George Anderson, from Leith, was a Riflemen in the 9th Battalion of the Cameronians . He landed in Normandy on the 17th of June 1944. During his time in he was posted in a place called Kleve which is south of Arnhem. Right next to Kleve is the Moyland Forest. . Between the 15th-18th February 1945 his time was employed as a Company runner. This meant that Anderson’s job was to relay messages and information throughout the Company, facing severe danger as a result. The communications within the Company had been cut off due to heavy shelling, and the firing of the enemy automatic weapons, This is why Riflemen Anderson was employed as a runner, as this was the only way for the Company to send messages. There were high casualties and this meant that Anderson was the last remaining runner, therefore he took on all responsibilities that had to do with communication within the Company. Every message that Anderson was given to relay was successfully delivered, despite the heavy shelling from the enemy. Later in March 1945 Anderson would have a deadly encounter with a tank when he and four of his fellow comrades volunteered to try and destroy a German tank that was stopping the whole Battalion from moving forward. Anderson’s four fellows were killed by this tank and George was severely injured as he laid in a field in Germany for four days before he was found by a patrol. Anderson’s injuries were severe as he was missing one leg and had a badly damaged upper thigh on his other leg. For both his actions as a runner and his encounter with the tank ,Anderson was awarded the Military Medal as seen below.
Another responsibility that Anderson took on was that he performed all administration duties for the Company while he was still performing his own duties. The reason George took on these extra responsibilities was due to heavy casualties within Company Headquarters, one of the causalities included the Company Sergeant Major.
Anderson was also well aware of how dangerous his job as a runner was, this is why he handed over some of his personal belongings to his Company Commander just before he went on one of his missions, as he thought he may not return.
The citation for Anderson’s Military Medal states; “He has more than once assumed responsibility far above his rank. His conduct and example through the campaign has been an inspiration to his comrades”
Below is Andersons Citation for the Military Medal he received, detailing his brave actions and diligent service:
Taken form @NationalArchivesTaken form @NationalArchives
After Andersons Military service he started off as a driving instructor; this was fairly shot lived, however, as he would then take on the role of a driver for an engineering company called Bruce Peebles. After his time as a driver, Anderson decided to renew his army links in order to lend his experience as a sergeant instructor at Hamilton Place. After several years of being a sergeant instructor Anderson was then promoted to a storeman in Redford Barracks, which is where he would spend the rest of his working life before retiring and spending time with his wife Betty, whom he married on Christmas Day in 1940. Here are some images of George Anderson:
Later in life Anderson would be presented to the Queen, this unique occasion was captured in a photo that was proudly presented in Georges home:
Next year, 2024, marks the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Normandy. It is anticipated that there will be substantial interest in, and media coverage of, the events of the Landings on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and the Battle for the liberation of Europe which followed, in which the 9th Battalion of the Cameronians played such a significant part. It is likely that the site of the British Normandy Memorial will be a focus for commemoration of those events and for remembrance of the sacrifice of all those who gave their lives in the cause of freedom.
The British Normandy Memorial www.britishnormandymemorial.org stands at the edge of the village of Ver-sur-Mer, just east of Arromanches, on a slight rise, looking out over Gold Beach, the area designated in Operation Overlord for the landing of British troops. The Memorial consists of a central wall, on which is engraved the names of all Allied personnel who lost their lives on D-Day itself, flanked by a series of limestone columns, on which are engraved the names of all the others who lost their lives in the subsequent Battle of Normandy, which is deemed to have ended by 31 August 1944. There are 22,442 names engraved on the Memorial, arranged in chronological order of the date of death.
The Battle of Normandy had particular importance for the 9th Battalion, which did not participate in the landings on D-Day itself, but was to play a leading part in all that followed, from the attempted breakout from the beachhead beginning on 26 June 1944, right through to the end of the War in May 1945. The Battalion was part of the 46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade of the 15th Scottish Division of the British Army. That Division was given the honour of spearheading the planned breakout in Normandy, east of Bayeux and west of Caen, the area which became known as “the Scottish Corridor”.
