The Highlanders were formed
from an amalgamation of the
Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) and
the Gordon Highlanders on 17 September 1994. Recruiting Northwards from a line
drawn between Dundee to Fort William, The Highlanders can truly claim to be the
Highland Regiment of Scotland. All trained Private soldiers are known as
'Highlander' not 'Private' and they wear the same cap badge as Officers and
Senior NCOs when on parade. These two distinctions make The Highlanders unique,
as does it's motto 'Cuidich n'Righ' (Help the King) the only Gaelic motto in the
British Army. Many of the serving soldiers speak Gaelic and most of the
Regimental toasts and war cries are Gaelic, for example 'Cabarfeidh agus Erracht
agus Huntlich gu brath!'
The
Colonel in Chief is HRH
Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Deputy Colonel in Chief is
HRH The
Prince of Wales, who is known as the Duke of Rothesay whenever he visits The
Highlanders.
The
Colonel of the Regiment is
Brigadier The Hon HBHE Monro CBE currently serving in Bosnia (Jan 06) He is the son of Lord Hector Monro, former MP for Dumfries and
Lockabie.
The
1st Battalion is serving
in Fallingbostel, Germany. Soldiers from the Battalion served in Kosevo
during that conflict and others serve with other units in Bosnia and elsewhere.
The Battalion is serving in Basra, Iraq from October 2005 to May 2006.
The
Territorial Battalion has
recently been disbanded and the remaining sub units merged into the 51st
Highland Regiment, a new TA Battalion covering the areas formerly belonging to 3
HLDRS, 3 BW and 7/8 A&SH. The new TA Regiment's headquarters are in Perth,
with sub units in Inverness, Aberdeen, Stirling, Dundee and Perth.
Regimental Headquarters The
Highlanders are located at Cameron Barracks, Inverness with a smaller RHQ at Viewfield Road, Aberdeen. There is a Queen's Own Highlanders Museum at Fort
George, Ardersier and the Gordons Museum is at St Luke's, Viewfield Road, Aberdeen.
The
Highlanders are proud descendants of five famous Scottish Regiments raised in
the late 18th Century.
The
new regiment proudly carries on the traditions of its antecedent regiments who
have won 366 battle honours over 200 years in campaigns worldwide.
The Queen's Own Highlanders
were formed after an previous amalgamation of the Seaforth Highlanders (1778)
and the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (1783) on 7 February 1961. Since then
the Queen's Own Highlanders have served on 8 operational tours in Northern
Ireland. In 1982 they sailed to take part in the Falklands War, but ended
up serving as the first Garrison unit after the early Argentinean surrender, and
also fought in the Gulf War resulting in the Battle Honour 'Gulf 1991' being
carried on the Queen's Colour. The Regiment holds 40 Victoria Crosses.
The Gordon Highlanders were
raised in 1794 by the 4th Duke of Gordon for service in the Napoleonic Wars.
Since then the Regiment served in almost every major campaign fought by the
British Army, winning 19 Victoria Crosses.
The
traditions are reflected in the uniform. For example, the regimental cap badge,
with its symbolic stag's head and Gaelic motto Cuidich n' Righ (Save the King),
is that worn previously by the Queen's Own Highlanders, with the royal blue
hackle commemorating Queen Victoria's wish that the Camerons be designated her
own regiment.
The
tartan of each antecedent regiment forms part of The Highlanders dress; the
kilt is Gordon, the trews Seaforth Mackenzie, and the pipers and drummers wear
Cameron of Erracht tartan.
A
number of different collar badges are worn. Officers wear the Sphinx of Egypt,
where both Camerons and GORDONS served with distinction in the early 19th
century; the Indian Tiger is worn to commemorate the campaigns of Seringapatam
and Mysore between 1799-1807, where the 75th Regiment fought against Tipoo
Sahib's 'Tiger' Battalions. In Central India in 1803 the Seaforths were part of
a force that defeated a much larger French-trained Maharrata force at the
battle
of Assaye, earning the right to wear the Elephant super scribed 'Assaye' as a
collar badge.
HISTORY
IN BATTLE
In
1815, both the 79th (Cameron) and 92nd (Gordon) Battalions played a central part
in the famous victory at Waterloo.
Piper Kenneth Mackay of the 79th
of Tongue in Sutherland courageously
stepped outside the safety of the regimental square playing the stirring air Cogadh na Sith (War or Peace) on his pipes and inspired his regiment to
repel continuous charges of French cavalry and ultimately the Old Guard,
Napoleon's most feared soldiers.
On
the same day the 92nd charged against French infantry clutching the stirrup
leathers of the Royal Scots Greys, screaming Alba gu brath 'Scotland Forever'.
Six
Victoria Crosses were won at
Lucknow in 1857 where Seaforth Highlanders fought
valiantly against the Indian Mutineers. 40 years later on the North West
Frontier of India 1st Gordon Highlanders took the
Heights of Dargai from Pathan
tribesman. They charged across open ground under a withering hail of fire
encouraged by Piper Findlater, who continued to play although shot through both
ankles. His was one of two VC's won that day. The following year, in 1898, both
Seaforth and Camerons formed part of Kitchener's force which defeated the
Dervishes at the Battle of Atbara. All 3 regiments fought in the Boer War,
earning 8 VC's between them and the battle honour South Africa 1899-1902.
20th
CENTURY WARS
The
sheer scale of the fighting in the World War I meant that each regiment was
called on to expand rapidly. By 1918 the Seaforths had raised 19 battalions, the
Gordons 21 and the Camerons 13. No fewer than 14 VC's were won, and close on
50,000 men lost their lives. The Second World War started disastrously with 5
battalions captured by the Germans at St Valery and one by the Japanese in
Singapore. But from 1942 onwards each regiment fought with singular success from
Alamein through North Africa, Sicily, Italy and from the Normandy Beaches to the
Rhine. In the Far East too, fortunes changed and all battalions distinguished
themselves in Burma.
