Naming Conventions In the late 17th century, many English and Scottish politicians viewed standing armies or permanent units as a danger to the liberties of the individual and a threat to society itself. The experience of the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the use of troops by both
the Protectorate and
James VII and II to repress political dissent created strong resistance to permanent units owing allegiance to the Crown or State. Regiments were deliberately treated as the personal property of their current
Colonel, carried his name which changed when transferred and disbanded as soon as possible. This makes tracing the origins of modern regiments very complex, particularly since many regimental histories were written in the late 19th or early 20th century. This was partly due to the 1881
Childers Reforms; the abolition of the numbering system for regiments was as bitterly resisted then as the various amalgamations have been since and establishing precedence or age became almost an obsession.
The Earl of Mar's Regiment of Foot (1678–1689) The regiment was formed in
Scotland in September 1678 by
the Earl of Mar for service against dissident
Covenanters and helped suppress Presbyterian rebellions at
Bothwell Bridge in 1679 and the 1685
Argyll's Rising.
Thomas Buchan, a Scottish Catholic and professional soldier replaced the Earl as Colonel in July 1686. When
William III landed in England on 5 November 1688 in what became known as the
Glorious Revolution, the regiment was shipped to London. There was very little fighting; the vast majority of
James VII and II's army simply changed sides and Buchan followed him into exile in France. The position of Colonel was filled in March 1689 by
Francis Fergus O'Farrell, an Irishman who had served William since 1674 and it became O'Farrell's Regiment in accordance with the practice of the time. The officers concerned were later reinstated with O'Farrell ending his career as a Major-General. His replacement was Robert Mackay, nephew of
Hugh Mackay former commander of the Dutch
Scots Brigade; he died in December 1696 and was succeeded by another Scot, Colonel Archibald Row. After the
Treaty of Ryswick ended the Nine Years' War in September 1697, the regiment went to Scotland where it spent the next few years. The date at which it became a Fusilier unit is debated, but it first appears as O'Farrell's Fusiliers on an Army list of 1691. 'Fusilier' is a specific designation while 'fusil' was originally a light-weight musket carried by units guarding the artillery train, so it may have been equipped with these before 1691.
The War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713) The Regiment returned to Flanders when the
War of the Spanish Succession began in May 1702 and formed part of the army led by the
Duke of Marlborough. In August 1704, the regiment took part in the
Battle of Blenheim; in their assault on the village, now Brigadier-General Row famously ordered his men not to fire until he struck his sword upon the
palisade; he was shot and mortally wounded as he did so. The regiment suffered heavy casualties, the new Colonel being
Viscount Mordaunt, who himself lost an arm at Blenheim. Shortly after the
Battle of Ramillies in May 1706, Mordaunt exchanged regiments with Colonel Sampson de Lalo, a French
Huguenot refugee who previously commanded what later became the
28th Regiment of Foot. Under de Lalo, it fought at
Oudenarde and the capture of
Lille, one of the strongest defences in Europe whose
Citadel is regarded as
Vauban's masterpiece. de Lalo was killed at
Malplaquet in September 1709, a battle technically an Allied victory but which incurred casualties so severe they shocked Europe. Malplaquet and the huge financial costs of the war meant the focus changed to capturing fortresses as each side attempted to improve its bargaining position prior to peace talks; the war ended in 1713 by
the Treaty of Utrecht. Mordaunt, reappointed Colonel after de Lalo's death, died of smallpox in April 1710 and was succeeded by
Thomas Meredyth. He was dismissed for political reasons in December and replaced by
the Earl of Orrery.
21st (Royal North British Fusilier) Regiment of Foot (1713–1877) The regiment was awarded the title "Royal" around 1713, returning to England in August 1714 on the death of
Queen Anne who was succeeded by
George I. Britain was at peace during this period and the regiment remained on garrison duty until the
War of the Austrian Succession broke out in 1742. It fought at
Dettingen in June 1743 and
Fontenoy in April 1745, a British defeat famous for the British and French commanders politely inviting each other to fire first. During the
1745 Rising it was part of the force that defeated the Jacobite army at
Culloden in April 1746 but was back in Flanders when the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war in 1748. In 1751, the system whereby regiments were numbered by seniority was formalised and it became the 21st Regiment. the next 18 years were spent on garrison duty in Gibraltar, Scotland, West Florida and
Quebec before returning to England in 1773. The regiment saw action at the
Siege of Fort Ticonderoga in July 1777 during the
American Revolutionary War, took part in the
Siege of Bergen op Zoom in March 1814 during the
Napoleonic Wars and saw combat at the
Battle of New Orleans in January 1815 during the
War of 1812. The regiment then served under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Frederick Haines at the
Battle of Inkerman in November 1854 during the
Crimean War. A second battalion was raised in 1805 serving initially in Ayr and
Greenock, Scotland and then in Ireland for the next three years. In April 1871, the 1st Battalion was in
Bangalore. In 1861, the 2nd Battalion was at
Birr Barracks. They departed on 11 July 1863, to redeploy to India. In 1871, the battalion was at the
Thayet cantonment in Burma. In April 1881, the battalion was in the
Transvaal Colony.
