Battle royal: Scotland's regiments

Two years after the controversial merger of Scotland's regiments, the arguments are taking a new turn, writes Jeremy Watson

SHORTLY before 7pm last night, they filed through the lower gates of Edinburgh Castle and wound up past the battlements to the Great Hall above. Almost 200 ex-servicemen and supporters of the Restore Our Army Regiments (Roar) campaign filed into the heart of Scotland's military headquarters to a reception hosted by SNP First Minister Alex Salmond to "recognise" their efforts in fighting against the formation of a Scottish super-regiment.

Roar's campaign ended in defeat more than two years ago, when the country's six famously independent regiments – such as the Black Watch, the Royal Scots and the Royal Highland Fusiliers – were cut to five and brought together as the new Royal Regiment of Scotland (RRS).

Although the regimental names survived in the five new battalions, campaigners warned the changes ordered by army chiefs of staff in London would damage morale and be disastrous for recruitment. Salmond, then in opposition, pledged that once he had the power in a sovereign Scotland he would reverse the cuts and restore regimental independence.

The First Minister does not have the power yet, as defence is a matter reserved to the UK Government. But last night's event in the most provocative of venues for the RRS – the Castle is its regimental HQ – was his way of reminding the campaigners that he intends to honour his pledge.

Jeff Duncan, the campaign manager for Roar, said the reception was not designed to be a "party political event". But senior officers in the new RRS have made clear their deep unhappiness that the First Minister chose to honour the campaign in such a sensitive location, saying the event undermines the morale of Scottish soldiers risking their lives on overseas operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The row serves to underline the fact that two years after the controversial merger, feelings are still running high. Despite defeat, the Roar campaigners still want to keep the issue alive, while the RRS wants to put the past behind it and focus on the future of the new super-regiment within the British Army.

Last week, in his office in a castle block just yards from the Great Hall, Alastair Campbell, the retired major who is now the RRS's regimental secretary, the most senior non-operational officer, explained the regimental viewpoint. "Roar are not serving soldiers and they do not speak for serving soldiers. In a way, they are undermining serving soldiers out on operations today by what they are doing.

"We need to offer serving soldiers wholehearted support, not try to turn the clock back. People may not have liked what happened (in the merger], but it did happen. We need to move on. There isn't a snowball in hell's chance of the decision being reviewed and nor should there be.

"That's why I find activities such as this, when we have so many soldiers on operations, very disappointing."

The arguments will rumble on, but they raise the question of how Scotland's new regiment is faring at a time when its operational capabilities are being stretched as never before. Has recruitment been unaffected or, as the campaigners claimed, hit badly by the enforced changes? Has the Army kept its promise to retain a "golden thread" linking the current battalions with a heritage and traditions forged over hundreds of years? Or has the whole exercise backfired at a time when both former and serving officers argue that the infantry should be expanding rather than contracting?

In effect, the Army lost four regiments: one in Scotland, where the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) merged with the Royal Scots to form the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland. Under the new regime, some senior commanders would prefer them to be known simply as 1 Scot.

Similarly, the four other existing regiments – the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Black Watch, the Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders – became the second, third, fourth and fifth battalions. In the new RRS, they became abbreviated to 2 Scot, 3 Scot, 4 Scot and 5 Scot. Two territorial battalions complete the line-up.

Name changes aside, no one doubts that the new regiment – which has lost four soldiers on operations since its formation – has performed its duties since the merger with customary distinction. Last week, 1 Scot marched through Edinburgh on a homecoming parade to mark its return from a six-month tour of duty in Basra, where it supported and helped train the Iraqi police and army under an almost daily barrage of insurgent rocket fire.

Currently 2 Scot and elements of 5 Scot are serving in Helmand province in Afghanistan, where five members of the Parachute Regiment were killed last week. Meanwhile, 3 Scot is preparing at its Fort George base near Inverness for duty in Afghanistan next year, and 4 Scot is currently in Germany.

For its advocates, the new structure has improved the lot of officers and the ranks alike. It should mean less upheaval for their partners and families.

To Campbell, who served 26 years with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the new structure is definitely an improvement. "There are a lot of opportunities in the new regiment and families become more stable. They are not moving every two years," he said.

The new regimental structure also allows senior officers to switch regiments in a way that was not possible before. One beneficiary has been Colonel Stephen Cartwright, who took over command of the Black Watch battalion in March after starting his career with the Royal Highland Fusiliers. Cartwright is convinced that the creation of the new super-regiment was the right move.

"It was a sensible and well-judged solution to the reality of the day," he said.

"Within the battalion we are happy in our skin and focused on the tour next year. I would be lying if I said it (the consequences of the merger] never comes up, but I hardly spend any time on pre-2006. We have moved on."

