Donald Where's Your Troosers?

Is it just me or do others find it odd to see kilted soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Scotland commemorate the men of the Lowland regiments at First World War Centenary events?

Since 2006 and the formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland the uniform for all battalions, no matter what their precedence, has been the same – a Government tartan kilt. We’ve briefly covered this in a Blog before.

The First World War Centenary will be with us until 2019. At many events the Royal Regiment of Scotland will provide a contingent, and invariably they will be in No. 2 Dress – Khaki tunic, glengarry, kilt, sporran, hose and spats. It’s a very smart uniform, and appropriate for many WW100 events as the uniform looks very similar to the service dress worn by the Highland regiments in 1914.

What irks- and will undoubtedly continue do so throughout the next few years - is seeing the men of the Royal Regiment of Scotland parade in kilts when they are commemorating men of the Lowland regiments; or when they are at Centenary events in the former recruiting areas of the Royal Scots (RS), Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF), King’s Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) , Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)(SR) and Highland Light Infantry (HLI).

Apart from their pipers (and three Territorial battalions) the men of the Lowland regiments did not wear kilts in 1914. Until 1881 most Lowland regiments did not even wear tartan. They were proud of their Lowland status and their history of not being Highlanders; two Lowland regiments were first raised in 1689 to fight a Jacobite army full of Highlanders. Before 2006 only one Lowland regiment – the Highland Light Infantry  -  fought with the War Office to be uniformed in kilts because of its Highland regimental history. In the early twentieth century the HLI had two Territorial battalions in kilts  - but during the First World War it was not a kilted regiment. It was not until after the Second World War that the HLI once more parade in kilts after a one hundred and forty year hiatus.

Two recent First World War related occasions particularly stick in the mind where it would have been befitting for the Royal Regiment of Scotland to be wearing trews rather than kilts.

The first was the reburial of Private William McAleer of the 7^th 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?

Thanks to John Duncan for the photograph

The second occasion was last week’s naming of the square outside the Usher Hall in Edinburgh to McCrae’s Place. This was to commemorate the centenary of the raising of the 16^th (2^nd Edinburgh) Battalion, Royal Scots by local man George McCrae. The Royal Regiment of Scotland were there to commemorate the men of the Royal Scots who served in the First World War in this battalion. How much more appropriate would it have been for them to be there in trews like the Royal Scots Association men they stood beside?

Next year we will see the Royal Regiment of Scotland take part in official commemorations for the Gretna Rail Crash (RS), Gallipoli (RS, RSF, KOSB,S, HLI), and Loos  (RS, RSF, KOSB,S, HLI). How much more apt will it be for the men of the Royal Scots Borderers, Royal Highland Fusiliers and the 52^nd Lowland to be uniformed in trews for these events?

The Royal Regiment of Scotland already has an order of dress which combines the khaki tunic and the trews – According to the RHF’s dress regulations which are online it is No. 2c Dress.

Currently it specifies it is to be worn “..on Battalion duties during cold weather at the discretion of Commanding Officers. It is to be worn by all ranks on Regimental duties at Retreat-Staff Parade after 1800 hrs daily" but surely that could be changed for the two senior battalions of the regiment, and the Lowland volunteers, to allow trews instead of kilts to be worn on ceremonial occasions in place of 2a or 2b dress?

To try and rectify this sometimes incongruous use of kilts by the Royal Regiment of Scotland, an e-petition has been raised with the MoD to change the dress regulations to allow trews to be worn  by certain units on ceremonial occasions.

If you would like to see Scottish infantrymen parade in trews again, please take the time to sign the petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/72626 and please spread the word.

What's in a name?

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Re-opening of Cameronians display at Low Parks

From Visit Lanarkshire's website. Exciting news about the re-opening of a revamped Scottish regimental museum:

Over the past eighteen months South Lanarkshire Leisure & Culture’s Museums staff, Museums Galleries Scotland and representatives of The Cameronians have worked together to gain funding of £50,000 from The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Regimental Trustees and £30,000 from Museums Galleries Scotland and this has resulted in a state of the art new £80,000 multi media gallery. 

The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) fought many famous battles but the personal stories of individual soldiers and accounts of life off the battlefield are all set to feature in the newly refurbished Exhibition opening to the public on Thursday 5th April at Low Parks Museum.

In addition to increasing the number of outstanding objects on display at Low Parks Museum, hundreds of photographs and video footage will help to tell the Cameronians story and researchers can now have free unlimited access to collections and previously unseen archive material from a new digital research station. The new exhibition has something of interest for all including interactive displays and replica uniforms for both young and old alike to have fun trying on.

