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.

Image of the Day - 3rd March 2012

It's a return to our series of "mystery images" today, which today features a group of soldier. This was a recent acquisition to my collection, and the seller didn't have much information on it, apart from thinking it was possibly a group of Highland Light Infantry.

The cap badges seem to suggest that, although the officer in the centre seems to have a different cap badge - is it possibly Royal Scots?

Click on the image for a closer look, and tell us what information you can glean from this picture. As always, you can tell us in the comments below, or you can email your thoughts to scottishmilitaryresearch@live.co.uk

The Loss of the "Birkenhead" - On this day in Scottish military history - 1852

“Women and children first”. You may not know it but this chivalrous shout when disaster strikes has a name. It is known as The Birkenhead Drill.

It’s so called because on this day one hundred and sixty years ago the actions of the soldiers and sailors on board a Royal Navy transport ship called the ‘Birkenhead’ changed the way men behaved when a passenger ship foundered. Although never enshrined in maritime law, for decades after the H.M.S. ‘Birkenhead’ sank off Africa in 1852 it would have been unheard off for a gentleman to board a lifeboat if there were women and children still on board the sinking ship.

The ‘Birkenhead’ had sailed from Cork on 17th January 1852 with five hundred and two soldiers from ten regiments. (Over two hundred were from three Highland regiments. The 73^rd Highlanders, 74^th Highlanders and 91st Highlanders) Most were destined for service in the 8^th Cape Frontier War in Cape Colony but because some were heading on to India for garrison duty there were twenty five wives and thirty one children on board too.

On 26^th February the ship had called in at the Cape naval base at Simon’s Town to drop off some passengers and take more on for the short journey round the coast to Port Elizabeth. That was the town nearest the Xhosa homelands where the Cape Frontier War was in progress and where the 74^th and 91st were going to disembark. The ‘Birkenhead’ left Simon’s Town with six hundred and thirty one crew and passengers on board, but soon ran into trouble.

The Captain had taken the ship nearer the Cape Colony coast than usual to cut down his voyage time. This was at the urging of Governor Sir Harry Smith in Cape Town because the new recruits were urgently needed for the war. Unfortunately a large swell forced the ship even nearer land and it hit a submerged rock* about a mile offshore at the aptly named Danger Point in Gans Bay. The situation at that stage was not hopeless but a decision by the captain to order his ship astern to get it off the rocks broke the back of the ship.

It was obvious to all that the ship was doomed so the priority was to launch the three small boats the ship carried and get as many people off it as possible. Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Seton of Mounie of the 74^th Highlanders had the most recruits on board (seventy -three 74th Highlanders) and was also the most senior army officer on the ship, so was in charge of all the soldiers. Seton immediately grasped the situation and ordered the soldiers to help the sailors clear debris of the deck, get the horses off the ship** and help the sailors get the seven women and thirteen children into the boats first. Once they were safely on one of the small cutters the other two boats were filled with soldiers. There were still hundreds of men on board.

Their hope would have been that the small boats would row to shore and then return for more men but the ‘Birkenhead’ was breaking up under their feet. Only twenty five minutes after hitting the rocks and just a few minutes after launching the small boats it was obvious that if the remaining soldiers and sailors headed for the water before the ship sank they would swim to the small boats and swamp them.

Seton quickly issued his orders. The soldiers would fall in on deck as if on parade and this would allow the boats with all the women and children to row away from the sinking ‘Birkenhead’.

According to eye-witness reports the soldiers behaved impeccably. Many were new recruits but they all stoically followed their orders. Lined up on the sea-washed deck they held their position as the ship broke-up beneath them. Seton’s calm authority had ensured that not one of the women or children on board the ‘Birkenhead’ were lost; every boat reached the shore unharmed.

The men left behind on the ship were not so lucky, the ‘Birkenhead’ was close enough to shore to allow strong swimmers the chance of survival but Great White sharks and a nasty clinging seaweed claimed many who had not already drowned when the ship sank. A few managed to swim ashore and a handful managed to cling to debris until picked up the next day by a rescue ship. Colonel Seton and forty seven of his officers and men of the 74th were amongst the four hundred and forty five men lost with the ship.

In Glasgow Cathedral there is a plaque to the 74^th Highlanders. It lists the campaigns the regiment had fought in between its first action in 1789 and 1886 when the plaque was unveiled, after the 74^th had become the 2^nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry. It lists the battles of the Napoleonic Wars the colonial wars of the nineteenth century. It also lists the "Birkenhead".

For the 74^th Highlanders the actions of Lieutenant Colonel Seton and his new recruits on the ‘Birkenhead’ were important as any in the history of the regiment. The bravery and fortitude shown by his men on that day matched any of the battles the regiment had been in over the previous one hundred years. That bravery not only inspired the men who enlisted into the 74^th and later the HLI in future years but also other people around the world. The King of Prussia made every man in his army listen to the tale of the ‘Birkenhead’ to make sure they knew how proper soldiers should behave in adversity.

Colonel Seton’s example inspired generations of Victorians and Edwardians. The poet of Empire couldn’t let it pass and Kipling’s “Soldier an' Sailor Too” published in 1896 devotes a verse to the Drill.

