Contemporary engraving of Scots mercenaries serving in the Thirty Years War
In April 1633, Sir John Hepburn was granted a warrant by Charles I to recruit 1200 Scots for service with the French army in the 1618–1648 Thirty Years War. The nucleus came from Hepburn's previous regiment, which fought with the Swedes from 1625 until August 1632, when Hepburn quarrelled with Gustavus Adolphus.[2] It absorbed other Scottish units in the Swedish army, as well as those already with the French and by 1635 totalled around 8,000 men.[3]
Sir John was killed in 1636 and succeeded as Colonel by his brother George, then, after his death in 1637, Lord James Douglas; following the custom of the time, the unit became known as the Régiment de Douglas. James died in a skirmish near Douai in 1645 and was replaced by his elder brother Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, who remained in Scotland and had little contact with the regiment, other than supplying recruits.[4] In 1653, he assigned the Colonelcy to his younger half-brother, George Douglas, later Earl of Dumbarton.[5]
The Dutch raid on the Medway in 1667; the regiment was based nearby at the Chatham naval base
In 1660, Charles II was restored as king; in January 1661, Douglas's was sent to England in response to Venner's Rising, an attempted coup by Fifth Monarchists.[6] The revolt was quickly crushed and it returned to France, since the recently elected Cavalier Parliament quickly disbanded the New Model Army but refused to fund replacements.[7] It remained in France until 1679, apart from a period during the 1664-67 Second Anglo-Dutch War when it was based at the naval dockyard of Chatham. The diarist Pepys met George Douglas in Rochester and recorded that "Here in the streets, I did hear the Scotch march beat by the drums before the soldiers, which is very odde."[8] In 1667, the regiment was accused of looting after the Raid on the Medway and ordered back to France; while awaiting transport, over 700 of the 1,500 men deserted.[9]
During the 1672-74 Third Anglo-Dutch War, Douglas's was part of the British Brigade that fought with the French, commanded by the Duke of Monmouth.[10] It served in the Rhineland throughout the Franco-Dutch War, even after the Anglo-Dutch war ended in February 1674; it became the Régiment de Dumbarton in 1675, after George Douglas was made Earl of Dumbarton.[11] The 1678 Treaties of Nijmegen required the repatriation of all Scots and English units from France; reluctant to lose veteran troops, this was made as hard as possible. Dumbarton's was posted to the Dauphiné in Southern France before being disbanded and its men prevented from travelling for 30 days thereafter; many chose to remain, while those who arrived in England did so without money or possessions.[12]
Tangier ca 1670; the regiment was part of the Tangier Garrison, 1680–1684
The regiment was listed on the English military establishment as the First Foot or Royal Scots, a temporary measure during the Exclusion Crisis of 1679–1681. Four of its twenty-one companies joined the Tangier Garrison in April 1680, with another twelve in September.[13] It was awarded a battle honour for 'Tangier' in 1908, but the colony and its garrison was evacuated in 1684. A war diary for 1680 was kept by its commander, Sir James Halkett, allegedly one of the first examples to survive.[14]
On its return, the unit was renamed His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Foot in June 1684.[15] When James II succeeded Charles in 1685, the regiment fought at the decisive Battle of Sedgemoor that ended the June Monmouth Rebellion; a second battalion was raised in March 1686 and posted to Scotland.[16]
It was the only unit where the majority remained loyal to James during the November 1688 Glorious Revolution; Dumbarton followed him into exile and one of William's subordinates, Frederick Schomberg, was appointed Colonel.[17] While awaiting transport from Ipswich to Flanders, it mutinied on 15 March 1689, a combination of not being paid and dislike at being commanded by a foreigner. However, the mutineers were treated with leniency and later agreed to the move.[18]
In the army reforms of 1751, the unit was ranked as the most senior infantry line regiment and titled the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot.[25] On the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756, the 2nd Battalion moved to Nova Scotia in 1757, fighting at Louisburg, Guadeloupe and Havana, then returning home in 1764.[24]
The 1st Battalion had returned to the West Indies as a garrison in 1790, and served there until 1797,[21] with a brief period of combat in the Haitian Revolution.[23] The West Indies were hotbeds of disease, and the battalion lost more than half its strength to disease in this period.[3] It was reformed from militia volunteers in Ireland in 1798: This year saw a major rebellion erupt in Ireland after years of simmering tension. The Lothian Fencibles fought with distinction at the Battle of Vinegar Hill, one of the more important engagements of the rebellion. Subsequently, the regiment gained a new regimental song:
