In line with government restrictions, Low Parks Museum was unfortunately closed to the public for much of 2020 and the first few months of 2021. During that time, museum staff were still engaged behind the scenes (and much of the time, from home); carrying on with important day-to-day tasks involved in the management and care of a museum collection, progressing new and existing projects where possible, and conducting collections-based research to better understand and interpret the objects in our care.
One such project, an audit of regimental badges, buttons, helmet and belt plates relating to The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) revealed some fascinating objects. This badge, simple as it may be, is one such item.
This badge is labelled as a shoulder patch worn by the 10th Battalion Scottish Rifles in the First World War. The wool backing is of Douglas tartan, a pattern that has been formally associated with The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) since 1892.[i] The metal letters “SR” (Scottish Rifles) are of a similar size to the shoulder titles worn by the regiment in the late 19th and early 20th century; however, this example appears to be of white metal (possibly silver) rather than brass and lacks the stylized full stops (.) between the letters.
While tartan badges are well known to have been worn on soldiers’ sleeves as a form of unit identification, this author has yet to find reference (written or photographic) that show this particular badge being worn in the First World War. As the only example within the regimental museum collection, it is certainly unusual.
As part of the project to audit regimental badges, an active study of regimental photographs has also been undertaken to identify contemporary images of the badges in use. This study has revealed an alternative identification of the badge shown above, however this was not from First World War period photographs, but from a photograph taken during the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.
This photograph is from an album thought to have belonged to Lieutenant Colonel Crofton Bury Vandeleur DSO. The image was taken in South Africa, c.1901-1902, when Vandeleur, then a Captain, was seconded for service as an intelligence officer. In the photograph, Vandeleur and several staff officers are shown wearing a mixture of officers’ service dress uniform, including a khaki-coloured, peaked forage cap. This headdress was never adopted as regimental uniform by The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and so no regimental badge was ever produced for wear with this cap. Vandeleur appears to have overcome this by fashioning his own regimental badge, consisting of a diamond patch of Douglas tartan, with a badge of metal “SR” initials affixed to the front.
The finished ‘cap badge’ as worn by Vandeleur in this photograph appears identical to that described as a 10th Battalion shoulder patch from the First World War.
Given the simplicity of the design, it is of course possible that this configuration of patch and SR lettering was re-imagined or recycled for use in the First World War. If that were the case, hopefully other examples, or wartime photographs showing the badge worn as a shoulder patch, might present themselves in the future. If any reader is aware of such a badge in use in the First World War, we would be very pleased to hear from you.
[i] Permission for the regiment to wear Douglas tartan was granted by Queen Victoria in May 1891, but not officially adopted for use until 1 April 1892.
If VE Day on 8 May 1945 was hugely symbolic to all battalions of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), then VJ Day – Victory over Japan – on 15 August, was even more important for the 1st Battalion. They were serving in India at the outbreak of the war in 1939 and were to remain in that theatre for the whole of the war, seeing some of the heaviest fighting, bearing some of the heaviest casualties, and earning an enduring name for fortitude in the most desperate conditions. Writing to the Commanding Officer the legendary General Sir William (Bill) Slim (later Field Marshal the Viscount Slim of Burma KG) their commander, said:
‘The retreat from Burma in 1942 was as severe an ordeal as any army could be called upon to endure but the British and Indian units of the Burma Corps, fighting, falling back, and turning to fight again and again, lived up to the great traditions of their services. Unsurpassed among them in stubborn courage and in that unquenchable spirit, which lifts men above fatigue and disaster and is the essence of a Regiment, was the 1st Battalion The Cameronians.
‘Battered, exhausted, hungry, reduced by casualties to a fraction of their strength, they never lost their fighting spirit or their indomitable cheerfulness. Whether they were six hundred or one hundred, they were always the 1st Battalion The Cameronians’.
The 1st Battalion had been sent to India in 1933, first to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, then to Landi Kotal on the Kyber Pass, and then (from 1936) to Barrackpore in Bengal, near Calcutta, and lastly to Secunderabad (in the south). They were there in December 1941 when the war with Japan began following unprovoked attacks on Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong. Towards the end of 1942, after intensive training, the Cameronians were ordered to return to the Northwest Frontier, this time to Quetta, but this was soon rescinded and they embarked instead from Madras bound for Rangoon, the capital of Burma.
1st Cameronians ‘Warrant Officers and Sergeants Mess’ Secunderabad, 1941. Lt-Col W. B. Thomas seated centre, front row.
The Japanese were rampant and the retreat back into India by the British and Indian troops was hard-fought in terrible conditions. Having arrived at full strength, by the time 1st Cameronians marched out of Burma in May 1942 they were reduced to fourteen officer and 120 Other Ranks.