Men who survived the sinking of the ‘Titanic’ were sometimes branded cowards because it was suggested that they had ignored the Birkenhead Drill. That was unfair because many boarded the boats at the orders of the ship’s officers. The public were shocked when they read how many women and children had perished and surviving men faced a backlash.

One hundred years on from the sinking of the ‘Titanic’ and one hundred and sixty years to the day from the foundering of the ‘Birkenhead’ would the men of 2012 stand back when disaster strikes? The recent foundering of the ‘Costa Concordia’ suggests otherwise.

* Now known as the Birkenhead Rock.

** According to Wikipedia some of the horses which swam ashore from the ‘Birkenhead’ were the ancestors of a feral herd that roamed the plains east of Gans Bay until late in the 20th century.

Object of the Week - 14th December 2011

We're a little late with this week's object. Please accept our apologies!

Today's item, like last weeks, comes from one of Scotland military museums, in this case the museum of the Royal Highland Fusiliers in Glasgow. We've blogged about this museum before, and it's well worth a visit. This is just one of the many fascinating articles which can be found there.

This is a small statuette of a soldier in desert uniform from the Second World War, and was made to commemorate the merging of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Highland Light Infantry.

The inscription is well worth reproducing here:

1787-1948

On 15th May 1948, the 2nd Battalion The Highland Light Infantry (Old 74th Highlanders) was, by His Majesty's Command, amalgamated with the 1st Battalion The Highland Light Infantry (Old 71st Highlanders) as the 1st Battalion The Highland Light Infantry (71st and 74th).

This statuette, made from certain silver articles the property of the Officer's Mess of the 2nd Battalion The Highland Light Infantry, is dedicated to the undying memory of that Unit, and in recognition of its unflinching courage and indomitable spirit and devotion to duty, displayed on so many fields of battle and elsewhere throughout its long and glorious history.

It represents a soldier in desert kit in the war of 1939 to 1945 during which the Battalion by its gallant deeds maintained the best traditions of the past.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them."

(Please click on the image to see this wonderful statuette in greater detail)

On this day in Scottish Military History - 16th Bn HLI hold Frankfurt Trench - 1916

"The Somme" by Lyn MacDonald is probably my favourite book about the First World War. I have a well thumbed copy on my bookshelves and tonight I will bring it down again and read the epilogue.

1st July 1916 overshadows every other phase of the Battle of the Somme, but the battle was not fought on one day; it officially ended with the end of Battle of the Ancre just over ninety five years ago. Amongst the Scottish troops in action during the last battle were the 51st (Highland) Division. They captured Beaumont Hamel (and a place in history) on 13th-14th November. Their bravery that day is commemorated by the magnificent bronze highlander which was unveiled by Marchal Foch in 1924.

They weren't the only Scots in action in the last phase of the Battle. The 16th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry attacked the German trenches east of Beaumont Hamel on the what was officially the last day of the Battle - 18th November 1916. The battalion reached its objectives of Munich and Frankfurt trenches but were beaten back by the Germans.

Three days later, on this day ninety-five years ago, it was realised that not all the Highland Light Infantry had retreated. Some of 'D' Company, 16th HLI still held Frankfurt Trench. They were surrounded, and lesser men would have surrendered, but the Glasgow Boys' Brigade battalion men were made of sterner stuff and held on, hoping to be relieved.

This takes me back to Lyn MacDonald's book. The story of the fight of the men of 16th (Service) Battalion (2nd Glasgow), Highland Light Infantry in November 1916 is the subject of the epilogue of her book. I'm not going to go into more detail here. Nothing I could write could come close to Lyn MacDonald's moving description to the events which closed the 1916 fighting on the Somme. Instead I'd encourage you to find a copy in a shop or a library and read it.

In the mean time have a look at the Glasgow Roll of Honour which we have just published. Many of the men listed are just like the ones MacDonald describes in her book. "The shipping clerks, errand-boys, stevedores, railway porters, grocers' assistants, postmen"; the men of Glasgow who answered the call in 1914.

Image of the Day - 28th October 2011

It's been quite a while since we had an image to show you, not through a lack of decent images, just we've had so much going on in recent weeks we've not had a chance to catch our breath!

The next few days I shall be uploading the final images from the album which belonged to my wife's grandfather.

Today's photos feature several group shots. We don't know the identity of any of the men in these photos but there are a variety of distinguishing features. Cap badges are clear in these images, and given my wifes grandfather served in the 10/11th Highland Light Infantry, it seems likely that would be the unit depicted here.

There are also several medal ribbons, wound stripes and overseas service stripes, so it is possible these photos are post-war.

As with previous "image of the day" posts, if you have any further information, please either email us at scottishmilitaryresearch@live.co.uk or add a comment on the post here.

Click on each image for a larger view.

The Big Picnic - Govan

I was lucky enough to see Bill Bryden's 'The Big Picnic' during its original run, in fact I came across the programme recently. It was quite a spectacle even though the pedant in me didn't like 'New Army' men being at Mons. However it was set on a truly epic scale; originally in a huge old shipyard engine shed and not a theatre. That allowed the production crew to build a section of trench and no man's land.