Our Armed Forces post-2014

It's still two years until we get to vote on our country's future and what that will mean to the armed forces. It is seldom out of the news and just yesterday it cropped up again in First Minister's Questions.

The 'Telegraph' is like a dog with a bone and has been lining up old colonels to take a pot-shot at Alex Salmond over the SNP's post-independence plans. Their comments are then being picked up by opposition parties to fuel this seemingly never-ending saga. Do we really have another two years of this? I hope not because I'm already heartily sick of it but without taking sides I'd like to discuss some things which have occurred to me about the armed forces debate. These are just my thoughts so I would welcome any challenges to my opinion. Although a lot of the jaw-jaw is about the army I'll start with the senior service.

The Royal Navy is a blue water navy, one which can react to incidents anywhere in the world. Would Scotland need that capability? No, we would have a green-water navy; similar to one we had in 1707 (one frigate and two sloops) which would only need small ships capable of protecting our oil-rigs, fishing fleets and support the police and coastguard. Would we need marines -unlikely. Would we need submarines, again unlikely. Would we need aircraft carriers - no of course not. So what would happen to Faslane and Rosyth? What about building the frigates and destroyers for the future Royal Navy; could the Clyde bid for them? Unlikely that a British MoD would award contacts for them to Scotland when there are English shipyards who can build them. There are about 30,000 people employed in Scotland working for the MoD and defence-related companies. How many of them would be needed post-independence?

What about an air force? The SNP plans are for one air base so which one is retained and what would be based there? Kinloss is being converted to hold a UK infantry battalion coming back from Germany but with four infantry battalion barracks in Scotland already (Redford, Dreghorn, Glencorse and Fort George) would Lossiemouth need to be retained. In fact if we have only three battalions of infantry (the brigade proposed by the SNP) would one of  existing barracks close too? The answer would probably be no, because our artillery, signals, engineers and logistics troops would need a home too. But would all of those units actually need to be full-time soldiers? Assuming the SNP get their way and Scotland gets the Royal Regiment of Scotland and Scots Guards would we need those six battalions of infantry. Why would we need six full-time battalions of infantry, why couldn't a territorial force do the same job with just a few regulars?

If Scotland didn't get the Royal Regiment of Scotland and Scots Guards could they use old regimental names. Would the Cameronians return? The Scottish Rifles came into existence in 1881 but the old Cameronians were raised before 1707 and disbanded in 1968 (although a TA unit lasted until 1997). Would the MOD object to the use of the name? How about the Gordons and Seaforths and HLI? The 2nd and 4th battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland still carry on their traditions if not their names, so could they be re-used. How about Jacobite regimental names instead. The Atholl Brigade or Bagot's Hussars? Since we won't be a republic or have a Stuart monarch then probably not.

Maybe the answer is a three battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland without any affiliations to former units. No battle honours or hackles to tie them to their past. The unit would be kilted of course because we've covered that in a previous article. In fact would all units become highlanders: The Highland Engineers or the Highland Logistic Corps? Probably not, but maybe a tam o'shanter would replace a beret in the corps. Given some folk like to trumpet the famous Auld Alliance would we ditch or embrace the French headgear if we separate from the Auld Enemy?

Unlike the politicians and the media I am now tiring of this subject and I've barely scratched the surface. I've still not mentioned the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (or dare I say it the Scots Greys). I've not gone into detail about the numbers of ships or planes we'd have. What about a Scottish SAS, we'd need that I'm sure, and for heaven's sake what about the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo!

There are the bombing ranges at Garvie, Tain and Benbecula used by the Royal Navy, RAF and NATO. Would we share them or close them, or use them ourselves? Would that be a good thing or bad thing for Scotland as a whole and what would be the impact to the locals who may benefit from their presence or be delighted to see the back of them? Just starting a list like this has given me lots to think about. Maybe you too. Don't worry though, the papers and internet will be full of it for the next thirty months - Lucky us!

Merry Christmas!

December has proved to be a quiet month on the blog, as family and work commitments have rather caught up with us.

We're going to take a short break until the New Year - we'll try and bring you some updates in the meantime, but we'll be working "part time" on the blog until then.

In the meantime, we'd like to wish all our readers and members of the Scottish Military Research Group a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

As a final Christmas gift to you, we present our final "object of the week" for December.

This card was sent home by A B Armstrong, to an M Armstrong of Glasgow. It's probably not a Christmas card, more of a Happy New Year card, but we thought it was of interest and fitting for the season.