The main body of the Battalion had landed on the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches on 17 June, with the Vehicle party being held up by the great Channel storm and eventually reaching Arromanches on 23 June.
What followed was bitter and sometimes attritional warfare: in the first five days of the Division’s involvement, it was to suffer 2,720 casualties, one-quarter of its total losses in the whole period from June 1944 to May 1945. In the preparation for the construction of the Normandy Memorial, meticulous research by its researchers in combination with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) identified 146 members of the Regiment who died in the Battle of Normandy. Those Cameronians were buried in Cemeteries situated throughout Normandy administered by the CWGC, but now all of their names are perpetually commemorated on the engraved Columns of the Memorial.
Undoubtedly, the 80th Anniversary and any associated commemoration will stimulate interest in visiting the area, the Memorial itself, and the War Cemeteries in Normandy. All of these are profoundly moving places. Many relatives of those who died will have visited these sites, but it is recognised that very many more will never have had the opportunity to do so. In their memory and with the intention of assisting Cameronians, and any relatives of the Fallen of the Regiment who may wish to visit the area on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary or thereafter, a list has been compiled of all those 146 members, together with their date of death, age, place of burial, and the number of the Column at the Memorial where their names are engraved.
The Cemetery with the largest number of Cameronian dead, at 54, is at St Manvieu, on the D9 west of Caen, the road which separates the villages of St Manvieu and Cheux, both of which were extensively damaged in the fighting, and the second largest, at 47, is at Bayeux, which is in the town of Bayeux itself, at the western edge of its mediaeval centre. The remainder are spread amongst 9 other CWGC Cemeteries in the area: Brouay, Tilly-sur-Seulles, Hermanville, Ryes, Banneville-la-Campagne, Secqueville-en-Bessin, Beny-sur-Mer, St Charles de Percy, Hottot-les-Bagues, and Caumont (Communal).
The Battalion was engaged in a series of important battles during the Normandy campaign, and examination of the dates of death of the members of the Battalion shown in the records shows a clear correspondence with the individual battles of that campaign, the first stage being Operation Epsom.
Operation Epsom commenced at 07.30 on 26 June 1944, when the Battalion went into action for the first time. The task was to capture the village of Le Haut du Bosq (now known as Le Bosq), just south of Cheux. The Battalion’s losses on that first day were very heavy: 34 members of the Battalion lost their lives on that day alone, 23 per cent of all fatalities suffered by the Battalion in the whole of the campaign to 31 August, but mere statistics cannot convey the awful reality of the battlefield action.
Brigadier Barclay’s official History of the Regiment, Vol III, refers at p166 to that part of the action on 26 June which involved the Battalion’s Pioneer Platoon. He states, “The Battalion Transport, moving forward escorted by the Pioneer Platoon, ran into an enemy minefield, and suffered casualties. Heavy enemy shell fire also caused losses.” The official War Diary of the Pioneer Platoon itself, written by Brigadier Richard Villiers, Commander of the 46th Brigade, who as Lieutenant Colonel Villiers, had been the Commander of the 9th Battalion at the time, contains this passage, which more graphically conveys what actually happened: “When the [Battalion] went into action on 26 June the Pioneers were detailed to sweep the road forward for the transport. They were unable to carry out this task as the [Platoon] had ceased to exist as a [Platoon] after five minutes in action. Sjt McSkimming and seven men had been killed and eight men had been wounded by the devastating mortar fire.” Alexander McSkimming is buried at St Manvieu War Cemetery and his name is engraved on Column 98 of the Normandy Memorial, as are the names of Riflemen John Ledgard, Archibald MacInnes, William McInnes, Thomas Melvin, Arthur Moore, William Moore and Lieutenant Peter McGregor.
In the 5 days between 26 June and 1 July, the conclusion of Operation Epsom, the Battalion had suffered 74 fatalities, 50 per cent of all the fatalities it suffered in the whole of the Battle of Normandy. The prolonged fighting at Grainville-sur-Odon accounted for a significant number of these. Much of that centred on the church there. The accompanying photograph, taken exactly 79 years later, clearly shows the extant bullet and shell holes in the church’s gable wall. The street on which the church stands is now named the Rue de la 15ème Division Écossaise, and a modern community hall on the street is named the Salle de la XVème (Hall of the 15th). The next village to Grainville is Tourville-sur-Odon, and the road from there leading south to the Monument to the 15th Scottish Division, fittingly topped by the Lion Rampant, is named the Rue des Écossais.