One scene particularly stands out in my mind from near the end of the play. An islander who enlisted in Glasgow sings the 23rd Psalm in Gaelic. It was one of those moments when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

A theatre company made up of young Glasgow students called Shoogalie Road chose 'The Big Picnic' as their first big show and put it on for the first time in seventeen years. They also went back to Govan to put it on.

Unfortunately the show has been and gone, it was on the 7th and 8th September, so we can't plug it. Instead we'll publish the very favourable review that they got in 'The Scotsman' here

THE BIG PICNIC - PEARCE INSTITUTE, GOVAN
By Joyce McMillan. Date: 10 September 2011

REID Kerr College, Langside College, Telford, Coatbridge, and the University of the West of Scotland: recession or no recession, Scotland's colleges keep churning out students with a burning interest in theatre, and a determination to build careers for themselves.

To judge by their latest production at the Pearce Institute in Govan, though, the new Glasgow company known as Shoogalie Road must be one of the most ambitious graduate groups in Scotland, in that they've chosen, with the consent, support and first-night presence of the playwright himself, to tackle Bill Bryden's huge 1994 epic The Big Picnic. The play tells the story of a group of nine working-class Govan men who join Glasgow's famous Highland Light Infantry at the outset of the First World War, and are plunged into the hell of the trenches. It also keeps an eye on the story of their wives and womenfolk, trying to keep the home fires burning back in Glasgow; and it remains a well-researched and moving, if slightly predictable, slice of Glasgow working-class history, which resonates powerfully in the local setting of the Pearce, a focal point of the Govan community since 1906.

Directed by Jemima Sinclair and Liam Lambie – who also adapted the text – this young production of Bryden's play is never flawless; all of the actors have a tendency to lose control of their voices in moments of high emotion, and there is too much aimless shouting. At its best, though, it combines some impressive acting with a fine soundscape, and an outstanding grasp of how to use a large cast – there are 17 on stage – to create memorable stage pictures; and although there are some theatrical events in Scotland this week which achieve a higher professional polish, there are few driven by such an urgency to tell a tale which should never be forgotten, and by such a powerful emerging sense of theatrical poetry, in telling it.

Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum, Glasgow

It's been a while since we took a look at one of Scotland's military museums, so on Monday I took the opportunity of a day off work to visit the museum of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, situated at the top of Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow.

I've visited the museum on many occasions, but on this particular day it seemed I took a little more time around the exhibits, looking at the displays with fresh eyes.

If you've never visited the museum, then you're in for a treat. It's a veritable treasure trove of artefacts from both the Highland Light Infantry and the Royal Scots Fusiliers spanning several hundred years.

The layout stretches over two floors, with the ground floor covering the regiments from their formation up until the outbreak of the First World War, with displays for India, Africa and other parts of the world where colonial campaigns were fought.

The ground floor also features displays for the volunteers and militia, the pipe bands and other musicians, as well as displays of uniform and medals.

The upper floor covers the two World Wars in great detail, with imaginatively laid out displays.

The First World War section is particularly fascinating - it contains many items, a lot of them unique.

The Second World War section is no less interesting, and both the war in Europe and the Far East have a large number of items on display.

The Second World War display then leads on to the final displays covering the RHF from amalgamation to the present day.

The final section is a little disappointing, as it is almost sidelined in a small alcove - another minor grump is that one of the displays is empty, with a sign stating that this display will cover the regiment since its merging in to the Royal Regiment of Scotland. That sign has been there for some time - hopefully the display will be filled fairly soon.

There are plenty of fascinating items to see here, and it's well worth giving yourself plenty of time to take it all in. We plan to feature a number of the items in the museum in our "object of the month" feature in the coming months.

Finally, for the researchers amongst you the museum contains a well-stocked library which is definitely worth visiting. I can testify to discovering many fascinating records in my time there.

The museum also holds one "hidden" aspect.For those of you with an interest in Glasgow design, this museum is a must visit as the interior was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Many of the design features he created can still be seen, particularly in the metal work around the lift shaft.

Mackintosh designed decorative work on the lift shaft.

So if you're visiting Glasgow, make a point of seeing the RHF museum. It really is a hidden gem in the city. More people deserve to know about it.

For more information on the museum, as well as opening hours and a link to their online shop, visit their website at www.rhf.org.uk

Image of the Day - 28th August 2011

Today's Image of the Day was bought from a postcard seller at a Family History Fair recently. There are no marks or comments on the back of the image - all we have to go on is the image itself.

For once we have a lovely clear image of the shoulder title, so there's no doubt whatsoever that this is a Highland Light Infantry man.

Unfortunately, that's about all we do have to go on. This unfortunately will have to remain one of those mystery photos, and the identity of this man will sadly remain unknown.

(Click on the image for a larger version)

Can you identify this man? Does this image look familiar? Can you add any information at all? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at scottishwarmemorials@hotmail.co.uk or contact us via the "feedback" page on the SMRG website.

George Penny Chissel - The Great War and Beyond

I was recently given a link to a "special edition" of the newsletter of the Glasgow Highlanders Association.

This special edition is devoted to a highly detailed article by Dr Andre Chissel about his grandfathers service in the Great War.

It deserves a larger audience than the members of the GH Association, so I hope they won't mind if I point you in the direction of a link to the newsletter.

George Penny Chissel- The Great War and Beyond

We have another article by Andre, covering another ancestor which came to us from Andre via Anne Anderson. We hope to feature that in a future blog post.