In 1943 it was decided that, with their limited resources, rather than wage full-frontal conflict, the Burma Army would carry out operations behind the Japanese lines. Their object was, by disruptive action, to dislocate the Japanese communications, destroy material, kill as many Japanese as possible and adversely affect his morale. The tactics were to be those of highly organised guerrillas. If the object was to adversely affect the morale of the Japanese it had the opposite effect on the British and Indian troops. Founded by their legendary commander, Major General Orde Wingate, they were officially known as the Long Range Penetration Groups but soon took the name of Chindits, the anglicised name of their symbol: the mythical beasts which stood guard on Buddhist temples.
The Cameronians (like other battalions) were formed into two columns, the 26th commanded by the battalion second in command and the 90th led by the commanding officer. (The numbering was taken from the original numbers of the old Cameronians, the 26th of Foot, and the Perthshire Light Infantry, the old 90th, who were joined in 1881 to form the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)). The assumption must be that the Commanding Officer had spent much of his previous service in the 2nd Battalion and hence chose to number his column the 90th.
The very nature of this operation has made it extremely difficult to write a connected story and impossible to give details of every action. It was not a campaign of big battles, but one of many isolated skirmishes and ambushes in thick jungle country. Companies and even platoons were often split up into small widely separated groups for considerable periods. The War Diary could only be imperfectly kept and no written record was maintained of events other than moves by the Battalion as a whole. Such detailed records as have been written were compiled from memory after the event.
… The many acts of bravery and initiative performed by individuals and small groups of men remain unrecorded and are lost to history.
This, in itself, speaks volumes about the nature of the fighting. War Diaries are usually the first draft of history. The Regimental History goes on:
Only the very toughest and best trained troops were to be employed and all units were to be rigidly combed to eliminate the unfit. Supply was to be from the air, either landed on strips or dropped [by parachute]. It was proposed to seize and to develop air strips on which men, horses and mules and a few light guns could be flown in. The troops were to be as lightly equipped as possible although it was found impracticable to reduce the average load to below about 65 pounds [about 30 kilos].
In addition, of course, a man would have his own personal weapon.
The force comprised three brigades. 1st Cameronians were in 111 Brigade with another British battalion and two Ghurkha battalions. Each column comprised 400 men split into eight platoons. Each column had its own medical officer, chaplain and an RAF officer to coordinate the air supply. Heavy supplies – mortars, ammunition etc – were carried on mules, as were the wounded.
The Brigade was warned that it would be required to cross the River Chindwin and advance back into Burma in early February 1944. On arrival at Silchar it marched the 100 miles across the Naga Hills to its camping area on the Imphal-Tiddim road. They landed in Burma on the night of 10/11 March on a hastily prepared strip sixty miles east of Mawlu. Its orders were to concentrate at Dayu, a march of another 100 miles.
The monsoon broke earlier than usual at the beginning of May and from then on the usual daily rainfall was about four inches a day. The effect was that the ground was thoroughly sodden, streams were in spate, and leeches, mosquitoes and other tormenting insects were abundant everywhere, day and night.
The general hardships of the campaign, combined with the monsoon weather, resulted in a sharp rise in the sick rate, jaundice, malaria and dysentery being the main causes. The average platoon was [eventually] reduced to twenty-five instead of forty-five, and this made it very difficult to find sufficient men for patrols, ambushes, picking up supplies and defensive duties.
…The mud on the hills was indescribable, many of the slopes very steep and the jungle in places almost impenetrable. Moreover the privations of the first three months had left the survivors of the battalion in poor physical condition. Most had lost weight, many were extremely emaciated, and the rough going proved so hard on the feet [which were never dry] that there were very few who were not lame in a few days. Several of the pack animals became unfit for work and had to be destroyed.
… On 1 July [1944] the brigade was warned to advance, with the Cameronians to carry out the initial attack on some high ground held by the enemy in strength.
On receipt of this news the Commanding Officer found himself faced with a very difficult situation. There is a limit to the endurance of even the best troops and in a campaign of this type, in monsoon weather, the pace of physical deterioration is accelerated. Although the spirit may be willing, and troops fit for a defensive role, they may be incapable of further mobile offensive operations. When this time comes it is the duty of their Commander to represent the state of affairs to his superior and, in the judgement of Lieutenant Colonel Henning, the Cameronians had reached that stage. Casualties and sickness had reduced the battalion strength to that of a cadre: there were insufficient trained men to man the supporting weapons [mortars and machine guns] and all ranks were suffering from exhaustion and debility.
It was with great reluctance that the CO reported on 2 July that, in his view, the battalion was unfit for offensive operations. This opinion was accepted by the Brigade Commander.
… On 15 December 1945 members of the 1st Cameronians participated in a unique ceremony when Lieutenant General Senechi Tazachi, commander of the Singapore defences, and other Japanese Generals, Staff Officers and Administrators formally handed over their swords to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas CBE DSO [who had commanded the battalion during the first Burma campaign in 1942 and who returned to command it again]. The Japanese officer values his sword more than his life and many of these weapons had been in the possession of the same military families for generations. To have had to surrender them to their enemies must have been a humiliation, which in the days of their victories in 1942 no Japanese officer could have thought possible.
