Royal Highland Fusiliers

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Royal Highland Fusiliers

The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) was a regular Scottish line infantry

Infantry

Infantry are soldiers who are primarily trained for the role of fighting on foot. A soldier in the infantry is known as an infantryman. Infantry units have more physically demanding training than other branches of armies, and place a greater emphasis on fitness, physical strength and aggression....
regiment of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
, part of the Scottish Division

Scottish Division

The Scottish Division is a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units....
, and abbreviated as 'The RHF'. The regiment was formed on 20th January 1959 by the then controversial amalgamation of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment)

Highland Light Infantry

The Highland Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. In 1923 the regimental title was expanded to the Highland Light Infantry ...
. As part of the Delivering Security in a Changing World Review

Delivering Security in a Changing World

The 2003 Defence white paper, entitled Delivering Security in a Changing World set out the future structure of the Military of the United Kingdom, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to the immediate challenges to security in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks....
of the Armed Forces, the regiment was amalgamated with the other regiments of the Scottish Division

Scottish Division

The Scottish Division is a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units....
to become part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and is now known as the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (2 SCOTS), which was formed on 28 March 2006.

Regimental Heritage
The regiment celebrated its 300th anniversary, inherited from the Royal Scots Fusiliers, at Redford Barracks

Redford Barracks

File:RedfordCavalryBlock.jpgRedford Cavalry and Infantry Barracks are located on Colinton Road, near the Edinburgh City Bypass, east of the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland....
, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

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Encyclopedia

The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) was a regular Scottish line infantry

Infantry

British Army

Scottish Division

Highland Light Infantry

Delivering Security in a Changing World

Scottish Division

Regimental Heritage

The regiment celebrated its 300th anniversary, inherited from the Royal Scots Fusiliers, at Redford Barracks

Redford Barracks

File:RedfordCavalryBlock.jpgRedford Cavalry and Infantry Barracks are located on Colinton Road, near the Edinburgh City Bypass, east of the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland....
, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
in 1978. The regiment consisted of a single Regular Army Battalion, approximately 600 strong, under the Commanding Officer, a Lieutenant Colonel.

Notably, the regiment and current battalion has the distinction among British infantry regiments of carrying three Colours

Colours, standards and guidons

In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards or Guidons, to act both as a rallying point for troops, and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 years ago....
on parade. In addition to the Queen's and Regimental Colours, the third - the Assaye Colour, was originally awarded by the Governor General in Council in India on behalf of the British East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early England joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the Indies, but that ended up trading with the Indian subcontinent and China....
to the 74th Highland Regiment for distinguished service at the Battle of Assaye

Battle of Assaye

The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company....
in India in 1803 while under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Order of the Garter, Order of St Patrick, Order of the Bath, Royal Guelphic Order, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Royal Society , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
, the future Duke of Wellington

Duke of Wellington

The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington, Somerset in Somerset, is an hereditary title and the senior rank in the Peerage of the United Kingdom....
.

The Regiment maintained the traditions of the long 'Attention' command being given on parade (rather than the modern abbreviated Army 'shun') and of referring to the Commanding Officer's orders (disciplinary parade) as 'haul up' from the days of the unit acting as escorts to prisoners being transported to the colonies. Officers wore red 'infantry' piping on the epaulettes of their greatcoats

Greatcoat

A greatcoat, also known as a watchcoat, is a large overcoat typically made of wool designed for warmth and protection against the elements. Its collar and cuffs could be turned out to protect the face and hands from cold and rain, and the short cape around the shoulders provides extra warmth and repels rainwater ....
, a detail inherited from the Royal Scots Fusiliers and mentioned by Boris Pasternak

Boris Pasternak

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and writer. In the West he is best known for his epic novel Doctor Zhivago , a tragedy whose events span the last period of Tsarist Russia and the early days of the Soviet Union....
in his book Doctor Zhivago, but long lost to other infantry regiments. On administrative days, officers wore a blue patrol jacket detailed with a pleated spine pad, a relic of the Boer War.

