STARLIGHT
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Copyright ' La reproduction de tout article sous quelque forme que ce soit est sujette au consentement de l'�diteur par �crit.
"There's a braw fine regiment, as ilka mon should ken," runs the ballad of the Glenwhorple Highlanders, but you will look in vain for the �great strong whusky suppin 'hielan' men" on the British army's Internet site. Also missing are the Seaforths, Camerons & Gordons: victims of the organizational gnomes - amalgamated, re-badged, and re-titled.
Two of these names, the Seaforths and the Camerons, survive in the Canadian militia. Canada's Scottish heritage produced many Highland militia units, but though they generally have titles reflecting their location, what seems to have been a burst of imperial feeling around World War One led to some name linkages to British Highland units.
The Seaforth Highlanders began as the 78th Regiment of (Highland) Foot raised in 1778 by the Earl of Seaforth, were soon afterwards re-numbered the 72nd, and eventually took their founder's name. The 72nd Highlanders of Canada began in Vancouver in 1910, using the British regimental number which had gone out of use there in 1881 when amalgamations occurred in the final act of the Cardwell reforms. The Canadian unit took the Seaforth name in 1912.
The Cameron Highlanders started in 1793 as the 79th Regiment, later becoming known for the clan they primarily recruited from. Two Canadian militia regiments adopted the Cameron name. The 79th Highlanders of Canada started in Winnipeg in 1910, also adopting the old British number, and became the Cameron Highlanders later that year. A unit existing from 1881 took the name The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa in 1933.
Britain's Seaforths and Camerons amalgamated into the Queen's Own Highlanders in 1961, leaving their names to the Canadian regiments.
There was no Canadian regiment to carry on with the name of the Gordon Highlanders when they merged with The Queen's Own Highlanders in 1994 to become simply The Highlanders. The Gordons had started out in 1794. A short lived Canadian version began in 1913 when the 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) was raised in Victoria under Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Currie, soon to gain fame as Canada's top field commander in World War One. But "A Gordon For Me" was not a hit tune in Victoria in 1920, for the unit amalgamated with the Victoria Fusiliers to form the Canadian Scottish Regiment.
A unit formed in 1903 took the name of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada in 1920, adopting the name the British had used for two historic regiments united as one in 1881. In 1970 the Canadians were poised to become the sole bearer of the name, when the British original was reduced to a single company. However, after a year Whitehall relented and restored the regiment to full battalion status.
One Canadian regiment changed its British name link over time. The oldest British regiment are the Royal Scots, historically the 1st Regiment of Foot and nicknamed Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard because of their antiquity. In 1862 Canada formed the 5th Regiment, Royal Scots of Canada, but The Royal Scots are Lowland, not Highland, and in 1906 the 5th gave up the Royal Scots name to obtain Highland status and begin the process that eventually renamed them as Canada's Black Watch in 1934.
Britain and Canada both trifle with esprit de corps and sacrifice unit
heritage for immediate expediency. The process was derided in 1881 when
officers of The 75th Stirlingshire Regiment, being restored to Highland
status but blended into the 92nd Gordon Highlanders, left a mock tombstone
for their deceased unit:
Editors Note.
David Haas, a retired Major, is a practising lawyer living in St. Albert, Alberta. He is a regular columnist with the St. Albert Gazette, a rugby enthusiast, a piper, a guitarist and singer and a military history buff. He has agreed to contribute articles of general military interest for Starlight.
STARLIGHT