edinburgh Castle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a roll specifically for Scottish soldiers
serving in English regiments but there is no roll for Englishmen serving in
Scottish regiments. Each bay in the Scottish National War Memorial for a
Scottish infantry regiment records the men who served in them irrespective of
nationality. The men from Manchester who served in the Royal Scots, the
Dubliners in the Black Watch, the Leicester men in the Seaforth Highlanders are
all counted as Scots in the SNWM. If they happened to serve in two regiments they are double-counted
too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So if there weren't 150,000 Scottish war dead in the
First World War how many did actually die? There is no accurate figure but it's
probably around 100,000 - 110,000. However until all the post-war dead who died of wounds into the
1920's are found and counted an accurate figure is still impossible to determine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We now come onto the second statistic. The five thousand
war memorials which the Scottish Government have set up <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2013/01/to-preserve-memory-of-scotlands-war-dead14012013" target="_blank">a £1m fund</a> to help
restore is based on a figure taken from Wikipedia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A civil servant tasked with a press release must have
gone onto Google, typed in "Scottish War Memorials" and got <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scottish_war_memorials&oldid=555052878" target="_blank">this Wikipedia page</a>. At the time the figure of total Scottish war memorials was given as between 5,000 and 6,000. This had been based on one-tenth of the estimated UK total of war memorials provided by the
Imperial War Museum's United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials
(UKNIWM). I know this because I wrote
the Wikipedia page when that number was 55,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the last couple of years the UKNIWM has revised its figure to 100,000 and the <a href="http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/" target="_blank">Scottish War Memorials Project</a> has estimated that there are 8,000
to 10,000 war memorials in Scotland based on the comprehensive recording work done in Dumfries & Galloway. This figure includes all Scottish war
memorials, not just the ones erected after the First World War.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the SWMP we categorise our memorials as <i>civic, church,
unit, school, individuals</i> and <i>others</i>. There are just over 1,400 civic war
memorials in Scotland, the memorials paid for and erected by locals and used as
the focus of remembrance by communities each November. Of that figure 1,200 are
on high streets and in prominent locations in our towns and villages across
Scotland. These 1,200 Celtic crosses, obelisks, cairns and statues are the ones
the First Minister had in mind when he launched the War Memorial Restoration Fund but they are only
a fraction of the memorials in our country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There will be many more newspaper articles about Scotland
in the First World War in the months to come, lets hope that as the centenary approaches we see a little less reliance on Wikipedia and a lot more accuracy.</span></span></div>
Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-5012889180219035492013-11-02T13:56:00.003+00:002013-11-02T13:56:53.296+00:00Ancestry supporting the Royal British Legion<div id="watch-description-text">
<div id="eow-description">
For each view of the video below, until 20 November
Ancestry.co.uk will donate £1 (up to a maximum of £10,000) to Royal
British Legion Trading Limited which gives its taxable profits to The
Royal British Legion (Charity no. 219279).<br />
<br />
Please share the video with your friends and family. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div id="eow-description">
<br /></div>
</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NUR7IbQqShk" width="560"></iframe>David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-44457703026460420502013-10-10T23:01:00.000+01:002014-07-26T22:28:37.840+01:00How the Scottish won the English Civil War<i>Book review by Adam Brown</i> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1phZafwPdGyeLFVu9H8Skv7QOAvUtrOZlKjYmAw4Ka87t-yVm_qIfWJobq99TcRERMh4yZ0unRfRv1ICwhgYiO9qktGUihLmasvjMUp8ZXzGTxqja2nWs-Oxu_kHqdTdaT4qaychT8C0/s1600/9780752498607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1phZafwPdGyeLFVu9H8Skv7QOAvUtrOZlKjYmAw4Ka87t-yVm_qIfWJobq99TcRERMh4yZ0unRfRv1ICwhgYiO9qktGUihLmasvjMUp8ZXzGTxqja2nWs-Oxu_kHqdTdaT4qaychT8C0/s320/9780752498607.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
A bugbear of the SMRG is the use of the term English Civil War to describe the wars of the mid-seventeenth century which ranged from Cornwall to Caithness and from Dundee to Duncannon. It wasn’t one war and it wasn’t just the English. The accepted description is now the War of Three Kingdoms.<br />
<br />
That being said, Alisdair McRae can be forgiven for its use for the title of his latest book <b>How the Scottish won the English Civil War</b> because his main focus is on the Scottish intervention in the three English Civil Wars of 1644-46, 1648 and 1649-51 (and he classes the three wars as one).<br />
<br />
McRae uses an unusual angle to take us through that history. He follows one Scottish cavalry regiment – Colonel Hugh Frazer's Dragoones - from their raising in 1643 to their disbandment in 1647. By using their story he explains the impact of the war on ordinary Scottish soldiers, and since Fraser’s Dragoons were involved in the Scottish Civil War it explains the presence of those battles in a book about the English Civil Wars. But what piece about Scotland in this period could not mention Montrose?<br />
<br />
McRae’s book pivots on Fraser’s Dragoons from 1643-47 and the greatest value from this book is explaining in clear terms how battles like Marston Moor – seen today as very much as an English Royalist Cavalier vs Parliamentarian Roundhead battle - and one of the key battles of the First English Civil War - was decisively influenced by the presence of Covenanting blue bonnets from over the border. In fact he likens the Scottish intervention at Marston Moor, and the North of England, as akin to the US entry into the two World Wars. He also points out that where Englishmen might have baulked at killing fellow Englishmen, battle-hardened Scots felt no such qualms.<br />
<br />
This work isn’t just about the First English Civil War though. McRae goes back to the late sixteenth century as a prologue to give the political and military situation of mid-seventeenth century Scotland some context. He also covers a most important factor which may often be overlooked in our more secular times – the religious fervour of the Covenanting army which was whipped up by the Kirk’s ministers accompanying the Scottish army.