Both battalions were subsequently dispatched to the West Indies, the 1st from 1801 to 1812, and the 2nd from 1803 to 1806. The 1st occupied Saint Thomas in 1801, fought at the capture of Saint Lucia, as well as of Demerara and Essequibo in 1803, and the capture of Guadeloupe in 1810. The 2nd then moved to India, where it would remain until 1826, whilst the 1st was sent to Quebec with the outbreak of the War of 1812.[21] It fought in the battles of Sackett's Harbor and Buffalo & Black Rock, as well as the capture of Fort Niagara (1813), the battles of Longwoods, Chippawa, and Lundy's Lane, along with the Siege of Fort Erie and the Battle of Cook's Mills (1814).[27] In February 1812, the regiment was retitled as the 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots), the first official appearance of the popular name.[25]
The capture of San Sebastián, diorama in the Royal Scots Regimental Museum
The 4th was deployed to the Baltic in 1813, being involved with the recapture of Stralsund, and fought in the Netherlands in 1814, where it was captured and exchanged. It was then dispatched to Canada as part of the War of 1812, where it served as a garrison. It was withdrawn to England with the end of the fighting and disbanded at Dover in 1816.[31]
19th century
Regimental colours, 1847
The 1st battalion was sent to Ireland after the end of the Napoleonic wars, and stationed there from 1816 until 1825, when it was moved to the West Indies, where it remained until 1835. The 2nd battalion, however, had a more active time; based in India, it was involved in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, where it fought at the Battle of Nagpore (1817) and Battle of Mahidpur (1818), and in the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824–26. It moved to Scotland in 1830, and to Canada in 1836, where it was involved in the Rebellions of 1837.[21] The regiment fought at the Battle of Saint-Denis (1837), but was running low on ammunition as the British officers had underestimated the amount of insurgents, and with the enemy beginning to flank, Colonel Charles Gore gave the order to withdraw.[32] A move to the West Indies in 1843 was complicated by half the regiment being shipwrecked and delayed several months, but was successful, and the regiment finally returned to Scotland in 1846.[24]
Both battalions saw active service in the Crimean War, with the 1st fighting at the battles of Alma and Inkerman (1854), and both fighting in the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55),[21] where the regiment's first VC was won.[33] After the war, the 1st battalion moved to Ceylon in 1857[23] and thence to India, returning home in 1870, whilst the 2nd battalion moved to Hong Kong, and saw action in the Second Opium War, fighting at the capture of the Taku Forts (1858) and Pekin (1860), and returning home in 1861.[21]
In 1881, following comprehensive reforms following the Crimean war (Cardwell Reforms of 1870), the ambitious Childers Reforms were passed by the War Office. Among many changes was the merger of the many numbered regiments of foot into un-numbered 'county regiments'. Because the regiment already had two battalions, it fared much better than the many other regiments which lost their identities and merged into new two-battalion regiments. Under the February 1881 proposals, the regiment was due to be redesignated as The Lothian Regiment (Royal Scots), however under the final July reform, the regiment became The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment).[34] Under the previously mentioned reforms, the regiment became a county regiment, encompassing the following: City of Edinburgh (Midlothian), Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Linlithgowshire (West Lothian), and Berwickshire (later transferred to the King's Own Scottish Borderers on 1 May 1887). In addition to the two regular battalions and depot, the regiment now took control of the various militia and infantry (rifle) volunteers based in the above counties.[35] This left the regiment with the following structure:[36]
In 1881, the 1st was in the West Indies; it moved to South Africa in 1884, when it saw action in the Bechuanaland campaign, and remained there until 1891, when it moved back to the UK to serve as the depot battalion and the 2nd moved out to India. With the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War, the 1st was quickly earmarked for service in South Africa, and sailed in late 1899. It remained there until 1903, being joined by the 3rd from 1900 to 1902[21] – the first time a non-regular unit of the regiment had been activated. The bulk of the time in South Africa was spent patrolling and in mobile columns, with neither battalion engaged in any major battles.[3] The 2nd battalion was posted in India in 1891, and stayed there until 1909. The battalion had various postings around the sub-continent, including Poona until late 1902 when it moved to Kamptee.[37]