The Regiment's uniform included the blue Glengarry

Glengarry

Glengarry is a boat-shaped cap without a peak made of thick-milled woollen material with a toorie or bobble on top and ribbons hanging down behind....
cap with red 'tourie', red, white and green dicing, black silk cockade and 'Flaming Grenade' cap badge, Mackenzie tartan trews

Trews

Trews are men's clothing for the legs and lower abdomen, a traditional form of Scotland Scottish apparel. Trews could be trimmed with leather, probably buckskin , especially on the inner leg to prevent wear from riding on horseback....
and black highland brogue shoes worn with white spats. In the field in combat dress, the Glengarry was replaced, when a helmet is not worn, by a khaki 'tam o'shanter

Tam o'shanter (hat)

A tam o'shanter is a Scotland Bonnet worn by men which was named after the character Tam o' Shanter in the poem of that name by Robert Burns....
' bonnet with Mackenzie tartan patch and with a white hackle

Hackle

The hackle is a feather plume that is attached to the headdress.In the British Army and the armies of some Commonwealth of Nations countries the hackle is worn by some infantry regiments, especially those designated fusilier regiments and those with Scotland and Northern Ireland origins....
from the Royal Scots Fusiliers when appropriate. The Regimental capbadge was the 'grenade in flames' taken from the Royal Scots Fusiliers cap badge, on which is mounted the crowned HLI monogram from the Highland Light Infantry. The tartan is 'Mackenzie', the blue and green 'government' tartan with added white and red lines.

The Regiment has been awarded over 200 battle honours, from Blenheim to the Gulf War

Gulf War

"Persian Gulf War" and "First Gulf War" redirect here. For other uses, see Persian Gulf War .The Persian Gulf War was a United Nations-authorized military conflict between Iraq and a Coalition of Gulf War from 34 nations commissioned with expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait of Kuwait in August 1990....
, gained in every major and many minor conflicts, campaigns and theates of war since the 21st Regiment's first engagement at the Battle of Walcourt

Battle of Walcourt

The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August, 1689 during the Nine Years' War. The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands, and brought to a close a summer of uneventful marching, manoeuvring, and foraging....
in 1689, a number unsurpassed by any other unit in the British Army. The Regiment has fought against Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV ruled as List of French monarchs and of King of Navarre. He ascended the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but did not assume actual personal control of the government until the death of his prime minister , the Italians Jules Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661....
, Napoleon, Kruger

Paul Kruger

Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger , better known as Paul Kruger and affectionately known as Oom Paul was president of the South African Republic ....
, George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
, The Kaiser, Hitler, Bonnie Prince Charlie the IRA

Provisional Irish Republican Army

The Provisional Irish Republican Army , is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that considers itself a direct continuation of the Irish Republican Army that fought in the Irish War of Independence....
, The United States, various natives of Africa and Asia and Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the President of Iraq of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003.A leading member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to long-term power....
; in the Netherlands, in the War of the Spanish Succession

War of the Spanish Succession

War of the Spanish Succession was a war fought in 1701-1714, in which several European powers combined to stop a possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under a single Bourbon monarch, upsetting the European Balance of power in international relations....
, the War of the Austrian Succession

War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession involved nearly all the Power in international relations of Europe. The war began under the pretext that Maria Theresa of Austria was ineligible to succeed to the House of Habsburg throne, because Salic law precluded royal inheritance by a woman, though in reality this was a convenient excuse put forward by...
, the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War lasted between 1756?1763 and involved all of the major European powers of the period. The war pitted Kingdom of Prussia and Kingdom of Great Britain and a coalition of smaller German states against an alliance consisting of Archduchy of Austria, Early Modern France, Russian Empire, Kingdom of Sweden, and Electorate of Sa...
, in the American Revolution, in India, the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War or Spanish War of Independence was a contest between First French Empire and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Kingdom of Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars....
and at Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

In the Battle of Waterloo forces of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Bl?cher and an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington....
, in the Crimea, in the South African wars, in the First and Second World Wars and in recent Gulf conflicts. The 'Royal' Achievement was conferred on the 21st Fusiliers in 1712 by Queen Anne for exceptional services in the War of the Spanish Succession. The Regiment's 'achievements' as born on the colours and on the drums are: The Royal Cypher and The White Horse of Hanover, St Andrew, The Castle and Key of Gibraltar and the Assaye Elephant.