Captain Thomas Patrick Milne-Home, Highland Light Infantry

Today's story is by Stuart Graham, and comes to us via Sandy Leishman at the Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum. The original intention was to feature the uniform as an "object of the month", but I decided it deserved to be featured sooner. My thanks to Stuart and Sandy for the article.

I have been a collector of Scottish military items for many years with a keen interest in the Highland Light Infantry. A few months ago I purchased some items of HLI uniform which when researched have revealed a fascinating story surrounding the officer who they originally belonged to.

The uniform items consisted of an HLI officers doublet with Captain's insignia, a pair of Mackenzie tartan trews, a shoulder belt and sword slings complete with HLI shoulder belt plate and a dirk belt with HLI clasp. The doublet has the name T.P. Milne-Home on an old cloth name tag attached inside the collar.

Milne-Home's uniform. Picture courtesy of Stuart Graham

A check in Army lists revealed Thomas Patrick Milne-Home joined the HLI as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1895, promoted to Lieutenant in 1898 and then to Captain in 1901.

On contacting Sandy Leishman at the RHF museum he came up with some interesting information on this officer. He was born in 1875 and died at Darlington N/Yorks in 1956 aged 81. He was wounded at Dewetsdorp during the Boer War in 1900, but then in early 1901 was dismissed the service and then reinstated some months later, but Sandy had no more information as to why.

On looking through Proud Heritage (Story of the HLI) it revealed that only one HLI officer was wounded at Dewetsdorp (no name is mentioned) so this confirmed Sandy's information but the interesting thing was that the officer concerned had surrendered his post to the Boers and had been court-martialled and dismissed the service.

The Queens South Africa medal casualty roll only mentions one HLI officer as being wounded at Dewetsdorp and names him as Lieutenant T.P. Milne-Home.

Col. Kelham's Boer War Diary contains information on the action at Dewetsdorp and states:

"The fighting had been incessant for several days but about 3pm on Friday 23 November came the climax. Several men, some of them gunners, others infantry driven out of their own trenches by the enemy's fire and more or less demoralised, rushed headlong into one held by a young subaltern and some men of the HLI. The officer had already been wounded and was worn out, body and mind, by the strain of the continuous fighting and want of sleep. The trench was outflanked and under close fire so apparently pressed by his companions he raised a white handkerchief and all was over."

Col. Kelham goes on to say that this action cost the officer his commission but by order of H.M. King Edward the case was re-opened and the officer reinstated, he also says that in his opinion the young officer was made a scapegoat for the outcome of the action at  Dewetsdorp.

Further research at the National Archives shows that Lt Milne-Home's court martial was held at Bloemfontein on 29 Jan 1901 the charge being "Shamefully delivering up a post. Knowing doing an act (showing white flag) calculated to --------."   The remainder unreadable. The sentence "Dismissed the Service".  It also says "Laid before the King 9 March 1901".  A hearing was then held which exonerated him and he was reinstated. He was promoted to Captain in April 1901.

The QSA medal roll for the 1st Battalion HLI initially in 1901 shows against his name "On Black List" but in 1903 it was altered to read "Medal to be given as all record of conviction should be removed".   He was entitled to 4 clasps on the QSA medal,  Paardeberg, Wittebergen, Cape Colony and South Africa 1901.

In the 1904 Army List he was shown as Captain 2nd Battalion HLI, in the 1909 list still shown as Captain 2 Btn but also shown as on the strength of the 4th HLI Special Reserve (Militia).  He went on to half pay in August 1909.  There is no record of him serving in WW1.

After the Boer War and no doubt after his court-martial it states in Proud Heritage "the principle was somewhat forcefully laid down in "INFANTRY TRAINING" that, failing orders to withdraw, a position would be held "to the last man and last round" and that "a final effort will be made with the bayonet, rather than surrender".

Attached is a photo of Captain Milne-Home taken in full dress uniform sometime after the Boer War also a photo of a display dummy with his items of uniform included.  The other items I have added from my collection. 

Many thanks to Sandy Leishman, Tom MacGruer and Barry Thacker for their help with research.

74th and 79th Highlanders hold Fuentes de Oñoro - On this day in Scottish Military History - 1811

In one of the finest actions of the Peninsular War two Scottish regiments in the army of Viscount Wellington replused repeated French attacks on the village of
Fuentes de Oñoro on this day two hundred years ago.

After finally retreating from the Lines of Torres Vedras in early 1811 the French 'Army of Portugal' left a strong garrison at the Portuguese town of Almeida.

Wellington followed the French and laid siege to Almeida in the hope it would force Marshal Massena to attack him, but on Wellington's choice of battlefield.

On 3rd May the French attacked the British positions around Fuentes de Oñoro and the battle ebbed and flowed until the 5th of May.

On that day the 74th Highlanders and 79th Highlanders were occupying the village of Fuentes de Oñoro. Wellington's other troops were drawn out to fight the French which left the village and the Scottish troops exposed.

Marshal Messana sent forward columns of infantry from his IX Corps to take the village and fierce hand to hand fighting took place in the streets and houses which saw the Highland regiments suffer great losses.