If anyone has more information on A B Armstrong, who served with the Scottish Rifles as part of 52nd Lowland Division, we'd love to hear from you.

(Please click on the images for a closer look)

Dunoon school pupils investigate Christmas truce death

The BBC reports on Dunoon school pupils investigating the death of a local man on Christmas Day 1914.

5th Scottish Rifles man Walter Smith was shot by a German sniper on 25th December 1914, one of the few men to be killed on a day generally observed as a truce on the Western Front.

More of the story can be found on the BBC website

Scottish Regiments in TV Programmes and Films

A few years ago I compiled this list of Scottish regiments I had seen in films and television programmes. It has been a while since I updated it so recent appearances of Scottish troops on large or small screen may not have not been noted. If anyone can add any more, or correct any mistakes please leave a comment here or on our facebook page.

Note that most entries are for highland regiments. As far as I know, no KOSB or HLI soldiers have featured in a film.

Real Regiments

Scots Guards

TV Film ‘Tumbledown’ – Robert Lawrence’s story based on his own book about his time with the Scots Guards before and during the Falklands Conflict.

TV Drama ‘The Camomile Lawn’ – Character Hector is in Scots Gds in WW2. Service Dress tunic on screen is of Grenadiers but his wife refers to the three button spacing of his tunic in another scene.

Film ‘Paratrooper’ – Harry Andrews’s Para RSM is ex-Scots Guards.

Royal Scots Greys

Film ‘Waterloo’ – Charge of the Union Brigade. See also Gordons

Royal Scots Fusiliers

TV Series - Poirot special. Chronologically the first story but not first one made. See also unknowns

Black Watch

Film ‘The Sand Pebbles’ – Extras in scenes in Shanghai Bund

TV Series ‘Strathblair’ – Son is a Black Watch Major

TV Series ‘Monarch of the Glen’ – Flashback special where one character is a Boer War period Black Watch officer.

Film ‘Gunga Din’ – Easy to identify British soldiers for the US movie goers

Film ‘Soldiers Three’ – Easy to identify British soldiers for the US movie goers

Film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ Black Watch on march behind Allenby in one scene

TV series ‘Northern Exposure’ – The former astronaut’s father or grandfather was an ex- Black Watch piper. His kilt and pipes are found in his loft.

Seaforth Highlanders

TV Series - Evelyn Waugh autobiographical comedy / drama – One of the officers wears a Seaforth glengarry

Film ‘Tobruk’ - Nigel Green’s colonel is a Seaforth.

Film ‘Appointment with Venus’ – David Niven as Seaforth Commando

TV Series - Blood Red Roses – Crippled father is a Seaforth. Fought in N.Africa, Italy N.W. Europe and Norway in the script. No Seaforths in Norway.

74th Highlanders

Film 'The Rare Breed'- James Stewart Western about breeding cattle. Brian Keith is a rival rancher and Scottish ex-soldier who turns up in 74th Full Dress to impress Maureen O'Hara. Keith’s ridiculous accent is more than matched by the fiery thatch of ginger facial hair he sports. (Rip Torn recreates this ridiculous combination of hair and tortured accent as a drunken Scottish sailor in Goldie Hawn / Kurt Russell comedy ‘Swept Away’)

Gordon Highlanders

TV Series ‘The Monoc’led Mutineer’ – Involved in rioting in town.

Film ‘Waterloo’ – Several scenes. See also Scots Greys

Film ‘Zeppelin’ – Michael York as a half-German, half-Scots Gordon

Film ‘The Heroes of the Krait’ Gordons officer leading Operation Rimau against Japs – all captured, tortured and beheaded.

Film ‘The Highest Honour’ Gordons officer leading Operation Rimau against Japs – all captured, tortured and beheaded.

TV Series ‘The Heroes’ Gordons officer leading Operation Rimau against Japs – all captured, tortured and beheaded.

Film ‘The Drum’ – Volunteers from regiment help Political Officer Roger Livesey on North West Frontier during the 1930’s

Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

TV Film ‘Kim’ – Deserter is a Cameron

Film ‘Whisky Galore’ – Island in Inverness-shire. Home Guard in Camerons uniform

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

Film ‘Too Late the Hero’ South-East Asia 1941/42

Film ‘To End All Wars’ – Several key characters are Argylls

Film ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ – 93rd Highlanders

Film ‘The Captive Heart’ – Blind Gordon Jackson is an Argyll. See also unknown regiment section.