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve;[38] the regiment now had one Reserve and seven Territorial battalions.[39] The 1st moved back to India in 1909, relieving the 2nd, which moved back to the UK; they remained stationed there until 1914.[21]
First World War (1914–1919)
At the outbreak of the First World War, the 1st was in India, and returned to the UK in November; the 2nd was immediately deployed with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), arriving in France on 14 August[40] and seeing action on the afternoon of the 23rd.[41] The Special Reserve had been mobilised, with the 3rd Battalion activated at Weymouth, and all seven battalions of the Territorial Force had mobilised and raised an additional second-line battalion by the end of 1914.[42] A further seven battalions of the New Army were formed in 1914, including two Pals battalions[43] By the end of 1914, the regiment stood at a strength of 24 battalions;[44] another six Territorial battalions and three New Army battalions (one of bantams) were formed in 1915.[45] In 1916, one service and one reserve battalion were formed by merging depleted Territorial battalions,[46] and in 1917 a labour battalion was formed.[47] In total, the Royal Scots raised some thirty-five battalions of infantry and over 100,000 men during the course of the First World War, of which fifteen battalions saw active service. 11,000 soldiers serving in the regiment were killed, and over 40,000 wounded.[3] Among other decorations and honours, the regiment won six Victoria Crosses.[48]
A sergeant of 'D' Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Scots, using a trench periscope to observe German trenches near Kemmel in January 1915
The 1st, on returning from India, was placed in the 27th Division, a division made up of regular units that had been recalled from garrison duty, and arrived in France in December 1914. It saw combat in the action of Saint-Éloi and throughout the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, before the division was withdrawn and moved to Salonika in November, where it spent the rest of the war It was sent to Georgia in December 1918 for operations against the Bolsheviks, and returned to Edinburgh in May 1919.[49] The 2nd was part of the 3rd Division, one of the first units of the British Expeditionary Force to be sent to France. It first saw action in the Battle of Mons, and thence at almost all of the major actions on the Western Front, before returning to Scotland in 1919.[49]
The 1/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) mobilised in Edinburgh in August 1914, and were assigned to the 29th Division. A poignant Christmas card was produced by the Edinburgh artist Walter Balmer Hislop who served with 'D' Company of the 5th (QER) Battalion . They fought at the Battle of Gallipoli, then to France via Egypt, and saw action on the first day on the Somme. The 1/6th had mobilised at the same time and been dispatched to Egypt in 1915 for the Western Frontier Force; it too was withdrawn to France for the Somme. The two heavily depleted battalions were amalgamated in July 1916, and spent the remainder of war on the Western Front as the 5/6th. After the war, it remained in Belgium until January 1919 when it moved into Germany, and was reduced to a cadre in October 1919 and sent home to be disbanded.[49]
A raiding party of 11th Royal Scots preparing for action in July 1918
The 11th, 12th and 13th were raised in August 1914 in Edinburgh, with the 11th and 12th allocated to 9th (Scottish) Division and the 13th to 15th (Scottish) Division, and moved to France in mid-1915. They first saw action at the Battle of Loos, where the 11th was almost wiped out,[51] and spent the remainder of the war on the Western Front. The 11th and 12th moved to Germany after the armistice; the 12th was reduced to a cadre in April 1919 and disbanded in the UK in June, whilst the 11th was reduced to a cadre and disbanded at Cologne in November. The 13th remained in Belgium, being reduced to a cadre in March 1919 and disbanded in the UK in June.[49]
The 15th was raised in September 1914, the 16th (which came to be known as McCrae's Battalion) in December 1914, and the 17th in February 1915, in Edinburgh. The 15th and 16th were assigned to the 34th Division and the 17th to the 35th Division, moved to France in early 1916, and first saw action at the first day on the Somme; all three spent the remainder of the war on the Western Front. The 15th and 16th were reduced to cadres in May 1918 and disbanded in August; the 17th was based in Belgium after the armistice, and provided internal security in France and Belgium in early 1919, before being reduced to a cadre in April and disbanded shortly afterward.[49]