The fighting almost saw the Scots forced from the village until a last ditch charge led by the 88th Connaught Rangers cleared the French from the village and saved the day.

The defence of the village against overwhelming odds by the two Scottish regiments was probably their finest moment in the Peninsular campaign and both regiments were later awarded the battle honour Fuentes d'Onor

Also present at the battle were the 42nd Highlanders, 71st Highland Light Infantry and 92nd Highlanders; over the three days of battle all the Highland regiments involved in the battle suffered heavy casualties

42nd Highlanders - 1 officer and 32 soldiers killed and wounded
71st Highland Light Infantry - 11 officers and 133 soldiers killed and wounded
74th Highlanders - 4 officers and 66 soldiers killed and wounded
79th Highlanders - 14 officers and 224 soldiers killed and wounded
92nd Highlanders - 3 officers and 50 soldiers killed and wounded

Fuentes de Oñoro was the last battle for Marshal Massena, he had failed to drive the British out of Portugal and he was now replaced by Marshal Marmont.

Portugal was safe but Wellington and the thousands of Scots in his army now faced a long campaign through Spain.

Images of the Day - 21st April 2011

Usually with these "Image of the Day" posts the subject has been an almost total mystery - that's been the nature of the photographs I've had to work with recently.

This batch of photos are slightly different in that I can name one man in all of them.

These photographs are in an album belonging to my wife, and they feature her grandfather, John Struthers.

John served in the 10/11th Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry, and was taken prisoner in March 1918. In addition to these photographs, the album they were in contain a number of other pictures which we will post in future "Image..." articles. However, I've decided to group these three together as they are the only ones to feature John Struthers.

John wrote a number of letters home to his parents, and we have copies of these as well as some originals - but that's for another time...

The first picture is a studio portrait, the date of whch is unknown.

The second picture appears to be a group of signallers. John Struthers is standing third from the left. We don't know what duties he performed in the battalion - he may have been a signaller.

The third and final picture is a more informal shot, taken "after a hard 'days graft'". The last word on the photo is unreadable. Is it "operation"? John is standing second from the right.

As with previous "Image of the Day" posts, if you have any further information on these phhotos, please do get in touch with us.

John Mackenzie, Count of Cromarty - Who’s Who in Scottish Military History.

Today’s Who’s Who is about one of several Scots who fought for the Jacobites during the ’45 Rebellion and ended their military career in the British Army.

John Mackenzie, Lord MacLeod was the eldest son of the 3rd Earl of Cromartie. He was born in the family seat of Castle Leod near Strathpeffer in 1727. At the age of four he was first styled Lord Macleod and that was how he was best known for the rest of his life.

For the next fourteen years he had an uneventful life; then in 1745 his life changed forever. In December 1745 his father came out for the Jacobite cause and raised a Clan Regiment for Prince Charles’s army.

By the time they mustered the Jacobites had turned back at Derby and were now marching north. Cromartie and his son took their men south to meet and join the army.

Cromartie’s regiment joined the Jacobite host outside Stirling and it was near there at the Battle of Falkirk where Lord Macleod fought in his first battle. After the Jacobite’s reached Inverness Cromartie and his men were included in the Duke of Perth’s force which routed Loudon from Sutherland March 1746. Cromartie moved into Dunrobin Castle and sent his son further north in his first independent command.

He was only eighteen but Lord Macleod was given 300 men to go to Caithness and Orkney to find Jacobite recruits and plunder Hanoverian sympathisers’ lands for supplies and arms.

After three weeks without much success he returned to Dunrobin and was captured there on the day before the battle of Culloden by Highlanders loyal to the government.

He was taken to London with other Jacobite officers to be tried before the Commissioners. He pleaded guilty to high treason, but his youth and the limited part he played in the Rebellion may have counted in his favour. He was spared, death or slavery and pardoned. A condition of his pardon was the forfeiture of his title and he was sent into exile, but at least by 1748 he was alive and free.

He ended up under the wing of one of many Scots serving in European armies. Field Marshal James Keith. In 1750 Keith arranged MacLeod’s commission into the Swedish Army through the wife of the Swedish King – who also happened to be the sister of the Prussian King who was a friend of Keith.

Pomerania is in North Germany and Poland, opposite Sweden, and in the 1750s part of it was Swedish territory. Sweden coveted the parts of Pomerania they had ceded to Prussia in 1720 and the spread of the Seven Years War across Europe gave Sweden an excuse to attack Prussia in 1757. For the next five years Sweden and Prussia were at war over Pomerania and Macleod was involved in the fighting.

In 1762 Sweden ended the war after it had recovered no territory for the cost of 40,000 lives and vast sums of money it couldn’t afford to spend. Improbably Macleod then joined the army of his former enemy, Prussia, and fought alongside them against Russia.

Prussia and Russia ended their war in 1763 and Macleod returned to Swedish service. For the next few years he gave loyal service to Sweden; becoming an ADC to King Adolf Frederick and a earning a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. Amongst his honours he was given the Order of the Sword of Sweden and was made a Swedish count. The title he took was Count of Cromarty.

In 1777 he returned to Scotland. The War against the American States was draining the resources of the army and at the same time trouble was brewing in India. New regiments were needed for both theatres of war. Many former Jacobites or their families saw this as a way to help pave the way for the restoration of their lands and titles if they raised or served as soldiers in the British Army. In all eleven regular battalions were raised in Scotland in 1777 and 1778.