He writes about the professionalism of the Scottish troops in the early stages of the English Civil War – thanks mainly to many experienced Scottish mercenaries who returned home to fight in the Bishops Wars in 1639 after being blooded in Europe. The Thirty Years War (TYW) had been raging across the continent since the 1620s and tens of thousands of Scots found employment in the armies of Poland, Sweden and France. McRae calculates that during one period of the TYW, one in ten of the adult males of Scotland were European mercenaries. Colonel Fraser, who raised and led his Dragoons, had been four years in Swedish service for example.<br />
<br />
The bulk of the book is about the Scots in the North of England and their war with Charles I; once Fraser’s Dragoons were disbanded McCrae still continues his history of Scottish soldiers in the War of Three Kingdoms, and covers the dark days of defeat at Preston, Dunbar and Worcester.<br />
<br />
It is clear McRae has done extensive research on the subject and his comprehensive End-Notes, giving short biographies on many soldiers mentioned in the book amongst other interesting snippets, is a very useful appendix.<br />
<br />
I am still not entirely convinced by the title, given the coverage of Scottish affairs and the fact we were ultimately trounced by the New Model Army in the 1650’s. Perhaps it should have been titled “How the Scottish won the First English Civil War” - but it is a very valuable and well researched addition to the historiography of this neglected period, from an author who is obviously passionate and knowledgeable about the period.<br />
<br />
<b>How the Scottish won the English Civil War </b>by Alisdair McRae is available from <a href="http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/index.php/military-history-books/17th-century/how-the-scots-won-the-english-civil-war-the-triumph-of-frazers-dragoones.html" target="_blank">The History Press</a><b>.</b>David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-86129516268870220322013-03-01T20:25:00.002+00:002014-07-26T22:32:01.456+01:00Registered Scottish Charity, No. SC043826<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5403">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5402" style="font-family: Georgia;">Several
years ago something called the Scottish War Memorial Discussion Forum
was set up online. This was to allow anyone to share their photographs
and information about Scottish war memorials.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5403">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5407">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5406" style="font-family: Georgia;">Over
time our little group of volunteers has turned the discussion forum
into a <a href="http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/index.php?mforum=warmemscot" target="_blank">war memorial recording project</a>, added another project <a href="http://scottishwargraves.phpbbweb.com/index.php?sid=8884d5011dea419ee88ecbfa5f26e7d4&mforum=scottishwargraves" target="_blank">recording war graves</a> and dipped our toe into other work such as
publishing rolls of honour transcriptions and giving talks.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5409">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5408" style="font-family: Georgia;">Recently
we’ve worked with Edinburgh University’s <a href="http://www.edinburghs-war.ed.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Edinburgh’s War</a> project
and are partners in their new project - Scotland’s War 1914-1919 - which
has been set up to commemorate the First World War centenary.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5409">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5411">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5410" style="font-family: Georgia;">A
couple of years ago we formed ourselves into an association called the
<a href="http://www.scottishmilitaryresearch.co.uk/" target="_blank">Scottish Military Research Group</a> to manage all our activities.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5411">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5413">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5412" style="font-family: Georgia;">Our
two databases are of national importance; no other organisation has
recorded so much information on so many of Scotland’s war memorials and
war graves and we need that data to be hosted on a more stable platform.
However stable platforms need to be paid for and we currently have no
money!</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5413">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5415">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5414" style="font-family: Georgia;">So,
at the end of last year we applied to the Office of the Scottish
Charity Regulator to become a charity, because with charitable status we
can apply for funding (and accept donations from anyone kind enough to
give us some money) to help us run the projects and achieve our goals.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5415">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5417">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5416" style="font-family: Georgia;">Today
we reached another milestone in our little group’s own history when
OSCR accepted our submission and entered us onto the charity register as
Registered Scottish Charity, No. SC043826.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5417">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5419">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5418" style="font-family: Georgia;">It’s
taken us a while to reach this point. We are a small team who manage
our projects, Blog, <a href="https://twitter.com/S_M_R_G" target="_blank">twitter account</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Scottish-Military-Research-Group/171539162876337" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> in the
precious spare time between work and family commitments so achieving
this status means a lot to us.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5419">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5420">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362168613729_5422" style="font-family: Georgia;">Thanks
to everyone who has supported us so far and we hope you’ll now see some
exciting developments from us in the next few months.</span></div>
David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-33722946387798268722013-02-19T06:00:00.000+00:002013-02-19T06:00:08.004+00:00The City of Glasgow Police War Memorials<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are happy to announce the publication of the City of Glasgow Police War Memorial booklet.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The memorials to the Glasgow Police are on display in the <a href="http://www.policemuseum.org.uk/" target="_blank">Glasgow Police Museum</a>, and Research Group members John and Margaret Houston have been researching the names listed on the memorial.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are please to publish their research,and we would like to congratulate them on their hard work.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The research has been published through online "print on demand" site Lulu, and is available in downloadable pdf format.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-and-margaret-houston/the-city-of-glasgow-police-war-memorials/ebook/product-20701475.html" target="_blank">Please click here to download your copy of the Glasgow Police research.</a></div>
David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-75616964364832647832013-02-19T00:29:00.000+00:002013-02-19T00:29:08.263+00:00Hello again!<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">We haven't updated the
Blog for quite some time. You might have noticed...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">As we do this in our spare time and family and
work life takes up a substantial amount of what is left we found
ourselves unable to keep up with the On This days and Who's Whos. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">We
have also been using <a href="https://twitter.com/S_M_R_G" target="_blank">Twitter </a>and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Scottish-Military-Research-Group/171539162876337" target="_blank">Facebook</a> as a way of
passing on our news, which has been quite successful in spreading the
news of what is happening in the world of Scottish military history. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">But the poor old forlorn
Blog deserves better than suspended animation so we'll endeavour to
start using it again when we have some news worth sharing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">This week we most
definitely have news worth sharing; we have got three new rolls of
honour to launch and since they are all related to Glasgow we thought
we'd have a "Glasgow Week".</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Every day until Saturday 23rd February we'll use Twitter and Facebook to try and share the following:</span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A Glaswegian listed on the <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/the-scottish-military-research-group/the-city-of-glasgow-roll-of-honour-1914-18/ebook/product-18639154.html" target="_blank">Glasgow Roll of Honour 1914-1918</a> </span>
</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A Glaswegian listed on the <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/scottish-military-research-group/the-city-of-glasgow-roll-of-honour-1939-1945/ebook/product-20669828.html" target="_blank">Glasgow Roll of Honour 1939-1945</a> </span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A Glaswegian buried in Glasgow and recorded on the <a href="http://scottishwargraves.phpbbweb.com/index.php?sid=8884d5011dea419ee88ecbfa5f26e7d4&mforum=scottishwargraves" target="_blank">Scottish War Graves Project</a></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A Glasgow war memorial</span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A Glasgow roll of honour</span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A Glasgow built warship launched on this day in history</span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A website relating to Glasgow's military or naval history</span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A video relating to Glasgow's military or naval history</span>
</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Plus we'll send out
anything else we find of interest relating to Glasgow and hopefully
we'll get some interaction and be able to pass on other people's
contribution to #Glasgow Week.</span>David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-43522960907962533272012-10-16T22:26:00.003+01:002012-10-16T22:26:52.889+01:00Bridge of Allan Roll of Honour<span class="yiv1377856829373111814-28092012" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1350420540141_104"></span><br />
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
As
we approach the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, attention
turns to commemorating the servicemen and women who paid the ultimate
sacrifice. New publications appear regularly, containing research into those
who fought and died in the service of their country.</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
While
this is highly commendable, several members of the Scottish Military
Research Group (SMRG) feel this does a disservice to the countless Scots who
served just as gallantly and after demobilisation returned home to a
thankful family. <span> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
We believe that those who returned from the war
deserve to be remembered just as much as those who died on a foreign field.
