Dating a military kilt

[Allan Thomson]

Thankyou, thought so but was struggling to google an accurate picture of the band in the days when it was the 500 or so year old 1st Of Foot & not just the amalgamated 1st battalion. There's also an interesting picture of a commemorative pipe band formed by the members & they appear to be in Hunting Stuart. The problem is when you google Royal Scots Pipers you tend to get more results for the Royal Scots Dragoons than the 1st!

My grandfather served in the regiment for many years during the 30's & 40's. He was involved in the first bayonet charge by European Troops against the Japanese in the pacific campaign at Golden Hill lead by Pinkerton who won his MC. I still feel it was a disgrace that the Battle Honour for Hong Kong was never awarded to them because of the disgusting way Maltby blackened their name due to the loss of the Shing Mun Redoubt ignoring the hard fighting done by D. Coy on the 11th (taking a position by the bayonet at odds of 2:1 against them and holding it under heavy mortar fire as the Japanese resorted to shelling them to bits rather than try to take them on in a bayonet charge that day. My Grandfather was one of the last men on the hill with Jimmy Ford, though he's not the man Lt Ford mentions coming off the hill with him as my Grandfather was knocked out and thought to be dead at that point (later recovered and got off the hill to rejoin the Battalion). The whole Battalion later put up some hard fighting on the Island too.

More recently he was invited to the presentation of the last set of colours to the regiment a few years before the 500 year old regiment was amalgamated. Fortunately he did not live to see that happen, but I think it would have saddened him, though I like to think myself that the tradition lives on in 1Scots. Much as I personally also like the kilt I also find it saddening the way Lowland Regiments have been robbed of their unique identity & 'Highlandised' into government tartan kilted homogenous regiment.

The top image is him dressed as the Modern British Infantry Man in Fighting Order, which he represented in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo of 1935 (as well as being an extra for "The Battle of Waterloo" there. He saw service in civil disorder in India prior to transferring to Hong Kong and would have been one of the more experienced men of the regiment present there.