The 2/10th was originally mobilised as bicycle infantry, but never served in this role. It was the only second-line battalion of the regiment to be sent overseas, moving to Archangel in August 1918, and serving in the North Russia Campaign until June 1919, when it returned to Scotland to disband.[49] The remaining battalions all remained in the UK on Home Service, and did not see active duty. However, six saw significant periods of service in Ireland, where they served as garrison units, and were often involved in local security – armed patrols, mobile columns to 'show the flag', and the like.[52]
Inter-war period (1919–1939)
The regiment was reduced sharply in size following the Armistice; during 1919, the 3rd Battalion disbanded, as did all bar one of the Territorial battalions (the one exception being the 2/10th, which was finally disbanded in February 1920).[53]
In September 1919, the 1st Battalion again embarked for imperial service, taking up garrison duties in Rangoon, and in August 1920 the 2nd Battalion was sent to Ireland for service in what would later become the Anglo-Irish War; they would remain there until January 1922.[53]
When the Territorial Force was reconstituted as the Territorial Army in 1920, all seven Territorial battalions of the regiment were reconstituted. At the beginning of 1921, the regiment was formally retitled The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment),[25] and comprised two regular battalions, one Supplementary Reserve battalion, and four battalions of the newly renamed Territorial Army, all four of which were activated during the 1921 coal strike. In January 1922, reductions in the military led to the amalgamation of the Territorial component into two battalions.[54] The three battalions not retained in 1921 were converted to support units outside the regimental structure.[55] The 4th/5th Battalion was later, in 1938, transferred to the Royal Engineers and converted into an anti-aircraft role, becoming the 4th/5th Battalion, The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) (52nd Searchlight Regiment). It was later transferred to the Royal Artillery in August 1940 as the 52nd (Queen's Edinburgh, Royal Scots) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery.[56]
The 1st Battalion moved from Rangoon to Secunderabad in 1922, then to Aden in 1925. They finally returned to the UK in 1926, barracked at Maryhill in Glasgow, where they saw duty in the General Strike. Under the Cardwell system, it was common for one battalion to remain at home while the other one served overseas, and accordingly in January 1926 the 2nd Battalion moved to Egypt, then to China in 1928. In 1930, they moved to Quetta, then Lahore in 1934, and finally Hong Kong in January 1938. At the same time, the 1st Battalion was deployed to serve in the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, where it would remain for a year, until January 1939, when it became part of the 4th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.[53] Some sources suggest the 1st Battalion was briefly reorganised as a machine-gun battalion during this period.[23]
With the re-armament program in the late 1930s, the Territorial component of the regiment was heavily altered; one of the two battalions was converted into an anti-aircraft role in 1938[57] whilst the other formed a duplicate 8th Battalion on 2 August[58] 1939.[53][59]
Second World War (1939–1945)
At the outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939, the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots was at Aldershot as part of 4th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 1st Border Regiment and 2nd Royal Norfolk Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division;[60] accordingly, it deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It moved to Lecelles in September, and in May 1940 moved into Belgium during the Battle of France. The BEF were heavily hit by the German Army's breakthrough, however, and fell back towards the coast; the battalion was deployed at Le Paradis, near Béthune, on 25 May to protect the flanks of the Dunkirk evacuation.[61] After being heavily hit by armoured attacks, the battalion ceased fighting on the afternoon of 27 May.[62] The adjacent unit, the 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolks, had almost one hundred men taken prisoner and later shot by their captors in the Le Paradis massacre.[63] Recent research has suggested that around twenty Royal Scots suffered a similar fate.[64] The remnants of the battalion were reconstituted in Bradford in June.[53] After Dunkirk, the battalion spent nearly two years on home defence preparing for a potential German invasion of the United Kingdom. The 1st Royal Scots, along with the rest of the 2nd Division, was sent to British India in April 1942 to train for jungle warfare.[65]
Men of the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots pose with a Japanese flag taken as a souvenir after clearing the Japanese from Payan, near Shwebo, January 1945