A further 24 fatalities were suffered in the battle for control of Éterville between 10 and 12 July, 17 on one day alone, 30 July, in the fighting to capture the village of Sept Vents during Operation Bluecoat, and 20 on 6th August in the breakout at Caumont, on the advance to Gourney, the day forever after referred to as the Regiment’s “Black Sunday”.
Of course, the principal purpose of a War Memorial is to remember and honour the Fallen, and the British Normandy Memorial achieves that in a beautiful and dignified way. But, fittingly and significantly, it is specifically recognised at the site of the Memorial that no participant who survived the stark realities and horrors of war was left unscathed by the experience. Very many of those who survived were affected physically and psychologically in later life by both their wounds and their memories and in a moving tribute to all who served, an engraved panel at the memorial contains the words, “ Many who lived through D-Day and the Battle of Normandy were forever marked by their experiences. Some later died from wounds received during the campaign. Others suffered at length from psychological trauma.”
This officers mess jacket and waistcoat belonged to Colonel Thomas Alexander Irvine DSO TD. The uniform was only recently donated to the Museum after it was discovered for sale in an army surplus store in Lanark. Robert Paton, husband of our Collections Manager, Sharon, had been in the surplus store looking for an army greatcoat for a Halloween costume. Robert noticed the uniform (along with matching trews) in the store and on speaking with the owner they discovered Colonel Irvine’s name on the label. Following the discovery, the store owners very kindly offered to donate the uniform to the museum collection.
Colonel Irvine, then a Captain, from a group photograph of regimental officers, 1939.
Colonel Irvine, originally from Motherwell, had been living in Symington at the time of his death in 1963. He had attended Hamilton Academy, after which he entered his family’s iron and steel business. Irvine joined the 6th Cameronians as a second lieutenant in 1932. In the early years of the Second World War he was second-in-command of 10th Cameronians, and ultimately commanded the 7th Worcestershire Regiment in Burma. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for gallantry in action against the Japanese at the Irrawaddy River in late February 1945. After the War, Colonel Irvine commanded the 6th Cameronians, and was later Commandant of the Lanarkshire County Cadet Force and Chairman of the Territorial Army and Air Force Association in Lanarkshire. Colonel Irvine had been heavily involved in all aspects of regimental life for most of his adult life.
Colonel T. A. Irvine’s medals: left to right – Distinguished Service Order (DSO), 1939-45 Star, Burma Star, Defence Medal, 1939-45 Star, Territorial Efficiency Decoration (TD) with second award clasp.
Colonel Irvine’s uniform has been temporarily displayed in Low Parks Museum, along with his medal group which was already in the museum collection.
The citation for Colonel Irvine’s Distinguished Service Order is worth repeating in full. Originally recommended for the Military Cross (MC), this was upgraded to the DSO by the General Officer Commanding 33rd Indian Corps, Lieutenant-General Montagu Stopford GCB, KBE, DSO, MC.
“This officer commanded 7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment during the successful establishment of a bridgehead across the Irrawaddy River in the Myittha area on 24/25 Feb ‘45 and during the capture of Ngazun on 26 Feb ‘45.
7th Worcestershire Regiment were ordered to cross West of Myittha during the night 24/25 Feb ‘45, Lt. Col. Irvine led the first flight of his Battalion which met a withering fire, resulting in the majority of boats being sunk. Lt. Col. Irvine’s boat was sunk and he had to swim 400 yards back to the shore. Although practically exhausted, he immediately rallied his whole Battalion and reported to the Brigade Commander for further orders.
On the morning of 26 Feb ‘45, 7th Worcestershire Regiment crossed into the bridgehead previously established by 1st Camerons and were ordered to attack Ngazun in conjunction with 2nd Dorset Regiment.
