A heavyweight both in the film industry and the historical world is 1917 directed by Sam Mendes and starring George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman. Without giving away too much of the plot, the film is set in April 1917 during Operation Alberich, the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line following the heavy fighting during the Battle of the Somme. Two young soldiers are sent with a message, ordering the 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment to halt further attacks.
George MacKay as Schofield in 1917. Note the battalion flashes of the 2nd Devons.
British officers early in the film discuss trying to figure out if the Germans had completely abandoned their positions. While the question ‘where have the Germans gone?’ is explored through these two fictional individuals, it was a real situation facing the BEF in the Spring of 1917. A way which the BEF attempted to answer this question was through the liberal use of raids. One of the most famous photographs not only of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) but of the entire First World War was captured during one of these raids to gather more information on the enemy withdrawal. On 24 March 1917, B and D Companies of the 10th Scottish Rifles were captured by photographer John Warwick Brooke as they advanced to raid the enemy positions in their front.
Raids were commonplace up and down the British lines that Spring, but the one made by the 10th will remain one of the most famous in the history of the British Army solely through the series of photographs taken that day. The Battalion lost 3 Officers and 33 Other Ranks killed, wounded, or missing, most from British shells falling short.
Other battalions of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) experienced this confusing absence of Germans as well. The 2nd Scottish Rifles even served alongside the real 2nd Devons in 23 Brigade, 8th Division. On 15 March 1917, (several weeks earlier than the film is set), their story commenced with the 2nd Devons and 2nd West Yorks advancing upon reports of the enemy retiring in front. The 2nd SR themselves sent out a patrol under Second Lieutenant A.H. Ronan on the 18th finding the village of Moislains completely abandoned. When informed of this the Battalion Commander, Major Colin Robert Hoste Stirling sent forward C Company to take the position. The Scottish Rifles then advanced through Epinette Wood and Aizecourt-le-Bas, which was defended against counterattack on the 25th. That night the 2nd Scottish Rifles was to support the 2nd Devons during a night attack, however, this was called off. Perhaps part of the background for the film?
(L) Benedict Cumberbatch in 1917 wearing the flash of the 2nd Devonshire Regiment. (R) The Flash of the 2nd Scottish Rifles also of 23 Brigade, 8th Division
The 2nd Scottish Rifles continued alongside the 2nd Devons to attack Dessart Wood on 30 March, Gouzeaucourt on 12 April, Villers-Guislains, on 14 April, Gonnelieu, on 21 April, and La Vacquerie on 5 May. It was here that the Hindenburg Line was reached and the clear open warfare of the past few weeks, also seen in the film, was ended. The 2nd Scottish Rifles, while not explicitly depicted in 1917 were certainly nearby. The places in the film while not the factual locations of the 2nd Scottish Rifles, 2nd Devons, and the rest of 23 Brigade, are real and had a Cameronian presence during the Great War.
Écoust-Saint-Mein and Croiselles were both depicted in the film. The latter was being fought over by the 1st and 5/6th Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) during the same month in which 1917 takes place. Both attacked towards the village of Fontaine-lès-Croisilles (to the north-east of Croisilles itself) on 14 April. The objective of the Croiselles-Cherisy Road was not reached and both battalions suffered heavy casualties. Notable figures of the Regiment including Captain D. G. Moncrieff Wright, commanding A Company of the 1st were wounded. Acting CSM of D Company, John MacLaren Erskine, v.c. was killed alongside 4 Officers and 39 Other Ranks of the 5/6th. The two battalions of the Regiment would attack again on 16, 23, and 24 April before finally being relieved.
John MacLaren Erskine, V.C. Killed in Action 14 April 1917.
While the story of the film itself is a mix of fact and fiction, exploring the real units and places help connect the story of the regiment to the big screen. The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) were present on the Western Front during the timeframe of the film and took part in many of the actions related to the story. While viewing historical fiction is a form of entertainment, it remains a great tool to encourage the exploration of the actual events which took place!