It was a singular mark of respect for the Battalion that they were chosen for this honour.
Composite image showing Lt-Col W. B. Thomas CBE DSO taking the surrender of a senior Japanese officer, Kluang, December 1945
The sword of Lieutenant General Senechi Tazachi features in the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) displays at Low Parks Museum, Hamilton.
The Fourteenth Army, led by Slim, became known as The Forgotten Army. We must never forget them, especially on the 75th anniversary of their war. The Commonwealth war memorial at Kohima, the turning point of the Japanese offensive into India in 1944, bears the famous epitaph:
When you go home, tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrow, we gave our today.
[i] The History of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), Volume III (1933-1946) by Brigadier CN Barclay CBE DSO, Sifton Praed, London 1947.
This new post about Cameronians who served with Special Forces is of great interest. The piece about No 9 Commando is of special interest and Ferrey’s service with them and all of the detail in his personal diaries makes fascinating reading.
Delving on line for a bit more about 9 Commando I found this on the website of the Imperial War Museum: The unit did not wear a cap badge as such but while serving in 2nd Special Service Battalion they wore a black hackle in a khaki Balmoral hat. When the Special Service Battalions were re-organized in March 1941, the unit reverted to its 9 Commando title, retaining the Balmoral and black hackle. The hackle was transferred to the green beret when the latter was adopted in 1942. And The first version of the shoulder title is 9 COMMANDO in white on black, changed in late 1942 to No 9 COMMANDO, still in white on black. A green on black No 9 COMMANDO was subsequently worn for a short time before adopting the standard red on black in early 1943.
There is no doubt in my mind that a Cameronian, perhaps more than one, either with No 9 or on the staff, had a hand in this. The Balmoral bonnet with black hackle was the officers’ day-to-day dress with battle dress (or later with combat kit) for many years and until the 1st Battalion was disbanded.
This year sees the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Great Britain entered the War on 3rd September 1939; after six years of bitter fighting on land, sea and in the air, the War finally ended in 1945. Germany surrendered to the Allies on 8th May 1945. Only after atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, did Japan finally surrender on 15th August 1945, bringing the war to a final close.
A display of Highland Dancing in the liberated Belgian city of Ghent, March 1945, by men of the 2nd Cameronians.
Low Parks Museum had planned to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the War with a commemorative exhibition, exploring a number of personal stories and experiences of men from The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and the Lanarkshire Yeomanry (with our friends in The Lanarkshire Yeomanry Group). Current events have sadly put the exhibition on hold for the time being but it is hoped we may be able to feature some of the planned content in the Museum at some point later in the year.
While the Museum itself is currently closed in line with Government guidelines, we will continue to bring you stories, photographs and collections content through the regimental collections blog. The material that would have formed the basis for our exhibition will be covered in a series of blog posts over the coming weeks and months. We will continue to highlight and promote new posts through the Low Parks Museum Facebook page, so please make sure to ‘like’ the Page to keep up to date with our latest content. We are always interested to hear of your own family stories, so if you have any photographs, stories or objects from the War that you would like to share, we’d love to see them on the Facebook page.
Our first Second World War – 75 yearsOn post will be landing very soon, so stay tuned!
This programme was shown on BBC 4 on 25 March 2020. It is wonderfully entertaining, indeed engrossing. Harry was given a cine camera on his 10th birthday in 1928 and used it to record his life and times for the next 60-plus years.
Of interest to all Cameronians (and historians) is that in 1939, at the outbreak of war, he joined the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and was sent for initial training to their depot in Hamilton. He joined the regiment because it had been his father’s regiment. His father WH Birrell was serving as a second lieutenant in the 11th Battalion when he died of wounds near Salonika in what was then Macedonia. This was in 1918, just before the Armistice.
The Regimental History, Volume II, tells of the history of this battalion which went first to France and then to Macedonia where they were part of a Franco-British-Serbian force which was trying to deny the Bulgarians use of this major Mediterranean port. There were many casualties, not least because of malaria.
Harry was not to see service with the regiment. After commissioning he was sent to India where he joined the 7th Gurkhas. (Readers may be aware that this was the regiment which, after the war, formed a close alliance with the 1st Battalion the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)). As Harry was a qualified surveyor he was sent to carry out important surveying and map-making work behind enemy lines in Burma. Much of the film is of his time with the Gurkhas and in India and Burma.
This film has been produced by Harry’s granddaughter, Carina Birrell, and she plays an important part in introducing both the film and Harry’s diaries, all of which had lain undisturbed in boxes and trunks at the family home near Paisley. It is a joy as well as being an important archive.