Many who survived came home with physical and psychological scars
and for some their war did not end with the cessation of hostilities; they
carried their wounds with them until the day they died, perhaps decades
later. </div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
As
part of our commitment to remembering all those who served in the First
World War we are transcribing and digitally republishing rolls of honour
from ninety years ago which list the fallen and the survivors. While
the current focus is on First World War rolls the SMRG also intends to
republish rolls of honour from other historic conflicts.</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i>The Bridge of Allan Roll of Honour
1914-1919</i> was published shortly after the end of the First World War and
is a fascinating record of the service given by the men of one town in
Scotland . </div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1350420540141_103" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
roll includes soldiers, sailors and airmen. It mentions those decorated for
acts of gallantry and those who died on land, at sea and in the air. There
is no rank or class divisions in the list; all men are listed equally from
the highly-decorated colonel serving as an Aide-de-Camp to the King, to the
humble private who did his own bit in achieving the final victory.</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
This
rare out-of-print roll of honour is now available to download from the
Scottish Military Research Group by following this link: </div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv1377856829MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/scottish-military-research-group/bridge-of-allan-the-roll-of-honour-1914-1919/ebook/product-20352946.html">The Bridge of Allan Roll of Honour </a></div>
David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-89605458117371887102012-10-14T17:30:00.000+01:002012-10-14T17:30:01.010+01:00Lloyds Bank Memorial AlbumFor a while now we've offered for sale a CD of the Lloyds Bank Memorial Album. This had been scanned and newly indexed, and enabled you to locate a specific portrait on a page.<br />
<br />
We've now decided to cease publication of the CD and offer it as a digital download. This actually means the cost of the publication is lower, as you no longer have to pay for postage and packaging.<br />
<br />
The album can be downloaded from Print on Demand service Lulu, by following this link:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/the-scottish-military-research-group/the-lloyds-bank-memorial-album-1914-1918/ebook/product-20391009.html;jsessionid=CEA53813C0D8AD041988EE23C7295D99">Lloyds Bank Memorial Album 1914-1918</a><br />
<br />
We hope to offer further downloads of other items in the near future - watch this space!David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-6341821868179261772012-10-14T13:11:00.000+01:002012-10-14T13:11:09.337+01:00Registering for the forumsOne of the most common emails we receive is from people who have newly registered for either the War Graves Project or the Memorials Project and haven't received their confirmation of account activation.<br />
<br />
The way the forums are set up, we have to manually activate every new member. By doing this we avoid having any malicious members posting spam or offensive links. We usually get a large number of new members who are nothing more than spam, and while their links appear in the user profiles, by manually activating every member it means that their rubbish is not allowed to infect the main part of the forum.#<br />
<br />
However, what this means is that the automated process does not complete, and so the email confirming that a new members profile has been activated is not sent out.<br />
<br />
We usually check the list of members every couple of days, and activate any genuine new members and delete spammers at that time.<br />
<br />
So...if you're a new member, and you're still waiting for your email confirming your account is active, we would suggest trying the following:<br />
<br />
1. visit the forum and try to log in. You may find your account is already active.<br />
<br />
2. If it isn't wait another day or so. We try to check every day or so, but occasionally we aren't able to.<br />
<br />
3. If you're still waiting after a week or more, then please email us at <a href="mailto:scottishwarmemorials@hotmail.co.uk">scottishwarmemorials@hotmail.co.uk</a> - let us know when you joined, and what your username is. We'll look into it and get back to you ASAP.<br />
<br />
What we find is that sometimes people reply to the initial welcome email they get. We'd suggest you DON'T do that - that has your account details INCLUDING YOUR PASSWORD. While we have no intention of giving out your password for any reason, we usually have no access to these and have no need to know it. If you MUST reply using the initial email, please check the text and REMOVE your password.<br />
<br />
One other thing - registering to use the forum is not the same as joining the Research Group. If you want to join the Research Group (and have access to any research material, and to find out first about any new projects we might have) then you can join us by visiting <a href="http://www.spanglefish.com/ScottishMilitaryResearchGroup/index.asp?pageid=209213">this page</a> and clicking the email link and filling in your details. We'd love to have you on board! <br />
<br />
<br />David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-28218878641210666172012-07-30T23:14:00.002+01:002013-04-27T07:33:17.913+01:00Carbisdale. Scotland's forgotten battlefield.<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Culrain in the Highlands is a quiet place. There is a small train station which
serves a magnificent castle-turned-youth-hostel and not much else. You probably won't
find yourself driving through it, you have to drive to Culrain for a reason. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is along a single track road
about three miles from Ardgay. Ardgay (pronounced Ardguy) isn't even on the
main road north now that the Dornoch Firth Bridge takes the A9 traffic away
from the Kyle of Sutherland. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As you come out of Culrain station or drive past it, you wouldn't realise that
the trees in the small field right beside you are on top of what may or may not
be an arrow-headed ravelin; if it is then it makes it one of the few
battlefields in Britain with earthwork defences still visible. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you looked along the small road heading towards the hills and woods in
the distance you wouldn't realise that it bisects the battlefield which saw the
final defeat of one of Scotland's most famous warriors. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="text-align: justify;">There is nothing there to tell you this is the battlefield of Carbisdale; no
plaque, no information board, no monument. Now I know we don't like defeats in
Scotland (especially ones where it was Scot versus Scot) but surely we could do
better than this. The Great Montrose saw his end at Carbisdale on 27th April
1650 and there is nothing there to let us know it.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Luckily for me I had a look at the detailed <a href="http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/battle_of_carbisdale_full.pdf" target="_blank">Inventory of Scottish Battlefields entry for Carbisdale</a> before I went so I knew exactly where to go and what to look for. Anyone