Lt. Col. Irvine had little time to organise this attack, but he managed to do so in a masterly way. The attack was brilliantly successful. The Battalion, in spite of the set back of the previous night, went into the attack with superb determination, swept through the town, killed many enemy and finally consolidated for the night.
This fine achievement was due almost entirely to Lt. Col. Irvine’s inspired leadership and power of command.”
We are very pleased to have been able to add this fine uniform to a local officer to the museum collection, and would like to thank the owners of Fishing and Survival in Lanark for their generosity in gifting it to us.
In early 2019, we were delighted to be put in touch with Mr Donnie MacKenzie of Ullapool, Scotland, a Second World War veteran who had served with the 1st Battalion Cameronians and the Chindits in Burma in 1944. A most remarkable man, at the age of 95 Donnie, along with his son, had raised £3,500 for charity by walking the length of the Forth Road Bridge.
Donnie during his visit to Low Parks Museum, August 2019.
In 2019, at the age of 96, Donnie traveled across Scotland in order to rekindle connections with his old Regiment, visiting Low Parks Museum (home of The Cameronians regimental collections) and attending a Regimental service at Dunkeld. On all occasions, Donnie was generous with his time and spoke freely and with great humility about his wartime service. Donnie’s humour and humanity were apparent to all who were fortunate enough to meet him.
Donnie with Mrs Terry Patterson, widow of Fred Patterson, another Cameronian Chindit, at Dunkeld.
Donnie very kindly agreed to take part in an interview in which his wartime recollections would be recorded for posterity. This is Donnie’s story.
Donnie sadly passed away on 6th June 2021, at the age of 97. We hope that this recording will stand as a lasting tribute to and legacy of a truly remarkable man.
Donnie in his wartime uniform.
We are very grateful to Mr Cailean Maclean and Mr Andrew McMorrine for conducting and recording the interview with Donnie, and for their permission to reproduce it here. Additional thanks go to Andrew McMorrine for giving his permission for us to reproduce his wonderful drawing of Donnie. We would also like to thank Mr James Ingham for his continued help and support. Finally, we would like to extend our thanks and sympathy to the MacKenzie family.
Continuing with the theme of service in wartime ‘special forces’, this post will look at some of the Cameronians who served with the Parachute Regiment in the Second World War.
Prior to the Second World War, Britain had no established airborne forces. Use of parachute troops by the German army in the early stages of the War led to No. 2 Commando being turned over to parachute training in June 1940, for possible future operations in an airborne role.
As a completely new venture so far as British forces were concerned, there was much to be learned and this often by trial and error. The risks associated with such an undertaking were many, and could ultimately prove deadly:
“By September [1940] some 340-odd other ranks of No. 2 Commando had parachuted, but the wastage rate had been discouraging inasmuch as there had been two fatal accidents, twenty badly injured or declared medically unfit to carry on, whilst thirty of the original volunteers had refused to jump and had been RTU’d [returned to unit].”[i]
In February 1941 the paratroopers of No. 2 Commando had their first taste of action during Operation Colossus; an airborne demolition raid of an aqueduct in southern Italy. The unit was renamed as 1st Parachute Battalion in September 1941, additional battalions being raised from volunteers across the Army to form the Parachute Regiment.
John Dutton Frost, or Johnny as he was affectionately known, is perhaps one of the most famous airborne commanders of the Second World War. His actions as commander of British airborne forces at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden were immortalised on screen in the blockbuster movie A Bridge Too Far in which he is portrayed by Anthony Hopkins.
Second Lieutenant Frost joined 2nd Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in September 1932, while the Battalion were stationed at Glasgow’s Maryhill Barracks.[ii] Frost would serve with the 2nd Battalion in Palestine in 1936, before being seconded to the Iraq Levies in 1938. Frost was still serving in Iraq when the Second World War broke out; it wasn’t until January 1941 that he was able to re-join The Cameronians, being attached to the Infantry Training Centre (ITC) at Hamilton and given command of the Specialist Company.[iii] Captain Frost remained at the ITC until March 1941, when he was posted to the Regiment’s 10th Battalion, then employed on Home Defence duties on the Suffolk coast under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel D. G. Moncrieff-Wright MC.
