No. 113 May 2013 THE RED HACKLE their future starts here Boarding Boys & Girls aged 9 to 18 Forces Discount & Bursaries available For more information please contact: Felicity Legge T: 01738 812546 E: [email protected] www.strathallan.co.uk Forgandenny Perthshire PH2 9EG Strathallan is a Scottish Charity dedicated to education. Charity number SC008903 No. 113 42nd 73rd May 2013 THE RED HACKLE The Chronicle of The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), its successor The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, The Affiliated Regiments and The Black Watch Association The clay model of the statue that is to stand at Black Watch Corner in Belgium was unveiled in Edinburgh on 3 April 2013. It will commemorate the over 8,000 officers and soldiers of The Black Watch who were killed and over 20,000 who were wounded during the Great War. The artist, Mr Alan Herriot is pictured with the Chairman and some of the Association members. MAY 2013 THE RED HACKLE 1 “I’m stuck at the bridge, I might be late” If you cannot live without reporting your every thought on Facebook and Twitter, then The HALO Trust is not for you. But if you are up for a challenge, want a job with real purpose, then you might find HALO’s charitable work very interesting. HALO’s 8,000 staff clear landmines and unexploded ordnance, and cut up redundant Kalashnikovs, in places in and out of the news. Our international staff are usually in their late 20s or 30s and lead between 250 and 1,000 local employees. All our recruits undertake a tailored training package of up to six months’ duration in one or more of the mine-affected countries. Successful applicants are generally fit, well educated, articulate and resourceful – and keen to move on to something worth- while that offers new challenges every day – but still provides “I’ve found a way round” a reasonable remuneration package. If this sounds like what you should be doing, send a short covering letter and a one page (no waffle) CV to: The HALO Trust, Carronfoot, Thornhill, Dumfries DG3 5BF [email protected] www.halotrust.org Registered Charity No. 1001813 & SCO37870 THE Contents Editorial .............................................................................................................................................. 3 RED HACKLE Regimental and Battalion News ....................................................................................................... 4 The Black Watch Heritage Appeal and Museum Redevelopment ........................................................ 8 Correspondence ............................................................................................................................... 10 Book Reviews ................................................................................................................................... 12 Obituaries ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Articles .............................................................................................................................................. 22 The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland ............................................ 32 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland .................................................. 54 The Tyneside Scottish ...................................................................................................................... 55 The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada .......................................................... 56 HMS Montrose................................................................................................................................. 58 Angus & Dundee Battalion Army Cadet Force ........................................................................... 60 Black Watch Battalion Army Cadet Force .................................................................................... 62 Association News ............................................................................................................................. 64 The Chronicle of The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) Editorial its successor The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The highlight for the Association in this period was the commemorative weekend for the 60th Anniversary of the Battle of the Hook and the Korean War. 120 veterans and Association mem- The Royal Regiment of Scotland bers sat down to dinner in Perth on Saturday 17 November; on the Sunday, a special Service The Affiliated Regiments of Remembrance was held in St John’s Kirk (Perth) which was attended by veterans and their and families and that was followed by an excellent lunch in the George Hotel. At the London Branch The Black Watch Association Dinner, Korean Veterans were similarly honoured. Much progress has been made by the Trustees of the Association in the commissioning of May 2013 a bronze statue of a Black Watch Sergeant, dressed in the uniform of the Great War period. The statue will be erected at Black Watch Corner, 3 miles east of Ypres. It will commemorate No. 113 firstly, the sharp action near Polygon Wood, during the final days of the First Battle of Ypres (November 1914) that involved the remnants of the 1st Battalion, where the Kaiser’s Prussian Published for The Black Watch Guard was held by the BEF. Secondly, it will commemorate the over 8,000 officers and soldiers who were killed and over 20,000 who were wounded during the Great War. Lynn MacDonald in her book “1914; Days of Hope” said that the powers that be, with one eye on posterity, named this series of actions including that at Black Watch Corner, “The Battle of Nonne Boschen”. She added tellingly “it was here that the battle was won. It was here that the battle – and the war METHOD PUBLISHING itself – was nearly lost”. Sutherland Press House, Golspie, This has taken considerable amount of work and coordination with the Belgian authorities, as Sutherland, Scotland KW10 6RA well as the artist and foundry where the statue is to be cast. The statue will be over 2 metres tall Telephone (01408) 633871 Fax (01408) 633876 to whom all enquiries regarding and will stand on a plinth of granite, again measuring over 2 metres in height. advertising should be addressed. The Regimental family should keep 3 May 2014 clear in their diaries and it is hoped that buses Editorial Matter and Illustrations © Crown Copyright will be provided to take Association Members and their families to Belgium. Design and Typography © Method Publishing 2013 The dedication of the statue will be the first of a number of commemorative events being run by the Association; in 2015 the Dundee Branch will hold an event to commemorate the The opinions expressed in the articles of the magazine Battle of Loos; in 2016 the Fife Branch will commemorate the battles on Vimy Ridge and the are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy and views, official or otherwise, of the Regiment or Angus Branch will lead in 2017, marking the centenary of the awarding of the Victoria Cross to the MOD. This publication contains official information. Private Charles Melvin at the Battle of Istabulat in Mesopotamia. In 2018 the Perth Branch will It should be treated with discretion by the recipient. commemorate the awarding of the Croix de Guerre by the French Army to the 6th Battalion “The Red Hackle” is published every six months in following the Battle of Tardenois. May and November. Contributions large and small will always be welcome. They should be typewritten in double The building work at Balhousie Castle started in September and at the time of writing the spacing on one side of the paper only. Photographs, project is 6-8 weeks behind schedule but a full report about the project and the plans for the cartoons and sketches of Regimental interest are also museum are included in this edition. The “Friends” of The Black Watch Castle and Museum welcome and will be returned if requested. are still seeking members as well as volunteers and again a report of their activities is included All material for inclusion in the various issues must reach the Editor not later than 1 April and 1 October in the magazine. respectively. The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland recently learned that they From 1 January 2013, bulk orders are supplied are to remain at Fort George for the foreseeable future and that has been well received. The at a rate of £7 per copy. Individual copies are sent Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland will move from Edinburgh out to permanent subscribers, both in the UK and abroad, at a subscription rate of £14 annually for UK (Dreghorn) to Belfast; The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of subscribers, £14 annually to Europe and £16 annually Scotland will remain at Glencorse and The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Worldwide by airmail. A Gift Aid Scheme is available Scotland will return from Germany and move to Catterick in 2015; and finally The Argyll and for individual subscribers who are subject to UK tax. Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland are being reduced to The magazine fund benefits from tax reclaimed in this way. All subscriptions should be sent to the editor, “The Company strength and will fulfil a Public Duties role. Red Hackle, Home Headquarters, The Black Watch, The Black Watch battalion has focussed on preparation