The two Territorial Army units, the 7th/9th, which was the 7th and 9th battalions merged, and 8th Battalions, mobilised in Scotland in September; the 7th/9th was briefly deployed to France with the 155th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 4th and 5th King's Own Scottish Borderers, of the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division before the collapse of the French government, but was quickly withdrawn.[53] The regiment raised a fifth battalion in June 1940; it was created as the 50th (Holding) Battalion in June 1940 where it would 'hold' men who were medically unfit, temporarily homeless or on a course etc. but redesignated the 12th Battalion in October 1940. Also raised were the 10th and 11th (Home Defence) battalions, raised in late 1939 specifically for defensive duties in the United Kingdom. Both battalions, like most others of the same type, would have consisted mainly of older and less fit men, with previous military experience, together with younger soldiers. The 11th, however, was disbanded in 1940 and, in 1941, the 10th dropped the 'Home Defence' subtitle and was redesignated as the 30th Battalion but was disbanded in 1943.[66]
Most of 1941 passed without active duty for the regiment, and with growing concerns about the stability of the Far East, the 2nd Battalion, still based at Hong Kong, moved into defensive positions around the colony. On 8 December, the Battle of Hong Kong began a few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor; after bitter fighting, the garrison surrendered on Christmas Day. The newly formed 12th Battalion was disbanded and reformed as the 2nd Battalion in May 1942.[53]
In April 1942 the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots was moved to Bombay, and then to Chittagong in December, still with 2nd Infantry Division. It fought in the Burma Campaign, first seeing action in the Arakan operations from March to May 1943, and then withdrawing into India. It later saw action at the Battle of Kohima in 1944 and the Battle of Mandalay in 1945. It was withdrawn to India to rest and refit in April 1945, and moved to Singapore in December.[53]
The new 2nd Battalion was moved to Gibraltar in April 1943, and moved to Italy in July 1944, where it saw action in the Italian Campaign, in the Anzio Campaign and on the Gothic Line, with the 66th Infantry Brigade, which was part of the 1st Infantry Division. The 2nd Royal Scots were serving in 66th Brigade alongside the 1st Hertfordshire Regiment and 11th Lancashire Fusiliers. In January 1945 it moved to Palestine with the rest of the 1st Infantry Division, where it was active in security duties in October and November, and was then redeployed to the Suez Canal Zone in December 1945.[53]
The 7th/9th Battalion was still part of the 155th Infantry Brigade and was attached to the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, which was trained for mountain warfare and airlanding operations, but was never used in this way. In October 1944 they moved to the Netherlands, fighting in the Battle of the Scheldt as part of the First Canadian Army, where the 52nd Division served with distinction, and then participating in Operation Blackcock and the advance to the Rhine; it crossed the Rhine in March 1945 and advanced to Bremen by the end of the war.[53]
Universal Carriers and infantrymen of the 8th Battalion, Royal Scots pause during the attack by 15th (Scottish) Division on Tilburg, 27 October 1944
In February 1949, the 2nd Battalion disbanded, leaving the regiment with only a single regular battalion for the first time since the 17th century.[68]
A piper of the Royal Scots in Korea after the Armistice, Christmas 1953
The 7th/9th (Highlanders) and 8th Battalions were reconstituted in the Territorial Army in 1947. Both battalions remained until 1961, when the latter was absorbed and the single battalion retitled the 8th/9th Battalion. In 1967 this was disbanded and reconstituted as two separate companies, A Company (The Royal Scots) of the 52nd Lowland Volunteers, and A Company (8th/9th Royal Scots) of The Royal Scots and Cameronians Territorials. By 1971, both companies were in the battalions of the 52nd Lowland Volunteers, and though the Royal Scots name was retained in the title the regiment no longer had a Territorial Army element.[69]
The 1st Battalion briefly saw service in the Korean War in 1953, as part of 29th Infantry Brigade; after a brief spell in Egypt, they deployed to Cyprus from June 1955 to February 1956. They then spent two years in England, two in Berlin, one in Scotland, two in Libya, and four in England. In 1964, they deployed to Aden, then back to England and a three-year spell in Germany with the British Army of the Rhine.[70]