Frost put his name forward for parachute training when the call went out for volunteers to create the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Parachute Battalion. It was not without serious misgivings that Frost volunteered, being torn over his loyalty to the Regiment, the Battalion and to Colonel Moncrieff-Wright, whom he greatly respected.[iv]
Initially posted as adjutant of the newly formed 2nd Parachute Battalion, Major Frost would go on to command the Battalion’s first combat action – Operation Biting, also known as the Bruneval Raid. The target for Operation Biting was the German radar installation near the coastal village of Bruneval, France. In order that Britain could hope to counter-act the effects of this new technology, a sample of the equipment was required for study and analysis. ‘C’ Company of 2nd Parachute Battalion would conduct the raid; dealing with the German defenders and removing the necessary components from the radar station before being evacuated from the nearby beach by the Royal Navy. The operations success was a huge morale boost for Britain, and helped cement the Parachute Regiment’s reputation as an elite fighting force. The raid also put Frost firmly in the lime-light – reporting to Churchill and his Chiefs of Staff in person for an immediate debriefing on his return from France. Frost was awarded the Military Cross for his command of the operation; he collected his award from Buckingham Palace in the uniform of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
Frost would ultimately go on to command 2nd Parachute Battalion, and lead the unit in its most famous action – possibly one of the most famous actions of the War – Operation Market Garden.
The 2nd Parachute Battalion were the only unit of allied airborne forces to reach the ultimate objective of the operation – the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem. The paratroopers had expected to hold the bridge against relatively light German resistance for two days while allied reinforcements were brought up by road. Various delays and setbacks however saw Lieutenant-Colonel Frost and his men hold the bridge for nearly four days against repeated counter-attacks by the German 9th Panzer Division. In the face of mounting casualties against overwhelming odds and with no prospect of reinforcement or resupply the survivors of 2nd Parachute Battalion were forced to surrender. Frost, by then twice wounded, and the remnants of his unit would spend the rest of the war as Prisoners of War.[v]
Frost remained in the British Army after the war, ultimately reaching the rank of Major-General. Before his retirement from the Army in 1968, Major-General Frost had been General Officer Commanding 52nd (Lowland) Division District, and as such enjoyed close contact with his old regiment. Major-General Frost was a frequent attendee of regimental dinners and commemoration services. He was also a regular contributor to The Covenanter and wrote several fascinating articles about service life.
In addition to his many military honours (he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, and the Military Cross) Frost also had the distinction of having the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem renamed in his honour as John Frostbrug, or John Frost Bridge, in 1978.
Frost was just one of many senior, ex-regimental officers to attend the disbandment ceremony of the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) at Douglas on 14 May 1968. He would go on to record his thoughts on the disbandment in his autobiography:
“When one joins a regiment, one thinks that it is forever. It seems to be such a highly durable thing – the territorial background, the customs and traditions, the property, the uniforms, the music and the families, and, last but not least, the battle honours and the memorials, including the colours which may be laid up. It comes as a very savage shock to learn that a regiment will be no more.”[vi]
Hugh McIntyre
Major John Frost was not the only Cameronian to air-drop into France in February 1942 as part of Operation Biting. Hugh Duncan McDonald McIntyre was a young soldier from the 9th Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) who had also volunteered for parachute training and ultimately found himself in the 2nd Parachute Battalion. Hugh was one of a number of parachute volunteers from Scottish regiments; these men being formed into a ‘Jock’ Company of 2nd Parachute Battalion.
Hugh wrote to his brother, Geordie, on 21 February 1942, in which he let slip that he would soon be going on a raid and begging him to secrecy:
“I am going to tell you something Geordie, I am going on a raid this week and don’t tell anybody, not even mother or father nor your best friend and I shouldn’t be writing this, it’s a great secret. And I’ll be home next Saturday on leave and I will send you a telegram whenever I arrive back so you’ll know everything will be OK. Well Geordie, don’t say a word to anyone or I’ll get the shits for telling. Well Geordie I haven’t much more to say at present so Cheery O. And keep dumb, the walls have ears and it’s true.