turning up without a copy of that would be left scratching their heads. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'll
not go into detail of Montrose's 1650 campaign through the Far North and the
battle itself because it is all in the Historic Scotland pdf above. Instead
I'll give you some photographs of the battlefield. Surprisingly few are out
there already.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Being the middle of summer it was absolutely chucking it down with rain when
I visited so I pretty much stuck to the roads when taking them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'll start with a panoramic view of the battlefield taken from outside the
community hall. On the left side of the road are the fields where Montrose
formed up his troops. The hills behind them would have been where the Ross and
Munro contingents waited to see which way the battle turned. On the right of
the road is where the Royalist troops ran towards the woods and where they were
cut down by Strachan's mounted troops. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYXNdtDTHtLypLnYW_w7fIw9_i63DECpO-yzEMTwZ0NO2jQSj7vjjz49OiB9SVDBMA8aSyoLCFKQEhFMIeNrgMgjTgirw2Y5WvwbsSgyB5tDhccZJkFFT_x5f8lnmutsqwnkRtLl49SRh/s1600/Panorama+across+road.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYXNdtDTHtLypLnYW_w7fIw9_i63DECpO-yzEMTwZ0NO2jQSj7vjjz49OiB9SVDBMA8aSyoLCFKQEhFMIeNrgMgjTgirw2Y5WvwbsSgyB5tDhccZJkFFT_x5f8lnmutsqwnkRtLl49SRh/s320/Panorama+across+road.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Facing south from the road looking across the battlefield. It is a field and
there's not much more to be said about it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_CW0h2O-XeafNC4og0jqpqxdED0SsKmRrjDX9MPdiX2kfdsyibzZ7w_MESaA15u43aK6udClXwxc39Gq0Id6tt-D6Far-cRTt1r6bP72Q4IZGuK5Y2gGw7VcEvsBGWucDTE0OZ96ZCfk/s1600/Kincardine+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_CW0h2O-XeafNC4og0jqpqxdED0SsKmRrjDX9MPdiX2kfdsyibzZ7w_MESaA15u43aK6udClXwxc39Gq0Id6tt-D6Far-cRTt1r6bP72Q4IZGuK5Y2gGw7VcEvsBGWucDTE0OZ96ZCfk/s320/Kincardine+004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The woods north-west of Culrain. On the right are the slopes of Lamentation
Hill. The Danish contingent of Montrose's army supposedly made a stand in front
of this wood. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVxDeO-Ko09OcuF9V-_zfIquId8aNgLQHqTX71TX4ji-GVWMcSAUv-9JYDt2vRLVDu4xh0s7iRf4NBH17Vgcck58x_ZAvkl61WR6KM7wXHsld6lg2DfLfNkeY-HLJGPBxZWKDstPi4PDg/s1600/Scroggie+Woods.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVxDeO-Ko09OcuF9V-_zfIquId8aNgLQHqTX71TX4ji-GVWMcSAUv-9JYDt2vRLVDu4xh0s7iRf4NBH17Vgcck58x_ZAvkl61WR6KM7wXHsld6lg2DfLfNkeY-HLJGPBxZWKDstPi4PDg/s320/Scroggie+Woods.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The ravelin? It is hard to make out in these photographs but the ridges in
the ground in this field form a 'V' shape with the point under the trees. This
small field is beside the road running alongside the railway station. This
photograph is taken opposite the community hall facing south.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhomghgRf5pXdrzB6kf966RI36h_ft5l92k6Z9YMK9ZnQxCFJ7Z6yM8eBG3oxVtEk5eaJXUT4GI9ccQdeUVXbKP0FxzUSkHgvcgTAicu2gg0wU7GUgDz75SPtFuLnj2UIxU0D6RZs0JUjKK/s1600/Ravelin+looking+south.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhomghgRf5pXdrzB6kf966RI36h_ft5l92k6Z9YMK9ZnQxCFJ7Z6yM8eBG3oxVtEk5eaJXUT4GI9ccQdeUVXbKP0FxzUSkHgvcgTAicu2gg0wU7GUgDz75SPtFuLnj2UIxU0D6RZs0JUjKK/s320/Ravelin+looking+south.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another shot of the ravelin field. This is taken from beside the bridge
which crosses the railway line facing west. This hopefully shows the 'V' more clearly on either side of the trees.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWkmyN9BMgdHUGmj19QqMQYAfz_Jiu3qBOwFaG3V3sgTgcruny-fLH6EaEdRNPa0KIatXGqdigiogyyn_Cqw8_BwiEdwpC-P4UtpZypfAkVrdjJtA2xJ_dpAd4ychr6m6Q51ePhwHgJYY/s1600/Ravelin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWkmyN9BMgdHUGmj19QqMQYAfz_Jiu3qBOwFaG3V3sgTgcruny-fLH6EaEdRNPa0KIatXGqdigiogyyn_Cqw8_BwiEdwpC-P4UtpZypfAkVrdjJtA2xJ_dpAd4ychr6m6Q51ePhwHgJYY/s320/Ravelin.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Behind the community hall. There is a ditch here seemingly. It was too
overgrown and certainly too wet for the light shoes I was wearing for further investigation on the day I was there.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhA6acexq16awTS0TtibWlq84PSItuqm8zk5P0wDhL_bfbXnLuwOBD4JFsmGQhBpB7odgc2hr8PJ6qtRYzbvLllMkpMPYMkzDYkxspiMSp8GMa6T6yTy2nKqqPg7AEgulHfmeu_EXoyvW/s1600/Ditch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhA6acexq16awTS0TtibWlq84PSItuqm8zk5P0wDhL_bfbXnLuwOBD4JFsmGQhBpB7odgc2hr8PJ6qtRYzbvLllMkpMPYMkzDYkxspiMSp8GMa6T6yTy2nKqqPg7AEgulHfmeu_EXoyvW/s320/Ditch.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-7700408082503100822012-07-14T14:56:00.003+01:002012-07-14T14:56:44.082+01:00Forgotten Faces of the First World WarWe've been very quiet on the blog front recently. We've really got no excuse other than we've been working on various projects which will hopefully be of interest. We can't ay much more than that, but in the future we'll hopefully have lots of news for you.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, we thought we'd show this short video. We've already mentioned this on our Faxcebook and Twitter feeds, but here it is on the blog for those of you who don't subscribe to either.<br />
<br />
You may recognise some of the photos in the slideshow from our "Image of the Day" posts on the blog, but there are a number of images you won't have seen before. Hope you enjoy it.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q892FqLGG_g" width="420"></iframe>David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-40266692959195516472012-06-08T21:27:00.001+01:002012-06-08T21:27:28.323+01:00Steel and Tartan - The 4th Cameron Highlanders in the Great War: A Review<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/Uploads/ProductImages/9780752465777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/Uploads/ProductImages/9780752465777.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
There have been many histories written about Scottish battalions in the First World War. Many of these were published in the 1920s and 30s, and remain fascinating time capsules, written by men who had served in the trenches themselves.<br />
<br />
Lately there have been newer additions to the list of battalion histories, most notably Jack Alexander’s <i>McCrae’s Battalion</i> about the 16th Battalion Royal Scots and <i>Come On Highlanders!</i>, Alec Weir’s history of the Glasgow Highlanders.<br />
<br />
<i>Steel and Tartan</i>, Patrick Watt’s history of the 4th Bn Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders in the Great War, is a worthy addition to the list of titles covering Scottish units.<br />
<br />
The 4th Camerons time on the Western Front was brief; spanning just over a year from February 1915 until they were disbanded in March 1916 but their time was not uneventful. They fought hard and suffered heavy casualties at the battles of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert, Givenchy, and of course the Battle of Loos in September 1915. Watt covers all these engagements in remarkable detail.<br />
<br />
This is an extremely well-researched book and while it may appear to be slimmer than some battalion histories, it packs in an enormous amount of detail. Each battle is covered well and because the Camerons place in the order of battle is well explained you can understand the context of the actions they fought in.<br />