21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot (1877–1881) The regiment finally saw the restoration of "Scots" in their title in 1877. Under the reforms the regiment became
The Royal Scots Fusiliers on 1 July 1881. It became the County Regiment of
Ayrshire,
Dumfriesshire,
Kirkcudbrightshire,
Roxburghshire,
Selkirkshire and
Wigtownshire in South-West Scotland. This made them a Lowland Regiment and forced them to adopt trews. In March 1891, the 1st Battalion were stationed at Dublin, and the 2nd Battalion were at Peshawar. The 2nd battalion of the regiment served in South Africa during the
Second Boer War, and saw action at the
Battle of the Tugela Heights in February 1900. Captain
Hugh Trenchard was seriously wounded while serving with the regiment near
Krugersdorp at this time. The battalion stayed in South Africa after the end of the war (June 1902), leaving Cape Town for Southampton on the SS
Staffordshire in January 1903. In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the
Territorial Force and the latter the
Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions. It saw action at the
Battle of Mons in August 1914, the
First Battle of Ypres in October 1914,
Battle of the Somme in Summer 1916, the
Battle of Arras in April 1917 and the advance to the
Hindenburg Line in September 1918 and was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Deneys Reitz in the closing stages of the war. The 2nd Battalion landed at
Zeebrugge as part of the
21st Brigade in the
7th Division in October 1914 for service on the Western Front. The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the
45th Brigade in the
15th (Scottish) Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front. In 1944 the 29th Brigade became part of the
36th Infantry Division, previously a
British Indian Army formation and one of two British divisions fighting the Japanese. The 36th Division spent the rest of the war under command of the
British Fourteenth Army. The 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers was based in Redford Barracks in Edinburgh on the outbreak of war commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel Walter Clutterbuck. In September 1939, the battalion was grouped with the 2nd Bn
Seaforth Highlanders and the 2nd Bn
Northamptonshire Regiment to form
17 Infantry Brigade, which was assigned to the
5th Infantry Division. They were sent as an independent brigade to France in October 1939 to join the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The battalion acted in support during the
Battle of Arras and was significantly involved in the subsequent
Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal. The battalion suffered significant casualties and prisoners of war, and only 40 personnel were able to make it as a formed unit to
Dunkirk to be
evacuated to England. After 2 years spent on home defence in the United Kingdom, the battalion and brigade were detached from the 5th Division, and like the 1st Battalion, fought in Madagascar. The battalion next saw service
fighting in Sicily. In 1944 the division fought in the
Battle of Anzio in some of the fiercest fighting of the
Italian Campaign thus far. The Anzio landings were an attempt to outflank the German
Gustav Line, one of many defensive lines the Germans had created across Italy. After the fierce fighting there, the 2nd RSF and the rest of 5th Division were withdrawn, in July 1944, to
Palestine to rest and refit. They returned to Italy briefly in early 1945 but were transferred, along with
I Canadian Corps from
British Eighth Army, to Belgium to join the
21st Army Group in the
Allied invasion of Germany. s through 'artillery fire' at a battle school in
Scotland, 20 December 1943. The 4/5th and 6th battalions both saw service in the European Campaign in 1944–45 with the 6th also serving in France in 1940, assigned to
51st (Highland) Infantry Division and part of the BEF. The 4/5th Battalion was the
TA 4th and 5th battalions merged and became part of
156th Infantry Brigade assigned to the
52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division. Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas Corbett commanded the 6th Battalion during the
Battle of France in June 1940. The 6th Battalion was reassigned to the
46th Infantry Brigade part of
15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, the 2nd Line duplicate of the 52nd, and served with them during the
Battle of Normandy. sergeant instructor of the Royal Scots Fusiliers trains a recruit on how to fire the SMLE Mk III
Lee–Enfield in prone position, 31 August 1942. The 50th (Holding) Battalion was raised in late May 1940 and was later redesignated the 11th Battalion in October and was assigned to the
222nd Infantry Brigade, where it remained until September 1942 when it transferred to the
147th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 1/6th and 1/7th
Duke of Wellington's Regiment, part of the
49th (West Riding) Infantry Division, where it was to remain for the rest of the war.
Amalgamations of 1959 The Royal Scots Fusiliers were amalgamated with the
Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) in 1959 to form the
Royal Highland Fusiliers, (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment). The regular 1st battalions of the two Regiments combined at
Redford Barracks,
Edinburgh to form the 1st Battalion of the new regiment (1 RHF). ==Battle honours==