This blog post was prompted by recent discussions on Facebook regarding the whereabouts of certain items of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) regimental silver collection. Some veterans were curious as to where items of regimental significance ended up after the 1st Battalion’s disbandment in 1968, and so this blog post has been written to hopefully answer those questions and give something of an overview on the regimental silver collection from the time of disbandment to the present day.
Regimental silver laid out in the 1st Battalion’s Officers Mess, Maryhill Barracks, c.1913.
The disbandment of the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) has been touched on in a previous blog post and there is little need to go over it again in this post. Suffice to say, the decision to disband the 1st Battalion posed several logistical and administrative challenges. Chief among these must surely have been the small matter of the redistribution of officers and men from the 1st Battalion to other regiments and army corps. There was also the planning and organising required for the actual disbandment service itself – a high-profile yet sombre occasion of great significance that was attracting a high degree of media attention. While these considerable challenges were being faced, there was also the small matter of regimental property to consider.
In the March 1968 issue of The Covenanter (the Regimental magazine) the following article was published, under the title Disposal of Regimental Property:
Members of the Regiment will be wondering what will happen to our Regimental Property after the Disbandment of the 1st Battalion.
The bulk of the property in use with the 1st Battalion belongs to the Regimental Trust, and for so long as World Politics continue in their present fluctuating and critical state, there must always be a possibility that the Battalion might be resuscitated, however unlikely that this might appear today.
The Trustees have therefore decided (for the present, at any rate), to retain the bulk of our property. Utility items of Silver to equip a Battalion, will be stored, and the majority of the larger items will be loaned out where they will be appreciated, and where they will best serve to perpetuate the image of the Regiment. There will of course, also be a small requirement of items of historic interest, for the Regimental Museum.
At the same time however, there will be a certain number of smaller items which will be surplus to requirement, and which the Trustees are planning to dispose of, in order to supplement the Trust Funds. As almost all those items are from the Officers’ Messes of the two former Regular Battalions and the former 3rd and 4th Militia Battalions, the Trustees are anxious to give the serving and former officers of the Regiment the opportunity of bidding on favourable terms for those items before any attempt is made to dispose of them in the open market. In the case of the property of the two Regular Battalions, preference will be given to the bids of those who are, or were Regular Officers (or their close relatives), and in that of the 3rd and 4th Militia property, to the bids of our ex-Territorial Officers (or their close relatives).
The sorting, cataloguing and valuing of these possessions, is a complicated operation which the Trustees have in hand at the present time. Notification of the items available for sale, and the method of making bids for them, will be issued as soon as possible.
Having looked through the various lists, catalogues, insurance valuations, and correspondence generated through the cataloguing of the silver collection described above, I can confirm that it was indeed a complicated operation, especially when one considers the background of general upheaval under which this was carried out.
In the immediate run up to Disbandment, a number of formal presentations were made to high-profile persons linked to the Regiment, and to units with formal regimental affiliations. These were invariably items of silver, selected as being suitable for disposal. Included among these presentations were two pairs of silver goblets (a pair of 26th and a pair of 90th) to King Gustav of Sweden, the Colonel in Chief, a silver memento to Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and a small silver teapot to Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Dow, the last C.O. of the 1st Battalion. A number of silver bugles and regimental-pattern dirks were presented to the 7th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles, the Witswatersrand Rifles, and the Rifle Brigade Depot.
Around this time, a number of silver items were also returned to officers who had originally presented them to the Regiment.
As outlined in the article quoted above, there was also a private sale of surplus silver items where serving and retired officers of the Regiment could bid on a small memento of their service. The items offered in this sale comprised mainly of small silver items, such as cutlery, ashtrays, table lighters, tableware etc., along with a selection of trophies and presentation cups deemed not to be of great regimental significance. Proceeds from this sale would bolster the Regimental Fund, and help pay for the long term storage and insurance of the remaining items being retained by the Regiment. Items not sold through this method were sold in a subsequent general sale at Christie’s.
