Kenny Andrew Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 With the third major round of cuts in 1967 it was announced that the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was to disband, thus ending nearly three hundred years of service to the Crown. The disbandment parade, in the form of a Conventicle, took place on the holm at Douglas on 14 May 1968. Fittingly the salute was taken by the then Earl of Angus, the 14th Duke of Hamilton (1903-1973).In his sermon The Reverend Donald MacDonald, a much loved former Chaplain to both regular battalions, said: " ... So put pride in your step Cameronians! As you march out of the Army List, you are marching into history, and from your proud place there, no man can remove your name, and no man can snatch a rose from the chaplet of your honour." It is interesting to note in these clips the soldiers are not wearing Cameronian cap badges but the badge of the 52nd Lowland Volunteers.In 1958 The Cameronians, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, The Royal Scots Fusiliers and The Royal Scots adopted the Brigade cap badge common to all, the saltire of St. Andrew, superimposed on this a thistle within a circlet which was inscribed with the motto of the Order of the Thistle, "nemo me impune lacessit".'NO one provokes me with impunity' the national motto of the Kingdom of Scotland. Cap badge of the Cameronians post 1958 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Andrew Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 During WW2 the Cameronians were part of the 52nd Lowland Division. In 1939 the 52nd Lowland Division was instructed to form a duplicate division as a second-line, as part of rearmament efforts. The duplicate division of the 52nd Lowland Division was entitled the 15th (Scottish) Division and consisted of newly raised Lowland TA Infantry Battalions. Both Divisions were mobilised on the outbreak of the Second World War. The 52nd Lowland Division became the only completely Territorial Division to fight in the Second World War. The Division was initially part of the ill-fated Second British Expeditionary Force (BEF) landed in France in June 1940 under Field Marshal Alan Brooke, later being evacuated from the continent during Operation Ariel. Members of the 52nd at the time included the future Brigadier, Alastair Pearson. It subsequently trained as a mountain warfare division in the Scottish Highlands under General Sir Neil Ritchie. As the Invasion of Normandy approached, the 52nd (Lowland) Division were involved in an elaborate deception plan, Operation Fortitude, designed to deceive the Germans into believing that there would not be one invasion area but several, and that the 52nd would have formed the nexus of a strong force that was to be landed in Norway. As a mountain warfare formation, it had little heavy equipment and transport, and therefore was optimal for conversion to operations as an Airborne force, being assigned to the First Allied Airborne Army. It was in this role that the division was anticipated to take part in Operation Market Garden. Instead the division was reassigned to the First Canadian Army, eventually landing at Ostend in October 1944, as part of the wider Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine. They were ordered to capture the vital Port of Antwerp and as a result were involved in the Battle of the Scheldt in Belgium and the Netherlands, which included Operation Vitality, Operation Infatuate and the ultimate capture of Walcheren Island, in order to open the mouth of the Scheldt estuary to Allied shipping. In January 1945 they participated in the Battle for the Roer Triangle, which involved the clearance of the area between the rivers Meuse and Roer. It was during this operation that Dennis Donnini of the 4/5th Battalion, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, was awarded the Victoria Cross, becoming the youngest winner of the VC during World War II. The division crossed the River Rhine at Xanten on 24 March 1945, eventually advancing as far as Bremen, where it fought its last battle of the war. Cap badge of Cameronians during WW2 and worn up to 1958 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leon21 Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Picked up this Inter-Company Football Tournament medal to 10379 Private.T.Handley of the 2nd Bn Scottish Rifles dated 1920 marked Silver and maker marked J.H.& Co ( James Howden & Co of Edinburgh ). Found it in a little collectables shop in Lincolnshire , nice little item. what I've found out so far is that both the 1st & 2nd Battalions were posted to the Western Front in 1914 and remained there throughout the First World War. In 1919 the 1st Battalion was sent to Ireland for 3 years to keep order during The War of Independence ( 1919 - 1921 ), it then remained in England until being sent to India in 1931. In 1919 the 2nd Battalion was sent to Mesopotamia ( now Iraq ) for 3 years, then moved to India were it remained until 1930 with the exception of a year in Kurdistan in 1923. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Andrew Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 very nice Colin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leon21 Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 After further research of the maker mark I'm now sure that the maker is Jos Haywood & Co of Glasgow. Can anyone date this badge looks like a WW1 blackened brass economy version. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leon21 Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 And here we have the Cameronians Pipers badge worn from 1921 -1968. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Andrew Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 As far as I know the blackened brass ones are Victorian Colin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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