The Regiment's most cherished Battle Honours are: Blenheim

Battle of Blenheim

The Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France of Kingdom of France sought to knock Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg Monarchy capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement....
(August 1704 - War of the Spanish Succession), Assaye

Battle of Assaye

The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company....
(September 1803 - Mahratta War) , The Storming of Badajos

Badajoz

Badajoz - , the capital of the Spain provinces of Spain of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain of Extremadura, is situated close to the Portugal border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid-Lisbon railway....
(April 1812 - Peninsular War), Vitoria (June 1813 - Peninsular War), Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Inkerman

The Battle of Inkerman, a battle of the Crimean War, was fought on November 5, 1854 and resulted in a British and France victory under General Pierre Bosquet against the Russian forces under Aleksandr Sergeyevich Menshikov....
(November 1854 - Crimean War) and Gheluvelt

Battle of Ypres

There were five Battles of Ypres during World War I:*First Battle of Ypres *Second Battle of Ypres *Third Battle of Ypres *Battle of the Lys 9 - 29 April 1918, also called the Battle of Estaires and informally the Fourth Battle of Ypres...
(October 1914 - World War 1 - France). 44 battle honours are carried on the Regimental Colour, 29 on the Queens Colour and 2: Seringapatam

Battle of Seringapatam

The Battle of Seringapatam was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the East India Company of Kingdom of Great Britian and the Kingdom of Mysore....
and Assaye

Assaye

Assaye is a small village in the Jalna district of the state of Maharashtra in western India. The village was the location of the Battle of Assaye in 1803, fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company....
, on the Assaye Colour.

In the Royal Highland Fusiliers' Pipes, Drums and Bugles band, pipers wear the all-blue Cameron pattern Glengarry with Dress Erskine tartan kilt, drummers also wear the kilt but retain the diced Glengarry as do buglers who wear Mackenzie tartan trews. The band wear a different wear a different type of capbadge in which the Regimental 'flaming grenade' capbadge is superimposed on the saltire of St Andrew and the star of the Order of the Thistle

Order of the Thistle

The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order....
. The Drum major

Drum Major

A Sergeant Major of the Drums or drum major is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band. The Drum Major is usually positioned at the head of the Band or Corps and is the figure who stands out in the public eye....
wears Mackenzie tartan trews, fusilier officer's full dress pattern scarlet doublet and bearskin

Bearskin

A bearskin is a tall fur cap, usually worn as part of a ceremonial military uniform. Traditionally, the bearskin was the headgear of grenadiers, and is still worn by regiments of grenadiers and foot guards in various armies....
with a grenade cap badge and white hackle.

A definitive history of the Royal Highland Fusiliers from 1959 is yet to be published. However, the most important histories of the forebear regiments are: The History of the Royal Scots Fusiliers 1678-1918 by the famous novelist John Buchan, written in memory of his brother who served in the Regiment, and Proud Heritage. The Story of the Highland Light Infantry (4 Volumes) by Lieutenant Colonel L B Oatts DSO late of the HLI.

Locations and Operations

The Battalion traditionally recruits as far as possible from Greater Glasgow

Greater Glasgow

Greater Glasgow is the conurbation that includes and surrounds the city of Glasgow in the west of Scotland. It has a population of 1,199,629 at the 2001 census making it the largest urban area in Scotland and the fifth List of conurbations in the United Kingdom in the United Kingdom....
and Ayrshire

Ayrshire

Ayrshire is a registration county, and former counties of Scotland in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine, North Ayrshire....
but also welcomes members from all over Scotland, the UK and from the Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
, with serving soldiers from as far afield as Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands , is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu....
.

