The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until amalgamation into the Royal Regiment of Scotland on 28 March 2006.
The regiment was created under the Childers Reforms in 1881, as the Princess Louise's (Sutherland and Argyll Highlanders), by the amalgamation of the 91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, amended the following year to reverse the order of the "Argyll" and "Sutherland" sub-titles. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was expanded to fifteen battalions during the First World War (1914–1918) and nine during the Second World War (1939–1945). The 1st Battalion served in the 1st Commonwealth Division in the Korean War and gained a high public profile for its role in Aden during 1967.
As part of the restructuring of the British Army's infantry in 2006, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment), the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) and the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) into the seven-battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland. Following a further round of defence cuts announced in July 2012, the 5th Battalion was reduced to a single light infantry company called Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders).
History Formation It was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 91st (Princess Louise's Argyllshire) Regiment and the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment as outlined in the Childers Reforms. The regiment was one of the six Scottish line infantry regiments, and wore the Sutherland district tartan (Government No. 1A) as its regimental tartan; this is a lightened version of the Black Watch (Government No. 1) sett. The unit also had the largest cap badge in the British Army. The uniform included the Glengarry as its ceremonial headdress.
At the Childers Reforms amalgamation, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders already had a well-earned reputation for valour in the face of the enemy, most notably the 93rd (later 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) during the Crimean War. Here, the 93rd earned the sobriquet of "The Fighting Highlanders" and carried with it the status of having been the original "Thin Red Line". This title was bestowed following the action of the 93rd at Balaklava on 25 October 1854 in which this single battalion alone stood between the undefended British Army base at Balaklava and four squadrons of charging Russian cavalry. The 93rd, under the command of Sir Colin Campbell, not only held steady, but for the first time in the history of the British Army, broke a large cavalry charge using musket fire alone, without having been formed into a square.
This action was witnessed by the Times correspondent William Howard Russell, who reported that nothing stood between the Russian cavalry and the defenceless British base but the "thin red streak tipped with a line of steel of the 93rd" a description immediately paraphrased and passed into folklore as "The Thin Red Line".Greenwood, ch. 8. Later referred to by Kipling in his evocative poem "Tommy", the saying came to epitomise everything the British Army stood for. This feat of arms is still recognised by the plain red and white dicing worn on the cap band of the A and SH Glengarry bonnets.
Second Boer War
The 1st Battalion arrived in the Cape in November 1899 and formed part of the 3rd or Highland Brigade. The Argylls played leading roles in the Battle of Modder River, the Battle of Magersfontein, the Battle of Paardeberg, and in an action at Roodepoort immediately preceding the Battle of Doornkop. In June 1900, the battalion was transferred to a new brigade under Brigadier General George Cunningham. They operated around Pretoria and from April 1901, in the Eastern Transvaal. Sections of Argylls formed parts of the 2nd and 12th Battalions Mounted Infantry, and a detachment, along with the Black Watch, formed an escort for Captain J. E. Bearcroft's naval guns during the advance to Pretoria.
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 five Territorial battalions.
First World War
Regular Army The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 81st Brigade in the 27th Division in December 1914 for service on the Western Front.
The 2nd Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 19th Brigade, which was operating independently, in August 1914 for service on the Western Front.
Territorial Force The 1/5th (Renfrewshire) Battalion landed at Cape Helles as part of the 157th Brigade in the 52nd (Lowland) Division in June 1915; the battalion was evacuated to Egypt in January 1916 and then landed at Marseille in April 1918 for service on the Western Front.
The 1/6th (Renfrewshire) Battalion landed in France as part of the 152nd Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division in May 1915; the battalion moved to Italy in November 1917 but returned to France in April 1918.
The 1/7th Battalion landed in France as part of the 10th Brigade in the 4th Division in December 1914 for service on the Western Front.
The 1/8th (The Argyllshire) Battalion landed in France as part of the 152nd Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front.
The 1/9th (The Dumbartonshire) Battalion landed in France as part of the 81st Brigade in the 27th Division in February 1915 for service on the Western Front.
New Armies The 10th (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.
The 11th (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.
The 12th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 77th Brigade in the 26th Division in September 1915 but moved to Salonika in November 1915.
The 14th (Service) Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 120th Brigade in the 40th Division in June 1916 for service on the Western Front.