The McIntyre family would never receive the telegram from Hugh, telling them ‘everything is OK.’ Instead they would receive the news the families of every service-person must fear most; that their loved one had been killed in action. Hugh was one of two men from 2nd Parachute Battalion killed during Operation Biting. The ‘hit and run’ style nature of the operation meant that the bodies of the two men killed had to be left behind.
News of the raids success was quickly released to the press and splashed across newspapers the length and breadth of the UK and beyond. As Frost would later explain:
“The Bruneval raid [Operation Biting] came at a time when our country’s fortunes were at a low ebb. Singapore had recently fallen and the German battleships had escaped up the Channel from Brest in the very teeth of everything that could be brought against them. Many people were disgruntled after a long catalogue of failures, and the success of our venture, although it was a mere flea-bite, did have the effect of making people feel that we could succeed after all.”[vii]
Hugh Duncan McDonald McInytre is buried in St. Marie Cemetery, Le Havre, France. Buried alongside him is Allan Scott of the Berkshire Regiment; 2nd Parachute Battalion’s other casualty from Operation Biting.
The 12th Battalion’s Parachuting Platoon
12th Cameronians was perhaps one of the finest wartime Battalions never to see combat service as a unit. Raised shortly after the outbreak of War, 12th Cameronians spent many months in a Home Defence role in the north of Scotland, before a fifteen-month spell as a garrison unit on the Faroe Islands. Well trained and well led, it was unfortunate that the 12th Battalion, on its return to the UK in late 1943, was to be disbanded and its officers and men transferred to units already on field service or preparing for the invasion of Normandy. Large numbers of men from 12th Cameronians would soon see service in North Africa and Italy with the Royal Fusiliers and the Essex Regiment.
Five officers and 40 men from 12th Cameronians volunteered for parachute training and were formed into a ‘Jock’ platoon of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion. As part of 6th Airborne Division, 7th Parachute Battalion would land in Normandy on the morning of 6th June 1944; their objective to help secure and defend the bridge over the Caen canal near Bénouville – later known as Pegasus Bridge. Major E. H. Steel-Baume, a regular officer of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and early parachute volunteer, was Second-in-Command of 7th Parachute Battalion during the D-Day drop. Several men from 12th Cameronians were killed or wounded during airborne operations in Normandy, including C.Q.M.S Stanley Savill, a pre-war regular who had served with 1st Cameronians in India, and Lance Corporals George Hand and Robert Twist.
7th Parachute Battalion would see further action in the Ardennes, and in the crossing of the Rhine in the final stages of the War.
Writing in January 1945, Major Ramsay Tullis, one of 12th Cameronians’ officers who went to 7th Parachute Battalion records:
“It is sad to record that two officers, Captain Fotheringham[viii] and Lieutenant Nelson[ix] and eleven O.R.’s [Other Ranks] remain with the battalion out of the original platoon, but, on the other hand, it is most gratifying that this small band of Cameronians should have acquitted themselves in a way of which the regiment may be proud.”[x]
[i] Dunning, James It Had to be Tough: The origins and training of the Commandos in World War II, Frontline Books, London, 2012, p179
[ii] Frost, John Dutton Nearly There: The Memoirs of John Frost of Arnhem Bridge, Leo Cooper, London, 1991, p16
[iii]Those Were the Days! By Koi-Hai (Major R. G. Hogg) published in ‘The Covenanter’, Winter Number 1971, p82
[iv] Major-General Frost would write a heart-felt tribute to his old Commanding Officer in The Covenanter, when the latter’s death was announced in the 1983 issue, in which he said “Though he [Moncrieff-Wright] would never claim to have a place among the very distinguished officers the regiment has produced, I would place him there.” The feeling was mutual; Colonel Moncrieff-Wright had written in his own copy of A Drop Too Many “He [Frost] was in my Battalion and I liked him – he was an excellent officer and I knew he would do well.”
[v] For Frost’s full account of the Operation, and indeed his wartime military service, see A Drop Too Many, Cassell, London, 1980