Recent TV Film ‘The Thirty Nine Steps’ – Set in 1914. Wrong sporrans.

The Highland Regiment

TV Sitcom ‘Dad’s Army'

Canadian Scots

Film ‘The Devil’s Brigade’ – Canadian contingent led by Pipe Band. Several Canadian Scots regiments represented.

Seaforth Highlanders of Canada

Film ‘Paratrooper’ Alan Ladd joins Paras via Seaforths of Canada. Also Harry Andrews is an ex-Scots Guards RSM

Unknown regiments

Poirot special – In military hospital red tartan kilt. Canadians? See also RSF

Film ‘The Captive Heart’ – Reformed 51st Div personnel used as extras playing captured 51st Div. men using real POW camp in Germany for film set. See also Argylls

Film ‘The Man who Would be King’ Sean Connery and Michael Caine laughing about one of the pipers in their old regiment during their campaign in Afghanistan. Could be 72nd or 92nd Highlanders?

Confused Soldiers

Sean Connery in 'Murder on the Orient Express' is a Royal Scot in one scene and a Scots Guard in another

Richard Todd is referred to as a Cameronian and but dressed as a Cameron Highlander in the ‘Hasty Heart’. Both regiments had battalions in Burma where it is set.

Made-up Regiments

Caledonian Highlanders - Film ‘Bonnie Scotland’ Laurel & Hardy. Uniform based on Black Watch and Camerons

Spofforth Highlanders - Film ‘The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer’. The Colonel of the Regiment, Julian Glover, is bribed to steal the Swiss gold reserves for Britain to avoid amalgamation. Can’t remember uniform details (Camerons?)

Third Foot and Mouth - Film ‘Carry-on Up the Khyber’ – Uniformed as Camerons

Un-named Highland Regiments

Film ‘Tunes of Glory’ - Hunting Scot tartan for the kilts. Lion rampant replaced the St Andrew of the Cameron's badge. The regiment in the book is based on Gordon Highlanders. See also the book George McDonald Fraser’s ‘The General Danced at Dawn’ which has characters very obviously based on the same real life people as Kennoway’s ‘Tunes of Glory’)

TV Series ‘The Avengers’. Episode from 1st series ‘Esprit de Corps’. Duncan MacRae. Roy Kinnear, John Thaw. 1960s Jacobites in Camerons uniform.

Film ‘The Amorous Prawn’ hard up General uses his HQ as a Country house hotel. Camerons? turn up at the end.

Film ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’ – Song & Dance scene in Portobello Road. Uniform of government tartan kilt, Black Watch bonnet badge (Not hackle).

TV Pathologist Series from early 1990’s. Officer Presiding at a Court martial. QOHldrs glengarry with a thistle badge. Couldn’t identify kilt.

Film ‘You Must be Joking’ – Several military / secret service folk are set some tasks around London to assess their suitability for a mission. Lionel Jeffries as Sgt. Maj. McGregor turns up in Full Dress including feather bonnet. Argyll uniform?

Others

I have a feeling that Alexander Korda had a Highland regiment in his Sudan shots in ‘The Four Feathers’. This story has been remade several times and pretty much all of them re-used Korda’s footage so there may well be several more films with these Highlanders in them.

I’m not sure that ‘Young Winston’ has some Highlanders in the Battle of Omdurman scenes but it has been many years since I have seen that film so can’t be sure. The Seaforths and Camerons were both involved in this Campaign. In the same film Edward Woodward plays an officer in the Boer War train derailment scene. In real life Churchill was travelling with Royal Dublin Fusiliers but in the film I’m pretty sure the officer had a helmet flash of the Douglas tartan of the Cameronians.

Object of the Month - July 2011

This months Object of the Month comes from the Cameronians display at Low Parks Museum in Hamilton.

 It's the Royal Warrant for the raising of the 90th Regiment of Foot.

This document, which is dated the 10th February 1794, authorised Thomas Graham of Balgowan, Perthshire to organise a regiment made up of ten companies.

By June 1794 the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) was at full strength with 1000 men.

The warrant was signed by King George III in the top left hand corner, and is on display at Low Parks Museum in Hamilton.

Hess lands in Scotland - on this day in Scottish military history - 1941

On this day seventy years ago one of the most famous flights of the Second World War took place. Rudolph Hess flew 1000 miles to Scotland from Bavaria on 10th May 1941 trying to find the Duke of Hamilton in the hope of brokering a peace between Nazi Germany and Britain.

