The Black Watch Regiment
The Black Watch Regiment was raised in a unique way. In the wake of the 1715 Jacobite rebellion companies of trustworthy highlanders were raised from loyal clans, Campbells, Grants, Frasers and Munros. Because of their job of ‘watching’ and the dark colour of the tartan they wore, they became known as The Black Watch. Six companies were formed from 1725 and stationed in small detachments across the Highlands to prevent fighting between the clans, deter raiding and assist in enforcing the law against carrying weapons. In 1739 King George II authorised the raising of additional companies and these all to be formed into a Regiment of the Line of the regular army with the Earl of Crawford as the Colonel. The men were to be “natives of that country and none other to be taken”. The first muster of the new Regiment took place near Aberfeldy the following year and is commemorated by a monument in the form of a soldier dressed in the uniform of those days.
In September 1739 these companies were amalgamated into the 43rd Regiment of Foot, and as such their first action was against the French at the First Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. They became the 42nd Highland Regiment of Foot in 1751. In 1758 King George II granted this the additional title of ‘Royal’ and authorised the raising of a second battalion, which was amalgamated with the first battalion in 1762. Another 2nd battalion was raised in 1779 and became the 73rd Highland Regiment of Foot. This in turn raised a second battalion in 1806, which distinguished itself against Napoleon’s troops at Quatre Bras in 1815, but it was disbanded in 1817.
Many battle honours were awarded to the regiment during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries in the Americas, the West Indies, the Peninsular War, India, the Crimea and South Africa. On 1 July 1881 the 42nd and 73rd were amalgamated into the 1st and 2nd Battalions of The Royal Highlanders (The Black Watch). A 3rd (Militia, later Special Reserve) Battalion was wound down in 1919. In 1908 the Volunteers of Dundee, Forfar, Perthshire and Fife, which had been raised in 1859, became the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Territorial Battalions.
Highest Military Honour
During the First World War seven more battalions (8th to 14th) were raised. The 6th Battalion was awarded France’s highest military honour, the Croix de Guerre, for its gallantry in July 1918 in clearing the Germans from the village of Chambrecy against great odds at the end of seven days of continuous fighting under the eyes of the French. The regiment lost 7.993 killed during this war. From 1881 the regiment was popularly known as The Black Watch. In 1922 it became officially known as The Black Watch (The Royal Highlanders), changed in 1937 to The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment).
King George V became Colonel-in-Chief in 1912, succeeded on his death by his daughter-in-law Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother). Eleven of her family, the Bowes-Lyons, had served in the regiment, her brother and a cousin being killed during the First World War. After her death in 2002 her place was taken by her grandson Charles Prince of Wales. Even now, however, in memory of its origins, those who serve in or have served in the regiment, more often than not refer to it as the 42nd or ‘the forty twa’. The wearing of the distinctive red feather (Red Hackle) on the left side of the headdress is said to have begun during the American War of Independence. In August 1822 the Adjutant-General issued an order that it was ‘intended to be worn exclusively by the Forty-Second Regiment’
During World War Two six battalions of the regiment (1st, 2nd, 4th to 7th) were engaged at various times in military action against the enemy, losing just over 1.740 officers and men killed. Three other battalions (8th to 10th) remained in the UK on home defence and training duties. Field Marshall Ear Wavell is the most renowned soldier of the Regiment.
In August 2006 The BBC Contributed This Story
Scotland's famous Black Watch regiment, blooded in two world wars, has redeployed hundreds of men from bases in southern Iraq further into the country to replace US soldiers. Its troops make up the bulk of the 850 soldiers - who also include signallers, engineers and medical staff - moving to areas outside the Iraqi capital Baghdad to allow US troops to prepare for anticipated assaults on insurgents.
Sadly, on the second day of the regiment's planned 30-day mission in the region three of its soldiers were killed in a suicide bomb attack whilst manning a checkpoint near Falluja.
The regiment is one of the most famous in the British army. Its formation came out of unrest, following the first Jacobite rebellion in 1715. Six companies were formed from 1725 to stop fighting among the clans. The regiment's name comes from its role to "watch" the Highlands, and the very dark tartan of its uniform. It is also known as the Royal Highland Regiment.
From Napoleon To The Kosovo
It has fought in numerous conflicts and won distinction in both world wars. Black Watch units fought in the Napoleonic wars, while in the Victorian era they saw combat in the Crimea, the west and south of Africa and the north west frontier of India. In World War I they experienced the trenches of the western front, and saw action in France when the Germans invaded in May 1940 in World War II. Black Watch units were rescued in the Dunkirk evacuations weeks later, and fought in Crete, the North African deserts and Italy. They also returned to France after the D-day landings of June 1944. The regiment has also carried out peacekeeping duties, in Cyprus in 1966, in Northern Ireland from the 1970s and in Kosovo.
It is one of Scotland's six regiments and its website described it as "the premier Scottish infantry regiment in the British Army and one of the most famous fighting forces in the world". The Black Watch first fought in Iraq in April 2003 as part of the 7th Armoured Brigade, which led the Desert Rats' attack on Basra, the country's second city.
It began its second mission there in June, involved in aid distribution and the early stages of reconstruction. Although it is acting as the reserve battalion in Iraq, one soldier has died and another was seriously injured during this second tour of duty. It was meant to be a six-month mission, but it is not yet known how much longer the troops will stay in the country.
When it does return to the UK, it may face an uncertain future. The axe is hanging over it once again in the latest round of cuts announced by Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon in July. Plans would see one infantry battalion in Scotland axed and the remaining five merged into one or two "super-regiments". A series of raids on suspected insurgent villages in central Iraq in late November was described by one commander as possibly the regiment's last major operation.