Both Campbell and Cartwright insist that the promised "golden thread" link to regimental tradition should and will continue. One of the changes made in 2006 was that all the battalions should wear the new RRS cap badge, consigning the previous regimental badges to history. Even the famous Black Watch 'red hackle' can now only be worn in combat zones and not back at base.

"It is important that the name Black Watch remains associated with the battalion to continue the golden thread," said Cartwright. As a relative newcomer to the Black Watch, arguably Scotland's most famous regiment, he is alive to the sensitivities. "Some people call me the 83rd commander of the Black Watch; others the second commander of the 3rd battalion RRS." Asked which he preferred, he replied: "Depends on the audience."

Campbell added: "In time the regimental brands – the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Black Watch – will fade. They will become diluted. But at the moment it would be a step too far."

Roar insists the old regimental identities are being eroded. Spokesman Jeff Duncan said: "There has been a lot of effort going into suppressing regimental identities.

I have been getting e-mails from soldiers who have gone into the mess wearing Black Watch blazers and have been asked to remove them because they are now in the RRS."

Duncan says a new battleground is opening up over a plan to create new 'colours' for the RRS. Regimental colours are the flags that carry a regiment's battle honours, and under the new plan the old ones will be scrapped and replaced with new RRS versions. Only some of the old battle honours from the previous regiments will survive.

"The old regiments are being asked to lay down their colours, and what greater attempt to dilute identity can there be?" Duncan said.

There are practical considerations too, particularly on recruitment. The RRS should have five battalions of 500 to 600 men, but it has a 10% shortfall that predates the merger. Recruitment has shown a sharp decline since 2006. Army figures show that in the year from April 2005 to April 2006, 1,117 young men signed up in Scotland. In the same period in 2007 to 2008, the number dropped to 741.

The Army says many factors were already at work and the regimental mergers were irrelevant.

But some former officers who played a prominent role in the Save The Regiments campaign disagree. Stuart Crawford, a former colonel in the Royal Tank Regiment, said: "I am still firmly of the opinion that it was wrong to go down from six to five in Scotland, and to lose those historical and geographical links.

"The history and tradition of these regiments was very dearly bought by our forebears and given up too lightly in what was in effect a corporate rebranding exercise."

Restoring the regiments as they were would stimulate recruitment, he claimed. "It would re-establish the community links that have been lost by the reorganisation."

The campaigners warn against any further diminution of the old identities, and new recruits confirm the dangers. At Fort George last week, Dundee-born Private Robbie McBain, 19, was explaining why he had followed in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, grandfather and two cousins in joining the Black Watch two years ago.

"I was only interested in joining the Black Watch because of the family connections, and I don't think I would have joined up if the name had gone," he said. "I prefer the name Black Watch, because at home no one knows who 3 Scot are. I think it does have an effect on recruitment."

Private Chris Blake, who joined up in 2005, agreed: "I'm Black Watch first and RRS second. Nothing will change that."

Fortunes of soldiers

Amalgamation of Scottish regiments is nothing new. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were formed in 1881 when the Argyllshire Highlanders, raised in 1794, merged with their Sutherland counterparts. The latter, raised in 1800, earned renown as the Thin Red Line at Balaclava, in the Crimea, and later at the Relief of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny, winning six VCs.

The Royal Highland Fusiliers, despite its name a lowland brigade, dates back only to 1959 when the Royal Scots Fusiliers and the Highland Light Infantry were fused. The RH Fusiliers were formed in 1678 by the Earl of Mar to fight the Covenanters for James VII. They also fought at Culloden for the Jacobites. The Light Infantry came together from other regiments in 1881 and have battle honours from Waterloo, Crimea and the Indian Mutiny.

The Highlanders, made up of the former Seaforth, Gordon and Cameron regiments, were formed in 1994, as part of the Options for Change defence review. The battalion is based in Fallingbostel, British Forces Germany, part of 7 Armoured Brigade, the descendants of the World War II's Desert Rats.

The Black Watch, right, was formed in 1881 from the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment and the 73rd Perthshires. The 42nd originated from six independent Highland companies of foot soldiers raised in 1725. A gallant rearguard action in 1743 earned it its reputation in battle as "First to come, last to go". It is also famous for its red hackle, now worn only on battle dress.

The Royal Scots Borderers battalion came into being in 2006 from the merger of the Royal Scots and the King's Own Scottish Borderers. Raised in France in 1633, the Royal Scots saw distinguished service in every British military campaign. The KOSB dates back to 1689 when the regiment was raised by the Earl of Leven in two hours. It fought in Ireland in the 17th century and against the Jacobites at Culloden. A 'senior regiment of the line', it escaped amalgamation in 1881 and 1993 but its independence was lost in 2006.