1970 to 1974 was spent in Britain as part of the Allied Command Europe Mobile Force, with the battalion undertaking two four-month tours of duty in Northern Ireland. The battalion was then posted to Cyprus in early 1974. Unfortunately, Turkey invaded the island and created the "Green Line", which still partitions the island. During the action of moving service families and holidaymakers to safety from Limassol, Piper Malcolm Halliday played at the roadside becoming known as "The piper of Cyprus".[71] This had put the Regiment on a war footing and they were involved in riots attacking RAF Akrotiri and protection of the Sovereign Area Base of Episkopi. They were relieved in early 1975 returning unexpectedly to Kirknewton near Edinburgh and did a further four-month tour of Northern Ireland, where three soldiers were lost in a roadside bomb attack. They moved to Münster in mid-1976 as the Nuclear Convoy Battalion charged with the protection of 8 Regiment RCT.[70] In this role, the Battalion was equipped with Land Rovers, a change from the normal equipment used by previous and subsequent NCB units, which were armoured infantry battalions. Returning to Scotland in 1979, C Company was detached as 'C Battalion' providing administrative support to the Edinburgh Tattoo. In 1980, they undertook a two-month tour in Northern Ireland, and moved there under 39th Infantry Brigade in 1981 for a two-year deployment. In 1983, they returned to Kirknewton for two years and during this time they were deployed to the Falkland Islands for four months. In 1985, they returned to Germany, deploying to the Persian Gulf in 1990 for Operation Desert Storm.[70]
In 1994, the battalion gained a company of Gurkhas, who were later transferred to The Highlanders. Deployment in the 1990s included a further one-year tour to Northern Ireland. The Battalion was deployed to Bosnia for the first time as part of SFOR in September 2002 for six months prior to their deployment in November 2003 to Iraq as part of Operation Telic for six months, returning to Iraq again in January 2006.[70]
However almost immediately the Ministry of Defence moved to amalgamate the two battalions. This was not a new idea: the origins of the combined entity, Royal Scots Borderers, dates from the 1990 Options for Change review, when it was initially announced that the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers would amalgamate. That amalgamation was subsequently rescinded.[73] The Royal Scots Battalion and King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion duly amalgamated on 1 August 2006 – upon their amalgamation, the new battalion took the name Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.[74]
The remaining Territorial element of the Royal Scots, a rifle company of 52nd Lowland Regiment, was likewise amalgamated, becoming A (Royal Scots Borderers) Company of 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland.[75]
5 March 1691: Col. Sir Robert Douglas, 3rd Baronet; appointed Lieutenant-Colonel by James in October 1688, confirmed by William in March 1689, commanded the regiment in Flanders, confirmed as Colonel March 1691, seniority backdated to 31 December 1688. Killed at the Battle of Steenkerque, August 1692;[83]
The regiment is known by the nickname Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard which apparently was the result of a 17th-century boasting contest with the French Régiment de Picardie regarding the respective seniority of each regiment.[98][circular reference]
Picardie, the senior French infantry regiment, was formed in 1562, whereas the Scots had been raised in 1625 as Hepburn's Regiment and only entered French service in 1635 but, it is said, claimed a lineage from Scots in French service dating back to the C13th.[99] Versions of this tradition vary but the story turns on the existence of either one regiment or the other dating back to service under Pontius Pilate at the time of Christ's crucifixion. The most common version tells of the name 'Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard' being tossed by the French as a jibe against the Scots. They replied that if their regiment had been on guard the night of the Crucifixion, the Sepulchre would not have been empty the next morning.[100]
The 2nd Battalion was sardonically referred to as The First to Foot It during the Battle of Hong Kong.[101]
The 2nd Battalion team won several competitions in the 1890s, including the Surrey Cup, Malta Cup, Secunderabad Cup, Harris Cup, and Bombay Rovers Cup.[104]
Uniform
White facings on a red coat were worn until "royal blue" distinctions were adopted in the early 18th century. The Scottish thistle of St Andrew featured on belt-plates and other parts of the uniform. The standard red/scarlet and blue uniform of most line infantry regiments was retained until "Lowland" dress was adopted in 1881.[105] For the Royal Scots this included a scarlet doublet, tartan trews and (from 1904) a dark blue Kilmarnock bonnet with diced band, scarlet toorie and black-cock feather.[105] This continued as the regimental full dress uniform until 1939, although worn only to a limited extent after 1914. The No. 1 Dress worn during the final decades of the regiment's separate existence consisted of a dark blue bonnet with regimental dicing, dark blue doublet, and Hunting Stewart tartan trews.[106]
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, and the First and Second World Wars. It had many different titles throughout its 280 years of existence.