He flew from Augsburg Airfield in a converted Messerschmitt Bf110 with extra fuel tanks. He first crossed the British coast after 10 pm at Holy Isle just south of Berwick in Northumberland. A few minutes later he was flying over Scotland and was spotted at a Royal Observer Corps post at Ashkirk near Selkirk. Night-fighter Boulton Paul Defiants from RAF Ayr and RAF Prestwick were sent up to intercept the German intruder but failed to catch up with them before he crashed.

Flying over Southern Scotland, Hess managed to miss his target of the Duke's airfield at Dungavel House near Strathaven and flew over the Clyde near West Kilbride. He then flew down the Ayrshire coast and back inland near Ardrossan. After another 10 minutes flying he mistook Eaglesham castle for the Duke of Hamilton's Dungavel House and bailed out at ten past eleven. His plane crashed in Bonnyton Field on Floors Farm near Eaglesham.

The first man on the scene after Hess landed next to the farm, and injured his leg in the process, was farm hand Davy McLean. With a pitchfork in hand Mr McLean captured what he thought was just a Luftwaffe pilot. Hess used the assumed name of Alfred Horn at this point and after the offer of a cup of tea in a farm cottage he was escorted to Busby Home Guard Company's drill Hall at Lodge St. John, Busby.

It was there that a local Royal Observer Corps officer, Major Graham Donald identified 'Horn' as Deputy Reichsfuhrer Hess. He was taken to 3rd Renfrewshire Battalion Home Guard HQ which was in Giffnock Scout Hall.

Once they were sure he was Hess he was quickly taken out of Home Guard hands and moved to Maryhill Barracks in Glasgow under the escort of men from 11th Bn Cameronians.

After getting his injured leg seen to he was very quickly taken to the Tower of London and would never return to Scotland. His plane was soon taken away too. As a make of the Bf110 which had never flown over the UK it was wanted by the RAF for examination. From the field in Floors farm it was first taken to a rail siding in Busby and then transported south.

Today there are few mementos of the infamous night left in Scotland. There is nothing at the scene of the landing at the farm, and the crash site is next to the busy A726.




Most of what remains of his plane is now in the hands of the Imperial War Museum or the RAF Museum, however the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune in East Lothian has two large pieces of his Bf110; one of the Daimler-Benz DB601A engines and also a tail fin which had been privately held in Renfrewshire for many years before being donated to the National Museum of Flight.



Lennoxlove House, the home of the Duke of Hamilton, has Hess's map of Scotland and compass.

Maybe in a few houses in Renfrewshire there are a few other small pieces of his plane. Perhaps they had been taken by guards, visitors or souvenir hunters in the farm's field or at the Busby railway siding? Little scraps of an old plane that commemorate the incredible night seventy years ago when a top Nazi dropped into Scotland.

(On a personal note two of my cousins did stints as guards at Spandau Prison in Berlin in the where Hess was held from 1946 until his death in 1987. One whilst serving with the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the other was with the Royal Corps of Transport)

Revival of 3rd Lanark. The football team, not the rifle volunteers

There was mention in the Scotland in Sunday yesterday of the defunct Scottish fottball team 3rd Lanark.

The team folded in 1967 but seems to still hold a fascination for some Glaswegians to this day.

What has this to do with Scottish Military History? Well the 3rd Lanark F.C. took their name from a Volunteer Rifle Company. The team's original name was the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers Football Club.

The Rifle Volunteers were formed in 1859 and their football team was formed in 1872. The Volunteers actually stopped using the same name as the football team in 1881 when they became the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Scottish Rifles.

In 1903 the fotball team changed their name too, to Third Lanark Athletic Club.

That wasn't the end of the association with their origins though. The team played in red, the same as the 1872 volunteers' uniform tunics until they ran out of money sixty four years later.

Rifleman Daniel Thomson Memorial Window, Uddingston - Featured memorial

I'll make no excuses for another stained glass window as today's featured memorial. They are a favourite of mine and this one is no exception.

I can't comment on the quality of the workmanship but I can comment on the subject. It's not often you see Second World War infantrymen on a window so this was a nice surprise when I saw this one on the Scottish War Memorials Project.

The window is a memorial to Rifleman Daniel Thomson of the 7th Bn Cameronians who died on 18th January 1945 in the Netherlands. The window was designed by Douglas Hamilton

Interestingly the soldiers depicted in the window have rolled up sleeves and I wouldn't have imagined that Rifleman Thomson was dressed liked than when he died during the winter of 1944-45 in Holland. Therefore I take it the artist wanted the rolled up sleeves to signify something. Most stained glass windows are full of meaning so I would be surprised if this depiction hasn't some meaning.

