Scots Guards

The regiment now known as the Scots Guards traces its origins to the Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment, a unit raised in 1642 by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll in response to the 1641 Irish Rebellion.[3] After the Restoration of Charles II, the Earl of Linlithgow received a commission dated 23 November 1660 to raise a regiment which was called The Scottish Regiment of Footguards.[4]

It served in the 1679 Covenanter rising of 1679, as well as Argyll's Rising in June 1685, after which it was expanded to two battalions.[5] When the Nine Years War began in 1689, the first battalion was sent to Flanders; the second served in Ireland, and fought at the 1690 Battle of the Boyne, before joining the First in 1691.[6] The combined unit fought at Steenkerque and Landen, as well as the 1695 Namur. After the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, the regiment returned to Scotland.[7]

The March of the Guards to Finchley by William Hogarth; defending London during the 1745 Jacobite Rising

The Guards remained in Scotland during the War of the Spanish Succession; retitled The Third Regiment of Foot Guards, it moved to London in 1712, and did not return to Scotland for another 100 years. During the 1740-1748 War of the Austrian Succession, the First Battalion served at Dettingen in 1743 and Fontenoy in April 1745, a British defeat famous for the Gardes françaises and Grenadier Guards inviting each other to fire first.[8]

Both battalions were in London during the 1745 Rising; an engraving by William Hogarth shows them marching to take up defensive positions in North London. However, the Jacobite army turned back at Derby, and in July 1747, the Second Battalion was sent to Flanders, where it fought at Lauffeld, before the war ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.[9]

In the absence of a modern police force, the military was often used for crowd control; in Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, William Hickey describes a detachment from the "Third Regiment of Guards, principally Scotchmen" dispersing a crowd attempting to release the radical politician, John Wilkes from prison in 1768.[10]

Scots Guard Sergeant A. Fraser unhorsing Col. Cuieres at Hougoumont Farm, June 1815[11]

In April 1809, the 1st Battalion was sent to the Iberian Peninsula, and served in the Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain. It took part in the crossing of the River Douro on 12 May, an operation that ended so successfully that the French Army were in full retreat to Amarante after the actions in Oporto and its surrounding areas. In late July 1809 the regiment took part in the Battle of Talavera, one of the bloodiest and most bitter of engagements during the war.[3]

The 2nd Battalion's flank companies took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in the Low Countries. The 1st Battalion went on to take part in the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811, the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812, the Siege of San Sebastián in Summer 1813 and the Battle of the Nive in December 1813.[3]

At the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, the Scots Guards were positioned on the ridge just behind Hougoumont. Their light companies, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Macdonnell, held Hougoumont Farm throughout the battle, a key defensive position on the right flank of the Allied army.[12]

Scots Guards drummer, piper, bugler and musician, circa 1891

The 1st Battalion, part of the 1st (Guards) Brigade of the 1st Division, was part of the British Expeditionary Force which arrived in France in 1914. The Battalion took part in the Battle of Mons in August 1914, the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914 and the Battle of the Aisne also in September 1914. The 1st and 2nd Battalions then took part in the First Battle of Ypres in November 1914, the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915 and the Battle of Loos in September 1915. In July 1916 the Scots Guards took part in the first Battle of the Somme and in July 1917, the regiment began its involvement in the Battle of Passchendaele. In March 1918 they fought at the second Battle of the Somme and in Autumn the regiment took part in the final battles of the war on the Western Front.[13]

In April 1940, the 1st Battalion, as part of the 24th Guards Brigade, took part in its first campaign of the war, during the expedition to Norway.[14]

In North Africa, as part of the 22nd Guards Brigade, the 2nd Battalion took part in fighting against the Italians in Egypt followed by tough fighting in Libya, then also controlled by Italy. In North Africa, in March 1943, the 2nd Battalion took part in the defensive Battle of Medenine, after the Germans had counter-attacked the Allies.[14]

In September 1943, the 2nd Battalion, as part of the 201st Guards Brigade of the 56th (London) Division, took part in the Landing at Salerno. In December 1943, the 1st Battalion, as part of 24th Guards Brigade, arrived in the Italian Theatre. At the Battle of Monte Cassino in early 1944, the 2nd Battalion suffered heavy casualties in tough fighting.[15]

The 1st Battalion, as part of its brigade, joined the 6th South African Armoured Division in May 1944. The regiment took part in many fierce engagements throughout 1944, including those against the Gothic Line, a formidable defensive line.[16]

In the years following the Second World War the Scots Guards saw action in a number of Britain's colonial wars. In 1948, the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards were deployed to Malaya (now Malaysia) to crush a Communist-inspired and pro-independence uprising during a conflict known as the Malayan Emergency. In its time in Malaya, the 2nd Battalion performed a variety of duties, including, in their involvement in the Emergency, guarding duties, patrolling into the dense jungle, and assaults upon MNLA guerrillas. During this period, the battalion was involved in an incident known as the Batang Kali massacre, where they were responsible for the execution of 24 unarmed civilians.[17][18] By the time the battalion departed Malaya in 1951 for home, it had lost thirteen officers and other ranks.[19]

By late 1951, the 1st Battalion was deployed to Cyprus and in February 1952, the battalion deployed to the Suez Canal Zone, Egypt. In February 1962, the 2nd Battalion arrived in Kenya operated in support of the civil power during the Mau Mau Uprising. In 1965 the 1st battalion undertook two tours in Borneo during the Indonesian Confrontation.[20]

Both the 1st and 2nd Battalion deployed to Northern Ireland during the Troubles in the early 1970s.[21] During their time in Northern Ireland, Scots Guards lost 12 men killed in action. In 1992 they were involved in the contentious shooting of civilian Peter McBride, for which two soldiers were convicted of murder.[22][23]

During the Falklands War in 1982 the main force of the Scots Guards began its advance on the western side of Mount Tumbledown. During the course of the battle in the early hours of 14 June 1982, men of the 2nd Battalion 'wearing berets instead of helmets' launched a bayonet charge on the redoubtable Argentinian defenders which resulted in bitter and bloody fighting, and was one of the last bayonet charges by the British Army.[15]

In 2004, the 1st Battalion deployed to Iraq on a 6-month posting as part of 4th Armoured Brigade. The 4th Brigade relieved 1st Mechanised Brigade, and joined the Multi-National Division (South East) that was under British command.[2]

In 2021, the 1st Battalion moved to Somme Barracks, Catterick Garrison as part of the Army 2020 Refine reforms.[24][25]

On 1 May 2022 (delayed from the originally intended 1 April 2022), soldiers in A (The London Scottish) Company, the London Regiment transferred to foot guards regiments and the company became G (Messines) Company, Scots Guards, 1st Battalion London Guards.[26][27]

Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles of the Scots Guards patrolling in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2008