A follow-up article in the June 1968 issue of The Covenanter recorded the presentation of larger items of regimental significance on loan to other regiments, corps, and institutions in order to help maintain the name of the Regiment:
After separating out the items which would be wanted for the Regimental Museum, the Trustees decided that, in order to keep the Regiment’s name to the fore, in as wide and as worthwhile circles as possible, and at the same time, to save the Regiment from the heavy expense of storing and insuring large quantities of Silver for an indefinite period, the remaining items should be offered on loan to responsible institutions which could be guaranteed to look after these treasures, to keep them insured, and to restore them to the Regiment if we should ever call for their return.
Some of the more significant of these items included the silver centrepieces of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions. The 1st Battalion centrepiece was presented to Holyrood House, while the 2nd Battalion centrepiece was deposited with the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Major General Hunt (right) with the 2nd Battalion’s centrepiece at RMC Sandhurst. Pictured on the left is Major Jim Burrell, a Cameronian officer who commanded Dettingen Company at Sandhurst when the presentation was made on 27 June 1968.
Other loaned items include the presentation of the Durand Cup, a famous football trophy won by The Cameronians in India in 1906, to Queen Victoria School in Dunblane, and six regimental side-drums to St. Bride’s Church in Douglas to name but a few.
In the years following the 1st Battalion’s disbandment, a number of smaller items of regimental silver were gifted to individual’s on their retirement from service. A number of additional items were also presented to various sporting clubs and institutions as prizes for competitions.
The regimental trustees organised a series of sales throughout the 1980s and into 1990 to help raise funds for the purchase of the Riding School and to redevelop the regimental museum. During these sales a number of larger silver items were sold, including a rams head snuff mull and the ‘St Vincent’ bowls made by Paul Storr. Reserve items from the museum collection were also sold, namely items of uniform and headdress and edged weapons.
The remaining regimental silver, along with the rest of the regimental museum collections, officially transferred in 2000 to South Lanarkshire Council, at the request of the regimental trustees and with approval and conditions set out by the Scottish Court of Session. Care of and responsibility for the collection now rest with South Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC) who directly manage the collection on behalf of the Council.
Silver ‘Junk’, presented to the Band of the 1st Battalion by the Hong Kong Naval & Military YMCA, 1927. After Disbandment this item had been loaned to Motherwell Burgh Council. It was returned in 2009 and is now displayed in Low Parks Museum.
Since 2000, we have continued to monitor the regimental silver loaned to other regiments, corps and institutions at the time of disbandment, honouring the agreement set out by the Regiment at that time. In some instances, silverware has been returned from loan through mutual agreement with both parties. These situations have mainly arisen whereby the unit or institution to whom the item(s) had originally been loaned have faced amalgamation, downsizing, disbandment or closure, resulting in a need to streamline or dispose of property.
A large number of items remain on loan, including the 2nd Battalion Centrepiece which has been a feature of the Mess at Sandhurst since June 1968. Several pieces continue to form part of the Mess Silver of the unit to which they are loaned.
Some regimental silver currently on display in Low Parks Museum. The 4th (Milita) Battalion Centrepiece is to the left of the display case.
A broad selection of the regimental silver collection is currently on permanent display in Low Parks Museum. In 2009 a temporary exhibition titled ‘Precious’ showcased the regimental silver and for the first time since disbandment, reunited some of the loaned items that were temporarily returned for use in the exhibition. Silver items have since featured in several other exhibitions and temporary displays.
Regimental silver displays as part of the ‘Precious’ temporary exhibition, which was showcased in Low Parks Museum in 2009.
A large selection of the silver collection has been photographed, and can be viewed on our Online Collections browser – https://www.slleisureandculture.co.uk/info/206/online_collection . Using the term ‘regimental silver’ in a Quick Search will return a good number of these items.