The memorial is to a Cameronian and the group of figures reminds me of the Cameronians memorial in Glasgow.

The memorial window was formerly in the Uddingston Chalmers Church and has now been moved to the Uddingston Old Church.

One hundred years ago there were thousands of churches across Scotland. As we enter a more secular age and as congregations age and shrink we hear of more and more church mergers and closures. With every church being closed there are the fittings to consider. Memorial plaques on walls aren't too hard to relocate; communion tables may move too. It's not always easy to move windows though, especially if the building is listed and Historic Scotland have a say.

Luckily this window was moved and is still in a church, and in still in Uddingston.

Anyway I don't want to end this post on a glum note when we can enjoy looking at a beautiful piece of art in memory of Rifleman Thomson

Angus MacKenzie: The Story Behind the Name

Directly above Robert George Mavor on the British Linen Bank memorial is the name of Angus Mackenzie. Unlike Mavor, Angus Mackenzie didn't win any awards, and his death didn't (so far as we know) result in letters of fulsome praise to his family, but his story is no less valid than that of Mavor's, and it deserves to be told just as much as his.

Angus Mackenzie was born on the 7th July 1896, the son of John and Marion Mackenzie, of 25 Dalnair Street, Glasgow. He was educated at Woodside Higher Grade School and later the Glasgow High School.

After leaving school at Christmas 1912 he joined the Hillhead branch of the British Linen Bank.

In about 1913 he joined the Territorial Army, enlisting in the 5th Scottish Rifles, and on the outbreak of war he served a year of home service before volunteering to serve abroad in early 1916.

On the 20th July 1916, Mackenzie together with the rest of the 5th Scottish Rifles were involved in the battle for High Wood.

High Wood was the last of the major woods taken by the British forces during the Somme offensive of 1916. The first assault was on the 14th July, and after several assaults it was finally successfully taken in September. The attack of the 20th July was undertaken by several battalions, including the 1st Cameronians, 5th Scottish Rifles and the 20th Royal Fusiliers.

The attack was unsuccessful. Few men reached the wood itself, and those that did were cut down by German machine gun emplacements within the wood.

The 5th Scottish Rifles suffered 25 Officers and men killed, 165 wounded, and 217 missing, the majority of whom were never found.

Angus Mackenzie was initially reported wounded and missing at High Wood. It was not until June 1917 that he was officially declared to have died on the 20th July 1916.

The body of Angus Mackenzie was eventually found and identified, and he lies in Section XI, Row A, Grave 34 of Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval. He is commemorated on the British Linen Bank war memorial in Edinburgh.

On this day in Scottish Military History - The Battle of Spion Kop

The Battle of Spion Kop was fought between the British Army and the forces of the Orange Free State & South African Republic, as the British attempted to relieve the Siege of Ladysmith.

The Battle was incredibly brutal, but while at the time it was remembered and commemorated, the events of 24th January 1900 were soon overtaken by bloodier events just a little over fourteen years later, and nowadays it is largely forgotten. How many football fans know the real reason that a stand at Anfield is known as "The Kop"?

The Battle is a fascinating one, and there are many personalities who were involved- both Winston Churchill and Ghandi were present at the battle, but I feel the battle is extensively covered elsewhere (the wikipedia article is quite well researched and is a good starting point) so I don’t want to dwell too much on the events as they happened.

Ghandi, pictured while serving with the Ambulance Corps in the Boer War

There were no doubt a large number of Scotsmen involved in the battle, particularly as part of the 2nd Battalion of the Scottish Rifles, who took an active part during the day.

One of the men of that battalion was a young man named Allan Lynch. He had joined the regiment five years previously, and he had received his baptism of fire at the Battle of Colenso shortly after arriving in South Africa in 1899.

Lynch, photographed circa 1904

I could go into more detail of Lynch’s life, but I will save that for another day.

Many years later, in the 1940s, Lynch wrote down the story of his time serving with the Scottish Rifles, from the date of his enlistment in 1895, right through his time in South Africa, and his time as a veteran who reinlisted and saw service in the Great War.

So, rather than go over the facts of the Battle of Spion Kop, I thought it would be better if Allan Lynch told you about the events as he saw them. I have editied this passage somewhat for reasons of space, but the words themselves are unchanged from what Lynch wrote.