Macleod set to work immediately. In the 1770s there was no set recruiting areas in Scotland and any new regiment could send out recruiting parties across the country. The reputation of Lord MacLeod preceded him and he had no difficulty finding recruits. 840 men from the Highlands and 236 from the Lowlands. He had so much success at recruiting that a second battalion of the 73rd was authorised and that started recruiting as well shortly after the first had reached its establishment. The 2nd Bn 73rd was commanded by the Honourable George Mackenzie, Lord Macleod’s brother.

In late 1777 the 1/73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot (MacLeod's Highlanders) first mustered at Elgin under their colonel, John Mackenzie, Lord Macleod. A year later George II recognised Macleod’s Swedish title and the Count of Cromarty led his regiment to embark for India a month later in January 1779. (In the peerage a count and an earl are the same rank so in effect, though not in name and lands, he was the fourth Earl of Cromartie).

The regiment stopped off in West Africa for a short time and didn’t arrive in India until a year after it had left the UK. It landed in Madras in January 1780.

In September 1780 several companies were despatched to join a British force under the Scot Major General Sir Hector Munro, which was fighting the Indian army of Hyder Ali. The Companies were soon lost in an action against the Mysore Army at the Battle of Pollilur and the captured troops imprisoned at Seringapatam. They included a young officer called David Baird who would later lead a British force back to Seringapatam nearly twenty years later to take revenge on his former captors.

By this time McLeod had been promoted to Major General. He soon made it clear to Munro he was unhappy with the way his detached troops from the 73rd had been used. They were the same rank and about the same age but Munro had been in the British Army for many years and had served in India for most of that time and there may have been a clash of personalities.

By this time Macleod was over fifty and after many years service in Scandinavia he may not have taken to the tropical heat of Southern India. Whatever the reasons: age, temperature or arguments with his superiors; the old soldier left his regiment to return home before he had a chance to lead them into action.

He retired from army life on half pay and in 1782 he was promoted to Major General. In the mean time he decided on a political path and entered parliament as the MP for Ross-shire.

A final act of rehabilitation took place in 1784 when he purchased his family estate for £19,000 on the back of an Act of Parliament. The Count of Cromarty gave up his constituency and became a laird (His replacement at Westminster would later raise the 78th Highlanders).

He moved into a home at Tarbet on the Black Isle and stayed there for the next five years, spending his time rebuilding and improving his estate.

He was in Edinburgh in 1789 when he died; and probably fitting for a man who was in exile for so many years, he was buried in the kirkyard in the Canongate rather than his family lands in Ross-shire.

Macleod had returned from India in 1780 but remained the Colonel of his regiment until his death. Before he died he saw his regiment survive a reduction of the army and its renumbering as the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot (MacLeod's Highlanders). As the 71st it would later achieve more fame as the Highland Light Infantry.

Mixed fortunes for Scotland's regimental museums

In Victorian times line regiments sometimes felt aggrieved when they were in a battle next to a highland regiment because the Highlanders would steal all the glory. No matter if they had done as much if not more fighting than the Scots, the kilted warriors stood out and were a favourite for news illustrators. In a period when most armies wore uniforms based on French and Prussian styles the highlanders of Scotland were unique.

By 1881 the Lowland regiments raised to fight the Jacobite highlanders two hundred years before were transformed into pseudo-highlanders with tartan trews and basket hilted broadswords. In 2006 the transformation was complete when all Scottish infantry battalions were subsumed within the Royal Regiment of Scotland which became a highland regiment. All battalions of the regiment no matter their history or traditions became Black Watch clones in Government tartan kilts.

In 21st Century Scotland it seems that a Scottish soldier equals a highland soldier. When it comes to the museums of the Scottish infantry regiments this new pecking order seems to have taken precedence over the old Regimental Order of Precedence too.

The Highlanders museum at Fort George and the Black Watch museum at Perth have recently announced ambitious and expensive plans for their museums whilst just this week the complete opposite has happened at the King's Own Scottish Borderers Museum in Berwick which has been forced to reduce its opening hours because of a spat with English Heritage (who own the Barracks in Berwick where the Museum is based).

The other two museums to Highland regiments, The Argylls in Stirling Castle and the Gordon Highlanders museum in Aberdeen seem to be doing well too. The Argylls have the benefit of being in one of Scotland's top visitor attractions and the Gordons have a relatively new and well maintained museum at the former Bridge of Don Barracks.

The Royal Scots boasts a prime location in Edinburgh castle so it is guaranteed a large number of visitors but they are the luckiest ones when it comes to the four Lowland regimental museums.

The Cameronians are included in the South Lanarkshire run Low Parks Museum in Hamilton. It is open seven days a week and is free, but because of council cuts will that remain the case? I hope so. With the museum being in the care of a local authority you'd hope the items will always be on display. The downside is there may not always be money they want to improve their displays.

We've mentioned the KOSB museum above. It is a small museum with limited visitors and funding, and it seems that their troubles are probably going to get worse. With no more handouts from English Heritage, and no weekend opening to encourage more visitors where will they get the money they need to run the museum? It seems to me that this will lead to a downward spiral. Reduced opening hours means fewer visitors, which means less income, which probably means a cut in staff, which means a further reduction in opening hours, and then fewer visitors and so on...