<br />
The book does not restrict itself to the 4th Camerons time on the Western Front; the period leading up to their deployment, as well as a resume of their time after disbandment rounds off a detailed and extensive history. Regular readers of this Blog may remember that <a href="http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/14th-bn-cameron-highlanders-broken-up.html">we covered the disbandment of the 4th Cameron Highlanders in 1916 in one of our ‘On this day…’ articles</a>.<br />
<br />
A large number of appendices are the icing on the cake – they make up a complete list of the officers and men who served, and there are also detailed Rolls of Honour for all the men who gave their lives while serving with the battalion. Another appendix gives detailed biographies of each officer, detailing their time with the battalion and subsequent history, in many cases completing the picture of their lives until their deaths.<br />
<br />
This book deserves to sit on bookshelves alongside the best of the regimental histories of the First World War. It paints a complete picture of the life of a fighting unit in the trenches and I wholeheartedly recommend it.<br />
<br />
<i>Steel and Tartan</i> is published by The History Press, and can be <a href="http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/Steel-and-Tartan.aspx">purchased from their website</a>.<br />
<br />
You can also purchase it together with <i><a href="http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/Scotland-on-the-Frontline.aspx">Scotland on the Frontline: A Photographic History of Scottish Forces 1939-45</a></i> for the price of £25 and free postage simply by using the code HPScot12 at the History Press website. But hurry, as this code is only valid until the 1st of July. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>David McNayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765064313669658574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-38426341848477580162012-05-15T18:56:00.000+01:002012-05-15T18:56:06.605+01:00It's all about the badges…er, no<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4e/Royal_Regiment_of_Scotland.svg/233px-Royal_Regiment_of_Scotland.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4e/Royal_Regiment_of_Scotland.svg/233px-Royal_Regiment_of_Scotland.svg.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cap Badge of the Royal Regiment of Scotland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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There have been lots of
articles in the newspapers (particularly broadsheets) on the rumours of the
latest round of army reorganisations as part of the <i>Strategic Defence and
Security Review </i>(SDSR). The fate of the Royal Regiment of Scotland is of
particular interest to the Scottish media and daily articles focus on the
response of politicians of all hues to what Philip Hammond at the MoD is
planning. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Most politicians and
journalists have little grasp of the subject and are making mistakes. The most
common one is that the seven battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland are
still all wearing their own cap badges. That is not correct. All battalions
wear the same badge and dress uniform. The badge and uniform were designed by
committee to try and retain individual features from the six regular battalions
in existence in 2006 when the regiment was formed (two regiments amalgamated
into one after the RRS was formed). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
We used to use terms like
precedence, antecedents, perpetuating and lineage but now this has all been
replaced by a snappy little piece of spin called "The Golden Thread".
Seemingly this was the promise made in 2005 when the plans were being made for
merging the Scottish regiments that individual pieces of the regiments' history
would be retained by the new large regiment. It would allow the battalions to
rebrand themselves as the Royal Regiment but retain supplementary titles to
identify their old regiment e.g. <i>The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion
the Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 SCOTS)</i>.
In practice this meant people use 1 SCOTS instead of the unfamiliar name
of the Royal Scots Borderers. Even the old regiments such as the Black Watch
and Argylls, who had never merged since 1881, are now commonly called by the
MoD’s preferential titles of 3 SCOTS and 5 SCOTS. Another piece of the Golden
Thread was that each battalion would distinguish itself from another by the use
of a coloured hackle. In some case the hackle was not new. The Royal Highland
Fusiliers and Black Watch have used white and red hackles in their Tam o' Shanters
for many years. For some battalions though the coloured hackle was a new
addition to their bonnets. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
What should not have been a
surprise to anyone is that at some point in the future after 2006 the MoD would
drop the supplementary titles and then reduce the number of battalions in the
Royal Regiment of Scotland. The Army has been doing that since the 1960's which
we covered in <a href="http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/whats-in-name.html">a
recent blog post</a> so I won't go into detail of that here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Instead I'll produce a handy
guide to the battalions which make up the Royal Regiment of Scotland. It lists
their current name and their lineage, sorry, their Golden Thread. Some
regiments like the Royal Scots retained their separate identity, from raising
in 1633 to amalgamation in 2006 as part of the <i>Delivering Security in a
Changing World </i>review. Others like the Highlanders had been through mergers
in 1994 as part of <i>Options for Change;</i> 1961 as part of the <i>1957 Defence
White Paper Review </i>and in 1881 in the <i>Childers Reforms </i>(which
<a href="http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/childers-reforms-on-this-day-on.html">we
covered here</a>) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Not covered here are the Cameronians
(Scottish Rifles) who chose disbandment over amalgamation at a Conventicle in
Douglas in 1968 as part of the <i>1966 Defence White Paper Review </i>(however a piece of their history is still
retained by the Royal Scots Borderers); The Scots Guards who have never
been "Scottish Infantry"; the Scottish Yeomanry regiments and the
Highland and Lowland Gunners.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Royal
Scots Borderers aka 1 SCOTS</u><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Black
hackle used by RSB since 2006. Based on Blackcock feathers used by Royal Scots
and KOSB in dress uniform. Also used by Cameronians prior to disbandment and
the Cameronians’ Lanarkshire recruitment area passed to the KOSB in 1968.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Based
at Dreghorn Barracks in Edinburgh. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Primarily
recruits from Lothians, Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Formed
in 2006 after amalgamation of <b>Royal Scots, RRS </b>and <b>King's Own
Scottish Borderers, RRS</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<b>Royal Scots </b>(aka 1 RS
pre-2006) had been known as <b>1st Royal Scots, Royal Regiment </b>before 1881.