His account begins at 2 o'clock on the 24th January:
When we got to the foot of Spion Kop we could see the fighting going on at the top. For about ten minutes we saw hand-to-hand fighting going on when the Boers tried to rush a British trench, and we could also see the bayonets flash in the sunlight.
The enemy, seeing reinforcements coming, made a desperate attempt to get the hill before we could get there. In our excitement we shouted and cheered to the troops on top. Had the Boers recaptured this trench, it would have been almost impossible for the Scottish Rifles and the King's Royal Rifles to fight their way on to the hill at this point.

The K.R.R.'s went up the face of the hill in extended order, and the Scottish Rifles up a trench on the hill in Indian file.
When we reached the top we got into line and extended to four paces between each man. The rifle fire, the shell and pom-pom fire were terrific, and men shouted as they were struck and fell, in many cases never to rise again. Major E. H. S. Twyford advanced us at the double for about two hundred yards and reached a small trench, where we crowded in to get cover.

The Major gave us a few seconds to regain our breath, and then he again shouted, "Advance, rush!"
We just cleared the trench in time, as a shell from the Boers landed in it and cut it up badly. We reached the firing- line and threw ourselves down behind some rocks and whatever cover we could find. The Major ordered us to fire half-company volleys at two hundred yards, where the Boers were entrenched, but it was hard to pick them out as they were so well hidden and had good cover, while we were very much exposed to their fire.
We were now lying amongst the killed and wounded - it was pitiful! Some of the poor fellows had been lying there since morning in the burning sun and they were craving for water, and we freely gave them all we had in our bottles. One poor fellow who belonged to the Middlesex Regiment was shot in the neck while lying down, and the bullet went right down through his body. I can see him now lying there, saying he would not last much longer as he felt he was dying. The poor fellow died before we left the hill. While we were firing half-company volleys, a shell struck a rock about six yards to my right and a man named Montgomery was cut to pieces. My own feelings at this time were that I should never come off that hill alive, as it seemed almost impossible to escape. We kept up firing until dark, when Major Twyford shouted to all the troops on the hill to fix bayonets, loud enough for the Boers to hear. No doubt this had some effect on the Boers, as they had learned to fight shy of steel. We had settled down to hold the hill all night when, to our surprise, an order was quietly passed along the firing line by man to man to prepare to retire. It was now pitch dark. The Boers were still firing occasional shots, and just as we were retiring a young man named Gavin Smith was shot in the back. He dropped down with a groan, and Sergeant McDonald (my section sergeant) stayed with him until he saw it was impossible to bring him off the hill then. It was afterwards ascertained...that he had died.

It was a perilous descent in the dark and we had to be very careful in some place, for, if we lost our foothold, there was every probability that we would be dashed to pieces two hundred feet below. I and three other men carried a wounded man of the Middlesex Regiment down the hill on a stretcher. When we got to the bottom we handed him over to the stretcher-bearers, who took him to the temporary hospital. It was after midnight of the 24th January when we finally reached the bottom of the hill. We collected together in companies as well as we could in the dark, when to our surprise the order was given to get re-supplied with ammunition and to retake the hill. This caused some very angry remarks from the men, myself included, as it seemed to us that some terrible mistake had been made in leaving the hill at all. This order was finally cancelled, and we returned across the River Tugela. We got as far as Spearman's Farm and stopped there till daylight. The Major called the roll to see how many men were missing. We had four killed and three wounded, but the total casualties of the regiment for the afternoon's fighting were just over 100 killed and wounded, including four officers killed and five wounded. The total casualties for the five days' fighting around Spion Kop were just on 1,700 On 26th January, we buried Major S. P. Strong under a big tree. The whole battalion paraded, and it was a sad scene. Colonel Cook, who commanded the regiment, felt the loss of his second-in-command very keenly, and I noticed tears in his eyes; in fact, I felt like it myself as the burial service was being read by the chaplain.

Greylingstad Hill, 1900. Lynch is pictured second from left.

The SMRG Advent Calendar - Day 11

Another YouTube treat for you today.

This is the disbandment ceremony for the Cameronians, which took place in Douglas, Lanarkshire on 14th May 1968.

Part One:


Part Two:


Part Three:


Part Four:


Part Five:


Part Six:

The SMRG Advent Calendar - Day 5

One of the most well-known events of the First World War was the "Christmas Truce" of 1914, when troops on both sides ceased fighting for a short time and shared some moments of cameraderie between the lines.

Today's advent calendar item is a look at one of these units, and what happened with them during this time.

The 5th Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) were in the trenches at this time. Their war diary at the time simply states:

“Very little sniping, almost an understanding not to fire but one man killed by a sniper.”