Is there an answer to the KOSB Museum's problems? I hope so, and I hope former KOSB's and Berwick folk rally round their regimental heritage. It may be fifty years since the regiment last had a depot in the barracks but it is their spiritual home.

Finally last, but by no means least, is the poor old Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum. It sits forlornly at the wrong end of Sauchiehall Street and has such limited opening hours it is a wonder it gets any visitors at all. Like the KOSB they seem to be moving in ever decreasing circles. Currently the museum is only open Monday to Friday between ten and four. It isn't open in the evening and it isn't open at the weekends. Do they actually get anyone going through their door?

It is a real shame because it is a cracking museum. It is based in a Rennie Mackintosh building and out of all the regiments it probably has the most interesting history. The mix of Highland and Lowland regiments. The Royal Scots Fusiliers' long service and Highland Light Infantry's battle honours. The 71st at Waterloo and Vimiero, the 74th at Assaye and on the Birkenhead. The 21st at Blenheim in 1704, Inkerman in 1854, at the Jemappes Bridge in 1914 and countless other battles and campaigns from the Earl of Mar's regiment in 1678 up to 2 Scots in Afghanistan in 2011.

I hope the powers that be in charge of the RHF museum can see sense and make their collection more accessible. The history of Glasgow's infantry regiments should make Glasgow proud. Glaswegians, and especially the former members, and the families of former members, of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, Highland Light Infantry, Royal Highland Fusiliers and 2nd Bn Royal Regiment of Scotland should start supporting their local regimental museum and learn a bit about their glorious past.

Ramage hunts for hero's war medals

An article by Ross Thomnson which appeared in the Carluke and Lanark Gazette this week. An interesting tale of a highly decorated man. Strangely the article makes no mention of the Croix de Guerre which Ramage is listed as having won on the St John's United Free Church roll of honour. In addition to this memorial he is also listed on the Carluke memorial as well as being commemorated on the Menin Gate.


A Carluke man is searching for the medals won by a WW1 hero he was named after.


Ramage Kelly, 76, who now lives in Motherwell, is interested in sourcing the medals of hero Arthur Ramage, who was killed in 1917.


Ramage is rightly proud of his namesake and has been left wondering where his war medals, of which there are many, ended up.


He said: "I was watching the TV one afternoon and there was a man showing off medals that had been won during the war. It got me to thinking about what happened to the medals won by Arthur Ramage.


"I know that when I was growing up in Carluke the medals were held by the Toc H Organisation, which met in Ramage House, next to St Andrews Church, but that was torn down in the 1950s I believe.


"It wouldbe nice if someone in the area has the medals.


"When I was growing up he was always talked about warmly, especially after what he achieved."


Arthur Ramage was born in Chapel Street, Carluke, in January 1892.


Prior to the war he resided with his aunt in Chapel Street.


He served with the local Territorials (12th HLI) before setting off for France in 1915.


On September 25 of that year, at the Battle of Loos, he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery after rescuing several severely wounded soldiers.


For saving the life of his officer while under a hail of enemy fire, a Bar was added on October 31, 1916.


The Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to him on July 15 1917 for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the reconnaisance of a farm, held by the Germans. Arthur had volunteered and made a reconnaisance to a farm, which was held by the enemy.


He succeeded in reaching the enemy trenches which were held in some strength.


However, while returning from yet another successful engagement, on 1st August 1917, he was shot by a sniper's bullet and was killed. He was just 25 years old.


Arthur is commemorated on the Menin Gate memorial at Ypres and was one of the most decorated soldiers of WW1.


Carluke named four streets after its war heroes. Three of them were for Victoria Cross winners - William Angus, Donald Cameron and Thomas Caldwell - and the other was Arthur Ramage.


Many locals over the years have said that the reason Ramage Road was the longest of the three was because Arthur was held in such regard.


It was felt that he should have been awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.


Christine Warren, from Carluke Historical Society, said: "Arthur Ramage is a big part of the history of Carluke and is often talked about in the same vein as our three VC winners.


"He had a highly distinguished military career".

Images of the Day - 15/03/11

In the past we have occasionally posted up photos to one of our forums, looking for information on the subject or the location of the photograph.

What we thought we'd do on the blog is have a semi-regular showcase of some photos in our collections. We post these, together with whatever information we have, and see if there's any information forthcoming.

At the very least, it makes for some interesting viewing.

Today's photos come from my personal collection. I don't know any of the men in these photographs. The only thing I do know is that they are Highland Light Infantry. My wife's grandfather served in the 10/11th Battalion in the First World War, and I believe they came from her family. Her grandfather is not pictured in these photos.

Click the images for larger versions.

Object of the Month - February 2011

A new feature now, where we highlight an item of interest - this might be something in our own personal collections, or it may be an item on display or "hidden" in storage in a museum which we think worth showcasing.

This months item comes courtesy of the museum of the Royal Highland Fusiliers in Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. I'm told that this item has been in the stores, but is currently in the admin office pending a decision on how it might be displayed.
This is a silver cup, hallmarked "Birmingham 1915". It appears to be an award given to the Battalion in 32nd Division which captured the most enemy prisoners.
It was won by the 15th Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry in April 1918. The battalion had captured 161 prisoners and 9 machine guns.