In 2004, as part of the restructuring of the British Army Infantry

British Army Infantry

The British Army's Infantry, part of the Structure of the British Army, comprises 51 battalions of Infantry, from 19 Regiments. Of these 37 battalions are part of the 'Regular' army and the remaining 14 a part of the 'Territorial Army' force....
, the Ministry of Defence announced that the Royal Highland Fusiliers was to be merged with the other regiments of the Scottish Division

Scottish Division

The Scottish Division is a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units....
as part of a single seven battalion unit with the title of the 'Royal Regiment of Scotland'. This merger took place in March 2006. As with the other Scottish line infantry regiments, the Royal Highland Fusiliers were permitted to retain their former name as their main title, with the new battalion number as a subtitle. Therefore, the regiment is now known as The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, abbreviated to 2 SCOTS; in addition, it continues to maintain its Pipes, Drums and Bugles band and members of the battalion continue to wear the white fusilier hackle on the tam o'shanter

Tam o'shanter (hat)

A tam o'shanter is a Scotland Bonnet worn by men which was named after the character Tam o' Shanter in the poem of that name by Robert Burns....
. Three Territorial Army

Territorial Army

The Territorial Army is the volunteer Military reserve force of the British Army, the army of the United Kingdom, and composed mostly of part-time soldiers paid at a similar rate, while engaged on military activities, as their Regular equivalents....
Companies of the 52nd Lowland

52nd Lowland Regiment

The 52nd Lowland Regiment now forms the 6th Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 6 SCOTS. Due to its erstwhile association with the 1st Regiment of Foot, it is the British Army Order of Precedence Territorial Army British Army Infantry battalion in the British Army....
, 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland are also affiliated with the regular Royal Highland Fusiliers battalion.

Currently as a light role

Light infantry

Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, Harassment and delaying the enemy advance....
battalion under the command of 52nd Infantry Brigade, it has responsibility for public duties

Public duties

Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role....
in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Penicuik

Penicuik is a Police burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River Esk, Lothian. The town was developed as a New town in 1770 by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik....
. The Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scotland architect, designer, and watercolourist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom....
designed Regimental Headquarters and Museum is operated by the Regimental Secretary and located near Charing Cross

Charing Cross, Glasgow

Charing Cross is a district in the Scotland city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde on Sauchiehall Street, at a major interchange of the M8 motorway ....
at Sauchiehall Street

Sauchiehall Street

Sauchiehall Street is one of the main shopping/business streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, Glasgow, it forms the main shopping area of Glasgow, containing the majority of Glasgow's high street and chain stores....
in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and List of largest United Kingdom settlements by population in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's Scottish Lowlands....
. The battalion's recruitment team is also based at Walcheren Barracks

Walcheren Barracks

Walcheren Barracks is a Drill hall located at Hotspur Street in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland. The current building was opened in 1985 by Princess Margaret and forms the base of the Headquarters and two Companies of 52nd Lowland Regiment, 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, the regular recruitment team for the Royal Highland Fusilier...
in the Maryhill

Maryhill

Maryhill is an area of the City of Glasgow, in Scotland. Maryhill is a former Burgh. The population of Maryhill is around 52,000. Maryhill stretches over 7 miles along Maryhill Road....
district of Glasgow. A regimental magazine is also published, The Journal of the Royal Highland Fusiliers. There are also various old comrades groups and associations linked to the current and antecedent Regiments of the RHF.

Alliances

- The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada
The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada

The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. Prince Andrew, Duke of York, as a member of the Monarchy in Canada#Canadian Royal Family, acts as Colonel-in-Chief....
- The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment

The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment is the main combat unit in the regular New Zealand Army. It was formed January 9 1947 as the New Zealand Regiment with a single infantry battalion as part of the newly created infantry corps....
- 11th Battalion, The Baluch Regiment
- Prince Alfred's Guard
Prince Alfred's Guard

Prince Alfred's Guard is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a United Kingdom Territorial Army or United States Army National Guard unit....

Royal Highland Fusiliers

Regimental Heritage

Locations and Operations

Alliances

See also

External links