Irish War of Independence During the Irish War of Independence, the 2nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was sent to be stationed in Claremorris, County Mayo in 1919. Though the battalion's time in Ireland was mostly uneventful, soldiers from the regiment were involved in the death of Captain Patrick "Paddy" Boland, the officer commanding of the Crossard Company, East Mayo Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). On 27 May 1921, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders shot and killed Boland while he was allegedly attempting to escape near his home in Aghamore; Boland's body was reportedly severely mutilated after his death."Interesting Extracts - Brief Personal notes on Parochial and other passing events" by Michael F Waldron, Knox Street, Ballyhaunis, 7 February 1953; re-printed in Annagh Parish Magazine, 2007–09.
Interwar Years By 1931, the 2nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was stationed in Hong Kong and was initially involved in quelling anti Japanese riots.
In 1932, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was deployed to Shanghai, specifically as part of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps. They were involved in the defense of the International Settlement during the January 28 Incident, a conflict between China and Japan. The Regiment was stationed in the British sector and helped defend the northern boundary of the International Settlement.
The Regiment was transferred to Waziristan, then known as India's North West Frontier from 1935 to 1938 as part of efforts to maintain control in the region. This deployment was part of a larger British military presence aimed at quelling tribal unrest and maintaining security in the area, which was known for its mountainous terrain and challenging conditions. The regiment was particularly stationed at the Gharion Camp with the Bannu Brigade fighting in the Shan Plain against the Fakir of Ipi.Colonel Graeme Sligo, Australian Army, Counterinsurgency Lessons from the North-West Frontier, Australian defence Force Journal 2013T.F. Moreman, ‘Small Wars and “Imperial Policing’: The British Army and the Theory and Practice of Colonial Warfare in the British Empire, 1919-1939’ in Brian Holden Reid, Military Power: land warfare in theory and practice, Frank Cass: London, 1997, pp. 114-7 and 120.
Second World War
The 1st Battalion fought in the Western Desert Campaign, Crete, Abyssinia, Sicily and in the Italian Campaign. The first action for the 1st Battalion was at Sidi Barani where they joined the battle on 10 December 1940 as part of the 16th Infantry Brigade. On 17 May 1941 the battalion moved to Crete where they formed part of the defence based on the east side of the island at Tymbaki. Most of the Argylls marched from Tymbaki to the airfield at Heraklion on the night of 24 May to help support the 14th Infantry Brigade in the fighting at that airfield. They were successfully evacuated on 29 May from Heraklion but their convoy suffered air attacks and many casualties on the route away from Crete. The Argylls left at Tymbaki were captured when the island surrendered. The 1st Battalion was shipped to Alexandria and after garrison duties followed by a raid into the Gondar region of Abyssinia, they were sent back to the Western Desert where they were eventually attached to the 161st Indian Infantry Brigade, part of 4th Indian Infantry Division, and fought in the Second Battle of El Alamein. In 1943 the 1st Battalion landed on Sicily during Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, attached to the 5th British Infantry Division as the 33rd Beach Brick. From February 1944 the battalion fought through the Italian Campaign with the 19th Indian Infantry Brigade, attached to 8th Indian Infantry Division.
The 2nd Battalion fought valiantly against the Imperial Japanese Army during the fighting in Malaya and Singapore (See Battle of Bukit Timah). Led by the tough Lieutenant Colonel Ian Stewart they were one of the very few British units that was prepared for the jungle warfare in Malaya. In the months before the invasion of southern Thailand and Malaya in 1941, Stewart took his battalion into the harshest terrain he could find and developed tactics to fight effectively in those areas. This training that the 2nd Argylls went through would make them arguably the most effective unit in General Percival's Malayan Command, earning them the nickname "the jungle beasts".Jeffreys, p. 16.
During the withdrawal of the 11th Indian Infantry Division, the 2nd Argylls slowed the enemy advance and inflicted heavy casualties on them. During these actions the battalion became so depleted by battle that it was ordered back into Singapore. Two days later, 2,000 or so men of the 22nd Australian Brigade (the absolute tail guard of the British forces) arrived at the causeway. An Australian staff officer was amazed to find the Argylls camped on the Malay side of the water, and asked why they were in Malaya when they could have been in the relative comfort of Singapore. Lt. Col. Stewart replied "You know the trouble with you Australians is that you have no sense of history. When the story of this campaign is written you will find that the ASHR goes down as the last unit to cross this causeway what's more – piped across by their pipers".Thompson (2005), p. 251.