A little further research makes us believe that this trophy was awarded for the Battalions performance in the Battle of Ayette - the village was retaken by the Allies on the 3rd April 1918. The fighting was particularly brutal for the HLI - forty percent of the attacking force was lost. The battalion was well decorated for their actions, winning two Distinguished Service Orders, seven Military Crosses, six Distinguished Conduct Medals, and no fewer than 26 Military Medals. 

Click on the images for larger versions.
Front:
Reverse:
(Our thanks to Sandy Leishman at the RHF Museum for the images)

Who's Who in Scottish Military history - Major General Robert ‘Roy’ Urquhart CB DSO

In our Who’s Who of Boxing Day we wrote about the actor David Niven. A name I mentioned in the text was a contemporary of Niven in 2nd Bn HLI in Malta who later went on to become a general and in 1944 was at the centre of one of the most controversial operations of the Second World War.

The man selected to command 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem was the big Scot, Roy Urquhart.

Urquhart had risen slowly but steadily through the ranks since his time with the HLI in Malta. He had held various regimental and staff appointments but 1st Airborne was his first command of a Division. He got it on the back of his impressive handling of 231 Brigade Group in Sicily.

I’m not going to go into too much detail of Arnhem here because the story of it is well known. What isn’t in doubt is Urquhart’s personal bravery and the immense respect that he earned from his airborne troops. What may be in doubt is whether Urquhart was the best man for the job.

He was picked to command the Airborne Division because of his infantry experience, not because he understood airborne tactics and some criticism levelled at him is that he shouldn’t have allowed his men to be landed so far from their targets. He also managed to get himself separated from his troops and left his division leaderless for a crucial 30 hours. He was further criticised for the location of his final perimeter which was undefendable and meant he had to evacuate his men back over the Rhine. In nine days he had lost 80% of his command. At lot of it was out of his control and he only had a few days to prepare for the battle so he was not out of favour in high circles but 1st Airborne Division never recovered from its mauling at Arnhem and Urquhart took no further part in the fighting during the war.

After VE day 1st Airborne Division was allocated to Operation Doomsday, the plan to oversee the surrender of 350,000 German troops in Norway in May 1945 and Urquhart only had 6,000 troops at his disposal and only four days to plan his arrival. The operation went smoothly and for a while Urquhart was promoted to command all British troops in Norway.

For the next few years he was involved in the TA in the UK until 1950 when he was sent to Malaya during the Emergency. At first he was there as a divisional commander but soon took over as Commander of British forces in Malaya. He only spent a relatively short time there and was succeeded by Gerald Templar in 1952. Templar is credited with beating the communist guerrillas but it was Urquhart who laid the foundations for victory with his shake up of the British and Commonwealth land forces.

He then moved to a happier command, in charge of the British occupation forces in Austria until they left in 1955. There were tensions between the Western Powers and the Soviet Union in occupied Austria and it was a diplomatic rather than military role but it was a successful and peaceful end to a career of highs and lows.

Urquhart then took the opportunity to leave the army, still a Major General, eleven years after being appointed to the rank, and took a job with British Steel until he retired in 1970. He died on 13th December 1988, aged 87.

(Text by Adam Brown)

Who's Who in Scottish Military History - David Niven

It seemed to come as a surprise to some lately that the quintessential English gentleman, Hugh Grant, should have a connection to a Highland regiment but his name should have been a clue. Hugh Grant is not an uncommon name around the Moray Firth. Grant has take on a role within Holywood which was once occupied by another Englishman with Scottish roots, David Niven.

I’ll not go into detail about Niven's Holywood life here; you can find plenty about that in books and articles elsewhere but I’ll mention his time in a Scottish regiment in the 1930s. Niven wasn’t born in Kirriemuir as he liked to claim but his father’s family did hail from Perthshire and after a troubled childhood he had decided he wanted to serve as an officer in a Highland regiment.

At Sandhurst he put down as his first choice of regiment the Argylls, second was Black Watch and for his third choice he was too smart for his own good and wrote “Anything but the Highland Light Infantry”. The army took a dim view of this and packed him off to the 2nd Battalion HLI in Malta. The HLI were aware of his comment and he found the HLI Officers Mess unwelcoming. He did make friends with a couple of other officers - Roy Urquhart, who later commanded 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem; and Michael Trubshawe who became a character actor in British films in the 1950’s and ‘60’s.

Inter Platoon Cup, 1930. David Niven sitting front row, third from the left. Michael Trubshawe is sitting front row third from the right.

He didn’t enjoy his time with the HLI and after two years he ran away to Holywood and the rest as they say is history. In 1939 he returned to the UK to sign up. He didn’t even try the HLI. At first he tried the RAF but they wouldn’t have him but a friend got him a commission in the Rifle Brigade. He later served in the Commandos and Phantom Force.

When he was in Malta I’m sure Niven rued writing “Anything but the Highland Light Infantry” but would he have found the fame he did if he had been posted to the Argylls? Perhaps if fate had placed him in a welcoming regiment he would have settled into the life of a regular army officer and never gone near acting. What if, eh?