Formation The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was formed in 1881 under the
Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the
26th Cameronian Regiment and the
90th Perthshire Light Infantry. After the amalgamation, the 1st Battalion preferred to be known as "The Cameronians" while the 2nd preferred to be known as "The Scottish Rifles". The 2nd Battalion saw action at the
Battle of Spion Kop in January 1900 during the
Second Boer War. Two
militia battalions were formed from the former 2nd Royal Lanark Militia. The 3rd battalion was embodied in May 1900 for service during the Second Boer War. More than 600 men embarked for
South Africa in April 1901, and returned in June 1902, following the end of hostilities. The 4th battalion had been embodied already in December 1899, also for service in the same war, and 600 officers and men embarked for South Africa in late February 1900. 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 two Reserve and four Territorial battalions. The battalion famously refused to play football or otherwise fraternise with the enemy on
Christmas Day 1914. The 2nd Battalion landed in France as part of the
23rd Brigade in the
8th Division in November 1914 for service on the Western Front.
New Armies The 9th (Service) Battalion landed at
Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the
27th Brigade in the
9th (Scottish) Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front.
Second World War The 1st Battalion, which had been in
India at the start of the war and was initially commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Galloway, was deployed to
Burma as part of the
1st Burma Brigade in the
39th Indian Division in 1942 and saw action in the
Burma Campaign. team from the 2nd Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 5th Division, take up a position high up in the mountains, Italy, 21 November 1943. The 2nd Battalion, initially commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Douglas Graham, was deployed to France as part of the
13th Infantry Brigade in the
5th Division within the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in September 1939 and, after taking part in the
Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940, saw action in the
Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and the
Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943 and, after fighting in the
Italian Campaign, serving in both the
Moro River and
Anzio campaigns until July 1944, took part in the
North West Europe Campaign in early 1945, ending in May. s near Havert in Germany, 18 January 1945. The 6th and 7th Battalions, both
Territorial Army battalions, were deployed to France as part of the
156th Infantry Brigade in the
52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division to provide cover for the withdrawal of troops of the British Expeditionary Force; after the
Normandy landings in June 1944, the battalion took part in the North West Europe Campaign in late 1944 and in 1945. The 9th Battalion took part in the Normandy landings as part of the
46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade in the
15th (Scottish) Infantry Division in June 1944 and saw action in the North West Europe Campaign in late 1944 (including action at the
Battle of Broekhuizen) and in 1945.
Post-war In 1948, along with every other line infantry regiment of the British Army, the Cameronians regiment was reduced to a single regular battalion. The 1st Battalion which had been repeatedly decimated in the Burma campaign was placed in suspended animation and the 2nd Battalion was renamed the 1st Battalion while at Gibraltar. It was deployed to
Malaya in 1950 during the
Malayan Emergency. Under the reforms of the army in the
1967 Defence White Paper, which saw several regiments amalgamated, the Cameronians chose to disband rather than amalgamate with another in the
Lowland Brigade. In the 1960s the unruly behaviour of some of the Cameronians who were stationed in
Minden as part of the
BAOR caused a local to describe the smaller Scottish soldiers as "poison dwarfs". The 1st Battalion, The Cameronians was disbanded on 14 May 1968 at
Douglas Castle, near
Douglas,
South Lanarkshire in the presence of the
Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Angus. Its recruiting area in
Lanarkshire and
Dumfries and Galloway was taken over by the
King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Regimental Headquarters finally closed down in 1987. ==Regimental museum==