The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Black Watch, the Highlanders, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 52nd Lowland Regiment, and 51st Highland Regiment to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland. However, after just a few months the battalion merged with the Royal Scots Battalion to form the Royal Scots Borderers.
The Welch Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot and 69th Regiment of Foot to form the Welsh Regiment, by which it was known until 1920 when it was renamed the Welch Regiment. In 1969 the regiment was amalgamated with the South Wales Borderers to form the Royal Regiment of Wales.
The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. The regiment was expanded in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the linking of the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot and the militia and rifle volunteers of Cheshire. The title 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment continued to be used within the regiment.
The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years.
The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers which was later itself merged with the Royal Scots, King's Own Scottish Borderers, the Black Watch, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Highlanders to form a new large regiment, the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers which later merged with the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch, the Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland, becoming the 2nd Battalion of the new regiment.
The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War and both the First and Second World Wars. On 1 May 1963, the regiment was re-titled, for the final time, as the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers and became part of the Fusilier Brigade.
The 52nd Lowland Volunteers is a battalion in the British Army's Army Reserve or reserve force in the Scottish Lowlands, forming the 6th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 6 SCOTS. Due to its erstwhile association with the 1st Regiment of Foot, it is the senior Reserve line infantry battalion in the British Army. It is one of two Reserve battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, along with 51st Highland, a similar unit located in the Scottish Highlands.
The Seaforth Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service in World War I and World War II, along with many smaller conflicts. In 1961 the regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders to form the Queen's Own Highlanders, which merged, in 1994, with the Gordon Highlanders to form the Highlanders. This later joined the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to create the present Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The 28th Infantry Brigade was a British Army formation which served during the First World War, the Second World War, The Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation.
The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland was a battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The battalion formed on 1 August 2006 when its antecedent regiments - the Royal Scots and the King's Own Scottish Borderers - amalgamated just after the formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006.
The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army. It served under various titles and fought in many wars and conflicts, including both the First and the Second World Wars, from 1680 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Border Regiment to form the King's Own Royal Border Regiment.
The Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army that can trace their formation back to 1796. It saw action in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. It amalgamated with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry and the 1st/2nd Lothians and Border Horse to form the Queen's Own Lowland Yeomanry in 1956. Its lineage was revived by B Squadron, the Scottish Yeomanry in 1992 until that unit was disbanded in 1999.
The 155th Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and the Second World Wars. Assigned to the 52nd (Lowland) Division, the brigade saw active service in the Middle East and on the Western Front during the First World War. During the Second World War, now the 155th Infantry Brigade, it continued to serve with the 52nd Division in Operation Dynamo, and later in North-western Europe from late 1944 until May 1945.
The 65th Division of the British Army was a second-line Territorial Force division, formed in 1914, which served on home defence duties during the First World War.
221st Mixed Brigade was a Scottish Home Service formation of the British Army that served under various titles throughout World War I.
The Monmouthshire Regiment was a Territorial infantry regiment of the British Army. Originating in units of rifle volunteers formed in Monmouthshire in 1859, the regiment served in the Second Anglo-Boer War and both World War I and World War II before losing its separate identity in 1967.
The 6th Battalion, Royal Scots, was a unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Force. Beginning as a Volunteer unit formed from teetotallers in the city of Edinburgh in 1867, it later became affiliated to the Royal Scots. During World War I it served in the Senussi Campaign and on the Western Front. Postwar it was converted into a medium artillery battery.
The 9th Battalion, Royal Scots was the highland (kilted) battalion of the Royal Scots. Formed in 1900 as a part-time Volunteer Force battalion in Edinburgh, in 1908, as part of the Haldane Reforms, it became a Territorial Force battalion. During the First World War it served on the Western Front. Post-war it was amalgamated with the 7th Battalion to form 7th/9th Royal Scots. Notable members of the battalion include James Pearson, Arthur Farrimond, Jimmy Broad, Robert Dudgeon, Major Archibald Alexander Gordon, Walter Lyon, FCB Cadell and William Geissler.