Had been raised as mercenaries for French service in 1633<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>King's Own Scottish Borderers </b>(aka
1 KOSB pre-2006) had been known as <b>25th King's Own Borderers </b>before
1881. Had been raised in Edinburgh in 1689<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Royal
Highland Fusiliers aka 2 SCOTS (aka 1 RHF pre-2006) </u><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
White
hackle. Used by Royal Scots Fusiliers in Tam o'shanter since at least the
Second World War. Used by 21st Foot in fusilier cap since 19th Century.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Based
at Glencorse Barracks in Penicuik<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Primarily
recruits from Glasgow, and South West Scotland<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Formed
1957 after amalgamation of <b>Royal Scots Fusiliers </b>and <b>Highland Light
Infantry</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Royal Scots Fusiliers </b>had
been known as <b>21st Royal Scots Fusiliers </b>before 1881. Had been raised in
1678<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Highland Light Infantry </b>had
been formed in 1881 after amalgamation of <b>71st Highland Light Infantry </b>and
<b>74th Highlanders</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>71st Highland Light
Infantry </b>had been raised in 1777 (as 73rd Highlanders)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>74th Highlanders </b>had
been raised in 1787<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Black
Watch aka 3 SCOTS (aka 1 BW pre-2006) </u><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Red
hackle. Used by Black Watch for many years; origins debatable, possibly dates
back to American war of Independence. Used in Tam o'shanter since First World
War<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Based
at Fort George near Inverness<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Primarily
recruits from Fife, Perthshire, Dundee and Angus<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Formed
1881 after amalgamation of <b>42nd Royal Highlanders, Black Watch </b>and <b>73rd
Highlanders</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>42nd Royal Highlanders, Black
Watch </b>had been raised in 1739<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>73rd Highlanders </b>had been
raised in 1779 (as 2nd Bn 42nd Highlanders)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>The
Highlanders aka 4 SCOTS (aka 1 HLDRS pre-2006) </u><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Blue
hackle. First used by Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in 1940. Perpetuated by
Queen's Own Highlanders and Highlanders<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Based
at Fallingbostel, Germany<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Primarily
recruits from Highlands, Islands, Moray and Aberdeenshire<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Formed
in 1994 after amalgamation of <b>Queen's Own Highlanders </b>(aka 1 QOHldrs
pre-1994) and <b>The Gordon Highlanders </b>(aka 1 GH pre-1994) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Queens Own Highlanders </b>had
been formed in 1961 after amalgamation of <b>Seaforth Highlanders </b>and <b>Queen's
Own Cameron Highlanders</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Seaforth Highlanders </b>had
been formed in 1881 from amalgamation of <b>72nd Duke of Albany's Highlanders </b>and
<b>78th Highlanders, Ross-shire Buffs</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>72nd Duke
of Albany's Highlanders </b>had been raised in 1778 (as 78th Highlanders)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>78th
Highlanders, Ross-shire Buffs </b>had been raised in 1793<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Queen's Own Cameron
Highlanders </b>had been renamed in 1881 from the <b>79th Queen's Own Cameron
Highlanders</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>79th
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders </b>had been raised in 1794<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Gordon</b> <b>Highlanders </b>had
been formed in 1881 from amalgamation of <b>75th Stirlingshire Regiment </b>and
<b>92nd Gordon Highlanders</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>75th Stirlingshire
Regiment </b>had been raised in 1787<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>92nd Gordon
Highlanders </b>had been raised in 1794 (as 100th Highlanders)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Argyll
& Sutherland Highlanders aka 5 SCOTS (aka 1 A and SH pre-2006) </u><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Green
hackle. Used by Argylls since 2006. Based at Canterbury, England<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Primarily
recruits from Argyll & Bute, Dunbartonshire, Stirling, Falkirk, Kinross,
Clackmannan, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Formed 1881 after amalgamation of <b>91st
Argyllshire Highlanders </b>and <b>93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b> 91st Argyllshire
Highlanders </b>had been raised in 1794 (as 98th Highlanders)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b> 93rd (Sutherland)
Highlanders </b>had been raised in 1799 <b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The
following two battalions are the Territorial Army battalions of the regiment.
Up until 2005 the battalions were made up of individual companies uniformed as
their parent regiments, so you would have Black Watch T.A. and Highlanders T.A.