The War Diary is an official document, and it was probably considered a bad idea to tell the truth of what happened to the battalion at this time. However, after the war, in the battalions official history, the whole story came out:

"On Christmas Eve we could hear the Germans (XIXth Saxon Corps) celebrating the advent of Christmas by singing and merrymaking. We could also hear a brass band behind the houses in their lines playing Christmas carols. For roughly twenty-four hours, Christmas Eve to late afternoon on Christmas Day, they ceased firing at us, and we reciprocated. An attempt at fraternisation took place on Christmas day, “Jerry” leaving his trench unarmed. Certain souvenirs were exchanged and, if it had been left to the soldiery of both sides, the war would there and then have been declared a draw. But towards late afternoon on Christmas day a stray shot from our right front hit one of ours, No. 6179, Corp. W. S. Smith, No. 2 Company (from which he died next day). The Saxons opposite us were at pains to let us know that it was a Prussian who had fired the shot which killed Smith. This broke the spell, however, and the war was resumed after a tacit truce of twenty-four hours. This truce drew forth and army routine order reminding us that we “were in France to fight and not to fraternise with the enemy.”

Corporal Smith died on Boxing Day, 1914 and is buried in Armentieres. He is also commemorated on the memorial in his home town of Dunoon.

3rd wave of "Cameronians"

I make a point of not making any political points on my blog, I’ll leave that to others. There are plenty of ranters and ravers out there who froth at the mouth over the actions of MPs, MSP, MEPs etc. It’s not for me.

However today I’m going to dip my toe ever so slightly into something that is starting to crop up in the political pages of the English newspapers which I think is worth mentioning here.

What I’ve noticed is that there is a new word being used to describe people loyal to Prime Minister David Cameron. The word they use to describe them is Cameronians

At first I couldn't believe it that they would hijack the name but actually the Cameronians are now history so who can blame them for using such a handy word? The original Cameronians were covenanter followers of Richard Cameron. Richard Cameron and David Cameron, leaders of Cameronians, you can't argue with that.

The second Cameronians were the British infantry regiment but the 1st Battalion Cameronians chose disbandment to amalgamation over forty years ago. The Cameronians were removed from the Army list in 1995 when the T.A. Cameronians were rebadged to KOSB, and the Lanarkshire Army Cadet Force rebadged from Cameronians in 1999. Can anyone complain the word is being re-used now? It's been up for grabs for eleven years.

The third wave of Cameronians are now here. It may grate to hear the name of a fine old Scottish regiment now being used for political purposes but I’m sure it will be a few years before David Cameron steps down from leading his party so we better start getting used to it.

Cameronians museum in danger?

The Hamilton Advertiser has reported on a series of budget cuts proposed by South Lanarkshire Council. Among these is a proposal to close the Low Parks Museum, which is the home of the Cameronians Regimental collection.

Obviously, councils will have to make stringent cuts in the coming months and years, but this seems a drastic move, and one which should be opposed with the utmost severity. Low Parks Museum is a valuable asset to South Lanarkshire, and the Cameronians collection is a fascinating part of the museum. To propose closing the museum completely is utterly ridiculous and is a decision which should be fought - NOW.

At the moment this is only a proposal but this could easily become reality. I believe that no decision will be made until approximately February of next year, so we have until then to oppose this as much as possible.

The South Lanarkshire Council website has a page of contact details - I'm sure many of us will wish to contact them to inform them of our disappointment at even considering such a drastic move.

We'll be sure to keep you informed of any developments.

UPDATE: I've now been informed of a Facebook page called Save South Lanarkshire Museums Service - worth joining to keep up with any news.

Cameronians Memorial, Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow

I was unfortunately too late to post this on Cameronian Day (which was yesterday for all those unaware) but I'm happy to post it here today.

We were recently contacted by Debbie Sanderson, who had some information on how her grandfather had been the model for the main figure on the Cameronians memorial. We were in turn happy to point her in the direction of Low Parks Museum, which houses the Cameronians collection.

That contact enabled them to flesh out the story of Pipe Major Jimmy Sanderson, and he features as their "Soldier of the Month" on the Cameronians website.

My thanks to Barrie Duncan for permission to post this link:

Pipe Major Sanderson - Solder of the Month

On another Cameronian Day note, I was informed that the Cameronians flag was flying over Edinburgh Castle yesterday, as it apparently has on ever 14th May since the Regiment disbanded in 1968. It's nice to know a tradition is well maintained.