No.152 November 2015 THE REDHACKLE No. 152 42nd 73rd November 2015 THE RED HACKLE The Chronicle of The Black Wa tch (Royal Highland Regiment), its successor The Black Wa tch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, The Affiliated Regiments and The Black Wa tch Association The Pipes and Drums of The Black Watch Battalion played before the Aberfeldy Muster Parade on 21st June 2015. NOVEMBER 2015 THE RED HACKLE 1 DEDICATED LEGAL PROFESSIONALS Providing legal advice for over 100 years Proactively serving the Armed Forces: Family,Child &Matrimonial Law Property Conveyancing Property Shop &Estate Agency Wills, Powers of Attorney and Executry www.munronoble.com Commercial Law 26 Church Street, Inverness IV1 1HX Injury &Compensation Claims T: 01463 221727 E: [email protected] If you’re amember of the Armed Forces, or the husband, wife or civil partner of someone in the Armed Forces, you can register to vote either as aService Voter or as an ordinary voter.The way you choose to register to vote is up to you and will depend on your personal circumstances. If you’re based overseas, or expect to be posted abroad in the next year,itmakes sense to register as aService Voter.This allows you to be registered at afixed address in the UK even if you move around. AService Voter registration also lasts for five years, so once you’re registered, you shouldn’t have toworry about it while you’re busy overseas. If you’re based in the UK and are unlikely to change address or be posted overseas in the next year, you can register as an ordinary voter. As you probably know,most people vote in person by going to apolling station in the UK but don’t worry if you’re abroad at the time of the election or have another reason why you won’t be able to vote in person on the day -you can apply to vote by post or by proxy (someone voting on your behalf). The voting age for Scottish elections has been permanently lowered to 16. If you are under 18 years old and turn 15 by 30 November 2015 and living with aparent or guardian who is amember of HM Forces, living in Scotland or would be living in Scotland if your parent or guardian were not based overseas, then you can register as aService Voter.Your registration will be renewed every year until you turn 18. Please contact us for aregistration application form. Want further information on registration or voting? Phone the Freephone Helpline on 0800 393783 e-mail: [email protected] or write to the Electoral Registration Officer, Moray House, 16-18 Bank Street, Inverness IV1 1QY 2 THE RED HACKLE NOVEMBER 2015 Contents The Editorial .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Red hackle Regimental News ............................................................................................................................... 4 Museum Shop.................................................................................................................................................. 7 The Black Watch Museum and Friends of The Black Watch ................................................................. 8 Book Reviews ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Correspondence ............................................................................................................................... 10 Obituaries ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Articles .............................................................................................................................................. 17 The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland ............................................ 31 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.................................................. 50 The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada .......................................................... 54 Black Watch Battalion Army Cadet Force .................................................................................... 56 Association News ............................................................................................................................. 60 Editorial The commemorations of First World Warbattles and events have held centre stage for the Association and Museum with the battles of Aubers Ridge and Loos and the Victoria Cross The Chronicle of ceremonies for Lance Corporal David Finlay and Corporal John Ripley taking place. In addition the Golf Meeting, Reunion and Aberfeldy Muster have all been asuccess. The Black Watch Branches have also been active with the Angus Branch conducting abattlefield tour to (Royal Highland Regiment) Belgium, the Perth Branch an outing to the Famous Grouse Visitor Centre as well as to the its successor Ta ttoo. The Edinburgh and Lothians Branch held their first Al Basrah Dinner in May and the The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion Fife Branch their Alma Ladies Lunch in September. In London the normal round of summer The Royal Regiment of Scotland events has kept people busy and RedHackles have been on parade across the capital. The Museum has had an interesting summer (the weather in June, July and August was far The Affiliated Regiments from interesting) with an exhibition on the Battle of Waterloo and the return of many of the First and World Warera documents from being digitised. The staff have organised the daily ceremonies The Black Watch Association to commemorate the officers and men who were killed during the Great Waraswell as the two major commemorations of 1915 battles. The Black Watch Battalion has completed an operational deployment in support of the UN November 2015 (OP TOSCA 22) in Cyprus. Battalion Headquarters and two Companies deployed leaving the No.152 Rear Operations Group and two Companies in Fort George. Those remaining in Scotland undertook training in Kenya and in France. They will now enjoy aperiod of leave before com- mencing training for their new role. There are anumber of interesting articles in this edition of the magazine and during this peri- Published for The Black Watch od of Great Warcommemorations the memoires of Sergeant Miller are particularly poignant. Malcolm Innes has written ashort and informative piece about “Snaffles” and has illustrated it with images from his own collection. Ialso hope that for older readers, the images from the archive will bring back happy memories of their service in the Regiment. Method Publishing sutherland Press house, golspie, sutherland, scotland KW10 6RA telephone (01408) 633871 Fax(01408) 633876 to whom all enquiries regarding advertising should be addressed. The opinions expressed in the articles of the magazine arethose of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy and views, official or otherwise, of the Regimental Association or the MOD. This publication contains official Editorial Matter and Illustrations information. It should be treated with discretion by the recipient. ©Crown Copyright “The RedHackle”ispublished everysix months in Mayand November.Contributions large and small will always be welcome. They should be typewritten in double spacing on one side of the paper only.Photographs, cartoons and sketches of Regimental interest arealso welcome and will be returned if requested. Design and Typography All material for inclusion in the various issues must reach the Editor not later than 1April and 1October ©Method Publishing 2015 respectively. From 1January2013, bulk orders aresupplied at arate of £7 per copy.Individual copies aresent out to permanent subscribers, both in the UK and abroad, at asubscription rate of £14 annually for UK subscribers, £30 annually to Europe and £30 annually Worldwide by airmail. AGift Aid Scheme is available for individual subscribers who aresubject to UK tax. The magazine fund benefits from tax reclaimed in this way.All subscriptions should be sent to the Editor,The RedHackle Magazine, Balhousie Castle, HayStreet, PerthPH1 5HR, and those interested in the Gift Aid Scheme, will on request be provided with the correct forms for completion. NOVEMBER 2015 THE RED HACKLE 3 The following officers and NCOs of The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland received awards for their work during OP VOCATE: Lieutenant Colonel APReilly –OBE Captain MJames –MBE WO1 PMarshall –CGS Commendation Lieutenant NJTColes –CLF Commendation Lance Corporal PDalgleish –CLF Commendation. To Sergeant Trickovic who was awarded the MBE in the New Years Honours List 2015 for his services to the Welfare Department of The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland. COMMANDING OFFICERS It is aremarkable fact that by August 2017 there will be seven officers who were commissioned into The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) commanding battalions or other units in the Army. Regimental News Lieutenant Colonel DCClose – The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (July 2017) Lieutenant Colonel RSJHedderwick – The Black Watch, FORECAST OF EVENTS 2015/2016 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (March 2017) DATE EVENT LOCATION Lieutenant Colonel NKGTomlin – The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (August 2016) 2015 Lieutenant Colonel JRMcElhinney – 52nd Lowland, 19 November London Branch Dinner Victory 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (July 2016) Services