serving in the 51st Volunteers. Their battalion hackle colours, which were only
introduced in August 2010, were deliberately chosen to not be representative of
any former regiment. Purple and green were colours associated with the Highland
Division; with green being used by the 5 SCOTS it was an obvious choice of
purple for 7 SCOTS. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The
history of the Territorial units are too complicated to go into here so a brief
explanation of their names is given instead.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>52nd
Volunteers aka 6 SCOTS</u><o:p></o:p></div>
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Grey
hackle. Used by 52nd Volunteers since 2010<o:p></o:p></div>
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The <b>52nd
Volunteers </b>is the Territorial Army infantry battalion for most of the
Lowlands of Scotland. It recruits in the same area as the Royal Scots Borderers
and Royal Highland Fusiliers. It was originally formed in 1967 as the <b>52nd
Lowland Volunteers </b>after all the Territorial battalions of the Lowland
Regiments were amalgamated into one regiment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The
name is taken from the <b>52nd (Lowland) Division</b>. This division was
numbered in 1915 when the then Territorial Force Lowland Division was sent
overseas to Gallipoli. The 52nd (Lowland) Division served with distinction in
both World Wars.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>51st
Volunteers aka 7 SCOTS</u><o:p></o:p></div>
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Purple
hackle. Used by 51st Volunteers since 2010<o:p></o:p></div>
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The <b>51st
Volunteers </b>is the Territorial Army infantry battalion for the Highlands of
Scotland. It recruits in the same area as the Black Watch, Highlanders and
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. It was originally formed in 1967 as the <b>51st
Highland Volunteers </b>after all the Territorial battalions of the Highland
Regiments were amalgamated into one regiment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The
name is taken from the <b>51st (Highland) Division</b>. This division was
numbered in 1915 when the then Territorial Force Highland Division was sent
overseas to France. The 51st (Highland) Division served with distinction in
both World Wars.<o:p></o:p></div>
Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-54287768013428246982012-05-14T22:49:00.003+01:002012-05-14T22:49:52.430+01:00Deal to save Dunkirk vessel is sunkBack in February <a href="http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/last-surviving-scottish-dunkirk-little.html">we reported</a> on the hopes of getting a Dunkirk "Little Ship" re-floated. The <i>Skylark IX </i>had sunk at Balloch and was on sale for £1 on e-bay. Today the <a href="http://www.dumbartonreporter.co.uk/news/thisweek/articles/2012/05/14/428730-deal-to-save-dunkirk-vessel-is-sunk/">Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter</a> has the sad news that this has fallen through.<br />
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Deal to save Dunkirk vessel is sunk</h1>
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<a class="ci" href="http://www.dumbartonreporter.co.uk/news/thisweek/articles/2012/05/14/428730-deal-to-save-dunkirk-vessel-is-sunk/" style="background: url("http://www.clydeandforthmedia.co.uk/data/gsrch.png") no-repeat 83px 1px rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #505050; display: block; font-size: 0.75em; height: 15px; left: 200px; padding: 0px 16px 1px 1px; position: relative; top: -15px; width: 83px;">click to enlarge</a><br />
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<b>HOPES of saving Scotland's last surviving Dunkirk rescue ship have been sunk after an 11th-hour deal fell through.</b></div>
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Campaigners wanted to raise the Skylark IX, rotting at the bottom of the River Leven at Balloch, in time to coincide with the 72nd anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation.</div>
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Interest in salvaging the vessel, which played a vital part in the mission, peaked when owners Leven Cruising Club put the ship on eBay for just £1.</div>
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But costs involved in recovering the vessel added to the restoration estimates, have put off interested parties.</div>
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Last Thursday commodore of the club, Stewart Davidson, told the Reporter time is running out.</div>
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He said: "One day it was happening and then the next day it's all up in the air. It was all looking very positive within the last week but those interested have pulled out.</div>
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"We are still hoping it can be saved but it looks like the last chance saloon when it was all looking very positive which is a shame.</div>
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"That's why we took it over as we wanted to see the boat restored to its former glory. To get her back to that stage would be special.</div>
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"The plan is now to get her out of the water which is the difficult bit. We would need a crane large enough to lift it from the water as it is a few metres out from the shore. </div>
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"If anybody was to come forward with funding or a plan then by all means let us know and we'll see if we can work with them and get it sorted.</div>
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"The longer it goes on the less likely it is to come up in a reasonable condition."</div>
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The Skylark XI sank on June 6, 2010.</div>
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It was among more than 770 private boats which took part in Operation Dynamo in June 1940 to evacuate Dunkirk beaches of around 340,000 British troops from the clutches of the advancing German army.</div>
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It rescued some 600 British and French troops, ferrying them 150 at a time to waiting destroyers and battleships further out in the English Channel.</div>
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</script></div>Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-8348726669520589602012-05-08T17:50:00.000+01:002012-05-08T17:54:09.271+01:00What's in a name?<div style="text-align: justify;">
There have been rumours in the newspapers over the past few weeks that one of the battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland is to be disbanded. It may be 5 SCOTS or it may be 4 SCOTS. That is it might be the 4th (Highlanders) Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland, or 5th (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland. It is only to be expected.</div>
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Never mind excuses about austerity measures or the number of Fijians that fill the ranks; since the RRS was formed in 2006 it was only a matter of time until it would follow the practice of every large regiment formed since the 1960s and merge or disband one or more of its battalions just a few years after formation. To expedite this the MoD are probably going to remove the titles in brackets from the five battalions. This also follows the practice adopted in large regiments in England over the last forty-or-so years.</div>
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They have already removed uniform distinctions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland apart from the different coloured hackles; there are no Lowland regiments in the British Army only one Highland regiment. Apart from the historic names there is not much to distinguish the battalions. By removing even that distinction it will make it easier to remove one or more of the battalions. </div>
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Scotland is relatively new to the large regiment. The Scottish Division was probably lucky there wasn't a Royal Regiment of Scotland in the late 1960s or at the very least a Lowland Regiment and Highland Regiment. Rumours say the Queen Mother had a hand in saving them to preserve the Black Watch but it was probably the operational needs in Northern Ireland in the 1970s which saved them. In England they were not so lucky and have been used to the large regiments for nearly fifty years.</div>
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The Queen's Regiment was formed in 1966 from four regiments from the South-East of England into a four battalion regiment. Two of those regiments had been only just been merged from four regiments in the preceding seven years so it was the inheritor of six famous regiments which had fought through the two World Wars. In 1968 the historic titles were dropped completely and in 1973 the 4th battalion was disbanded with every other 'junior' battalion of the large regiments.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Options for Change in the early 1990's under the last Conservative Government (which saw the merging of the Queen's Own Highlanders and Gordon Highlanders and nearly the end of the KOSB's) also saw the merging of the three battalion Queen's Regiment with the one battalion Royal Hampshire Regiment into the smaller two battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires). It has inherited the battle honours of twelve pre-1881 regiments and a staggering 57 VC's.</div>