↑ These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), with the 4th and 5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Battalions at Forrest Hill in Edinburgh, the 6th Battalion at Gilmore Place in Edinburgh, the 7th Battalion at Dalmeny Street in Leith, the 8th Battalion at Nungate in Haddington (since demolished), the 9th (Highlanders) Battalion at East Claremont Street in Edinburgh and the 10th (Cyclist) Battalion at the High Street in Linlithgow (since demolished) (all Territorial Force). See Scottish Military History Society lineage pages
↑ Paterson, Vol I, p.243. The 6th was the one exception for second-line battalions; it did not raise a second battalion until 1915, whilst the 8th had already raised its third-line battalion in 1914
↑ Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. These battalions were the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th (Reserve), 15th (1st City of Edinburgh) and 16th (2nd City of Edinburgh) Battalions. The latter two were the "Edinburgh City Pals" also known respectively as Cranston's Battalion and McCrae's (or McRae's) Battalion. The 14th was later redesignated as the 54th Training Reserve Battalion
↑ Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. The Territorial units were the second-line 2/6th, plus the third-line 3/4th, 3/5th, 3/6th, 3/7th and 3/9th, battalions; the New Army units were the 17th, also known as Rosebery'sBantams, the 18th Reserve (later transferred as the 77th Training Reserve Battalion), and the 1st Garrison battalions
↑ Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. The new units were the 4th (Reserve) and 5th/6th battalions
↑ Ewing, Appendix III. This was the 19th Battalion, later transferred to the Labour Corps as 1st and 2nd Labour Companies of 10th Labour Group
1 2 The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) in 1914–1918
↑ The 11th ran into a wire entanglement and was caught in crossfire. The commanding officer was killed, along with a sizeable proportion of the battalion Baker, Chris. "The Battle of Loos". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
↑ Ewing, Appendix II. The battalions stationed in Ireland were the 3rd, 2/4th, 2/7th, 2/8th, 2/9th and 1/10th. Additionally, the successor unit of the 14th (Reserve) Bn (now 51st (Service) Bn Highland Light Infantry) was sent to Germany as an occupation unit, but not until after the armistice had been signed, whilst the 4th (Reserve) Bn spent February 1919 protecting key points in Glasgow against strike riots
↑ Paterson, Vol II, p.10. The four territorial battalions originally retained were the 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th; they were amalgamated into the 4th/5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) and the 7th/9th (Highlanders)
↑ The 6th and 8th battalions became batteries of 57th (Lowland) Medium Brigade of the Royal Garrison Artillery; the 10th (Cyclist) Battalion briefly became the 1st (Linlithgow) Light Bridging Company, Royal Engineers, and was then absorbed as A Company into 4th/5th (Queen's Edinburgh) Battalion.
↑ The 4th/5th (Queen's Edinburgh) Battalion, newly titled as 52nd Searchlight Regiment, and the cadre of the old 10th (Cyclists) Battalion forming the 14th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment. Both were transferred into the Royal Artillery.
Brander, Michael (1976). Famous Regiments: The Royal Scots: The Royal Regiment. Leo Cooper. ISBN9780850521832.
Cannon, Richard (1846). Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Origin of the Regiment in the Reign of King James VI of Subsequent Services to 1846 (2012ed.). Forgotten Books.
Ewing, John (1925). The Royal Scots, 1914–1919. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. (Two volumes)
Glozier, Matthew (2004). Scottish soldiers in France in the reign of the Sun King: nursery for men of honour. History of warfare. Vol.24 (illustrateded.). BRILL. ISBN978-90-04-13865-0.
Henn, Francis (2004). Business of Some Heat: The United Nations Force in Cyprus 1972-74. Casemate. ISBN978-1844150816.
Manning, Roger (2006). An Apprenticeship in Arms: The Origins of the British Army 1585-1702. OUP. ISBN978-0199261499.
McCance, Captain HM (1922). "Tangier 1680; the Diary of Sir James Halkett". Society for Army Historical Research. 1: 1–24. JSTOR44221267.
Paterson, Robert H. (2000). Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard: a History of the First or the Royal Regiment of Foot. Edinburgh: The Royal Scots History Committee. ISBN978-0-9540906-0-9. (Two volumes)
Regimental titles in italics indicate they were disbanded or renumbered before 1881.
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Kingdom of Scotland (1633–1678)
Kingdom of England (1678–1707)
Kingdom of Great Britain (c.1707–c.1800)
Kingdom of Ireland (c. 1775) [1] 
United Kingdom (1801–2006)
British Army 