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1968 saw the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers, Royal Fusiliers and Lancashire Fusiliers merge into the four battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. It is now down to two battalions, neither retaining any titles reflecting their predecessors.</div>
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Another regiment formed four battalions from four regiments in 1964 and is now down to two battalions. It has retained its local affiliations though and each of the eight companies across the two current battalions of the Royal Anglian Regiment reflects an old regimental title.</div>
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I think it is unlikely that the Royal Regiment of Scotland will ever merge with an English regiment but how long will it be before the Royal Regiment of Scotland is reduced in size again? How long before it is reduced down to a two battalion regiment like other large regiments; one recruiting in the old highland regiment recruiting areas perhaps and another in the Lowlands.</div>
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Would they follow the Royal Anglians and name companies after old regiments to retain and encourage local affiliations? Would that see a return to old names like the Seaforth Highlanders, Royal Scots Fusiliers or even the disbanded Cameronians? Probably not but without the old names and affiliations removed who would really care if 3 SCOTS or 4 SCOTS follow 5 SCOTS into history?</div>Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318734705907328932.post-49286817162529654722012-04-09T07:35:00.000+01:002012-04-09T07:35:28.634+01:00The First Battle of the Scarpe - On this day in Scottish Military History - 1917<div style="text-align: justify;">
The attack and capture of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Corps ninety-five years ago will be in the news today. Five thousand Canadian students and the Governor-General will be among the many paying their respects at the magnificent memorial which stands on the ridge and commemorates the eleven thousand men of the C.E.F. who died on the Western Front and have no known grave.</div>
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Vimy Ridge was just one part of a larger offensive which started on 9th April 1917 and would last until 16th May. It would also involve thousands of soldiers from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland (this island colony was not actually part of Canada until 1949).</div>
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On the same day the four Canadian divisions attacked Vimy Ridge the three Scottish Divisions on the Western Front were also in action around Arras as part of Third Army, in what is officially known as The First Battle of the Scarpe (after the River Scarpe which runs through the centre of the battlefield). </div>
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15th (Scottish) Division was in VI Corps, while 9th (Scottish) Division and 51st (Highland) Division were in XVII Corps. In total fifty-two Scottish infantry battalions across several divisions, including the three Scottish divisions and 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 30th, 33rd and 34th Divisions, fought at Arras during the offensive* </div>
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In fact since thousands of Scotsmen enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force there were probably more Scots in action around Arras on this day ninety-five years ago than Canadians. </div>
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One particular Scottish regiment paid a heavy price in the Arras Offensive. All the battalions of the Seaforth Highlanders on the Western Front were in the front-line on the first day. The three Territorial Force battalions - 1/4th (Ross-shire); 1/5th (Sutherland and Caithness) and 1/6th (Morayshire) all served in the 51st (Highland) Division. The 1/4th suffered two hundred casualties, the 1/5th three hundred. </div>
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The 7th (Service) and 9th (Pioneers) Battalions served in the 9th (Scottish) Division and the 8th (Service) Battalion was in the reserve in 15th (Scottish) Division.</div>
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The regular 2nd Battalion was in the 4th Division and on 9th April it advanced four and a half miles inside German lines. It was too good to last and two days later at Fampoux the German counter-attack cost the 2nd Seaforths five hundred and twenty six casualties or ninety-three percent of their strength. One of the casualties was <a href="http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/ww1-biography/?id=4507">Lieutenant Donald Mackintosh</a> whose bravery on that day would earn him a posthumous Victoria Cross. </div>
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When it came to picking a spot on the Western Front after the war to erect the <a href="http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=1361">Celtic Cross war memorial</a> to the eight thousand four hundred and thirty two Seaforth Highlanders who died in the First World War it was the site of the 2nd Battalion's heavy casualties at Fampoux which was chosen - at the heart of the Battle of The Scarpe where seven of the eight front-line battalions of the regiment were in action on the same day**. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhweYde2DpEfqNaLci_3G4oT84tyc8KKtcVxoaZTGVkxE-kXUBklxM0LK9DDWPKMIbDcgoOtBZB9-6TbmBGMEPSv8PJHiAlRIj5VvDG4P4KrOu8kHmmGEo_L8IFbQ2XYgeqcJIqmHoFLzuH/s1600/SeaforthFampoux.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhweYde2DpEfqNaLci_3G4oT84tyc8KKtcVxoaZTGVkxE-kXUBklxM0LK9DDWPKMIbDcgoOtBZB9-6TbmBGMEPSv8PJHiAlRIj5VvDG4P4KrOu8kHmmGEo_L8IFbQ2XYgeqcJIqmHoFLzuH/s200/SeaforthFampoux.jpg" width="134" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seaforth Highlanders <br />
War Memorial, Fampoux</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Not far away from the Seaforth's Celtic Cross at Fampoux is <a href="http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=165">a massive and very Scottish Cairn</a>***. It is the First World War memorial to the 9th (Scottish) Division. Like the Seaforths the sacrifices of the Division at places like the Roeux Chemical Works made Arras the choice of location out of all the battles the Division had been in; from Loos in 1915 to the final offensives of 1918. Its inscription commemorates one Scottish division but its sentiment could be applied to the tens of thousands of Scots who served near Arras on 9th April 1917 and the bloody days which followed. </div>
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When you hear about the Canadians on Vimy Ridge today then also...</div>
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<i></i><br />
<i></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Remember with honour</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The 9th</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Scottish Division</i></div>
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<i>Who on the fields</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Of France</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And Flanders</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>1915-1918</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Served well</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFE6E1CNzpABcnNg15GPS3vriUVYfcAM0SwVa2oLCJp0Z5oQgXoX_aO5r-zgC_2q_bTPPfkEaiL6cet0usKmxvuZYz1c0jrqV8vgEg9eRISZQiqGo8vhuWHx8xySe3e8PZUGLASgythT1t/s1600/9th+div.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFE6E1CNzpABcnNg15GPS3vriUVYfcAM0SwVa2oLCJp0Z5oQgXoX_aO5r-zgC_2q_bTPPfkEaiL6cet0usKmxvuZYz1c0jrqV8vgEg9eRISZQiqGo8vhuWHx8xySe3e8PZUGLASgythT1t/s200/9th+div.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unveiling of the 9th (Scottish)<br />
Division War Memorial</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
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<u>Notes</u><br />
* Not included are 2nd Dragoons, Royal Scots Greys in 2nd Cavalry Division; 4th Regt South African Scottish in 9th Division; the four Tyneside Scottish battalions in 34th Division; London Scottish in 56th Division and the men serving in the artillery, engineers and other corps recruited in Scotland and attached to the Scottish divisions.<br />
**The other battalion - 1st Bn Seaforth Highlanders was on the front-line in Mespotamia on 9th April 1917<br />
*** In 2006 the 9th (Scottish) Division memorial was moved a short distance from its battlefield location at Athies to a location next to Point du Jour British Military Cemetery to accommodate road improvements.<br />
<br />Adam Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15801025034725835002noreply@blogger.com0