1st Battalion
The Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders
Kirknewton 1972 - 1974
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1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Kirknewton 1972 - 1974 |
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All photographs are the property of RHQ Argylls and may not be reproduced or copied without permission from RHQ Argylls.
The re-expansion programme for the Battalion went remarkably well and an incredible amount happened in the six months since the announcement
was made. The first visible sign was a planning cell which started work at Edinburgh Castle in December before moving out to join Balaklava Company at
Ritchie Camp, Kirknewton. Balaklava Company when it started work in early January owned absolutely nothing, and by the time the main body started to arrive they had taken over the Camp, collected vehicles, clothing and G1098 from all over Great Britain, opened all the accounts, rounded up the Regimental Property, trained dog handlers, etc, etc! In addition, they provided the Quarter Guard and Colour Parties in No. 1 Dress for the Inaugural Ceremony. The official vesting day was 15th January, but the actual ceremony took place on 17th January.
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1. a b c d e f g h i j k L
The first drafts started to report on 17th January and drafts kept appearing from such far-flung places as Singapore, BAOR, Northern Ireland, Fort George, Tidworth, Edinburgh and Glencorse. The whole process went remarkably smoothly and thanks were due to many Headquarters and individuals, but in particular to the Scottish Division and all the Battalions in the Division.
Finally Ritchie Camp! It was an American Air Base during the Second World War and then lay empty until the Black Watch moved into it in 1968. It couldn’t claim that it fits the image of modern new barracks or camp, but the battalion managed to get some improvements done during its time there. It was rumoured that at one time the MOD tried to sell the camp to the Prison Service but they wouldn't look at it!
The first main event was the training at Stanford, the training was varied, hard and successful. The weather was kind throughout and the time passed quickly amidst a hail of "Petrol Baldwin Bombs," a generous swap of 'half a lozenge" for a "boating area" between A and B Coys, a spot of poaching by D Coy
and a camp fire held by S Coy in the hollow which was the Battalion Headquarters position on the exercise against the West Yorkshires in 1957. Some of
the Provost Sergeants POW cages in the side of the wall were still in evidence, no skeletons were found. Battalion Headquarters even took to the field for a short time and HQ Company completed their PE Tests. The Press and Television cameras only discovered that the battalion was there as the first vehicles left for the return journey to Edinburgh and so it was left in comparative peace, although the Recce Platoon did have to drive round the camp six times for the cameras.
Back in Edinburgh the battalion tackled the first phase of IS training which included a Battalion presentation in the Roxy Bingo Hall and each Company giving a demonstration of IS Drills. Somewhat thankfully the battalion then went off on leave for two weeks. This was followed by the trip to Lydd/Hythe where Companies shot on every conceivable type of range and used the IS Village Training Area and the Country Training Areas. Once again the weather was very kind to us and most members of the Battalion managed to achieve some sort of suntan (C/Sgt McColm's nose gleamed like a beacon). Two competitions were run, the first amongst the sections on each Company on the ranges at Hythe and the second as a Battalion March and Shooting Competition.
The winners were :— Inter Section Competition,
A Coy—Cpl MacKay, B Coy—Cpl Bunch, D Coy—Cpl Chestnut, S Coy—Cpl McLelland, HQ Coy—Cpl Bell.
Inter PI March and Shoot Competition
1st—14 Pl D Coy—Sgt Cairns, 2nd—15 Pl D Coy—2Lt McKillop, 3rd—2 Pl A Coy—2Lt Wilson.
On return from Lydd/Hythe the battalion was caught up in a mixture of rehearsals for the Guard of Honour and IS Training. 24 Brigade Headquarters came north, in some trepidation and ran a very useful CP exercise for Battalion Headquarters and Company Headquarters. If events really happened at the speed at which these ones took place we would be in real trouble. Some very realistic roles were played by members of the Brigade Headquarters Staff
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Visit of Her Majesty The Queen
Undoubtedly the highlight of the period before going to Northern Ireland was the visit of Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by Princess Anne,
on the 4th July. The Queen arrived in Edinburgh on the 3rd July and the Battalion provided the Guard of Honour in the Forecourt of Holyrood House which was Commanded by Major Thomson.
The following morning dawned grey and wet and everyone's hearts sank, but in spite of the weather the Royal Party arrived at 1130 hrs. They were greeted by a Quarter Guard Commanded by Sgt Grant and drove to the area of the Officers Mess where they were met by the Colonel of the Regiment, the Commanding Officer and the 2IC who were accompanied by their wives.
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3. a b c d e f g h i
The Queen and Princess Anne then visited two marquees and the Officers' Mess where they met a selection of all ranks and their wives. Braving the rain the Royal Party then walked through the camp and stopped to speak to Jocks and their wives who were lining the route. The visit had been a great honour to the Battalion and we were all greatly impressed that The Queen 'and Princess Anne did not allow the fairly heavy rain to alter the programme at all.
The Battalion Exercise was the final event in the training for Ulster and took the form of two 24-hour exercises with two Companies on each (Battalion
Headquarters did both). A fair number of lessons were learnt from the Exercise.
The time finally came for the last long week-end and the departure of the various groups for Northern Ireland. The Advance Party left on the 20th July and spent a very useful week taking over from 1 DWR both tactically and administratively. The handover could not have been easier and we were very grateful to them for all their efforts, on our behalf. A Company arrived on the 26th July and instead of heading for the "Murph" were directed to Dungannon. The rest of the Battalion arrived on the 28th having eluded the dock strike by driving to Campbeltown and embarking on the LSL Sir Bedivere.
Northern Ireland 1st Tour – July to November 1972
1973
Reorganisation
When the Battalion returned from leave in January 1973 the final phase of the Reformation of the Battalion took place. Support Company, who had been
organised as a Rifle Company, was formed into the Mortar, Anti-Tank, Assault Pioneer and GPMG (SF) Platoons. At the same time Headquarter Company was
split down into Command and Administrative Companies. Once this reorganisation had taken place we were correctly organised as an Airportable Battalion.
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Cadres
As a result of the reorganisation and a general lack of specialists throughout the Battalion, the first six weeks of the year were devoted to Cadres. Support Company and cadres for the Mortars, Anti-Tank, Assault Pioneer and GPMG (SF). The Signal Platoon ran cadres for Standard II and Standard III Signallers and the MT Platoon ran Driving Cadres and Heavy Goods Vehicle Cadres. In addition D Company ran a Lance Corporal to Corporal NCO's Cadre and B Company ran a Lance Corporal's Cadre. A Company ran two cadres at Aultbea on Adventure Training and Combat Survival. All these cadres went a long way to filling the necessary gaps but subsequent cadres had to be organised, in between other events, in order to keep the specialist platoons topped up. The Cadre period ended with a week's concentrated training at Otterburn.
Fitness for Role
During the period between 22nd January and 15th February the Annual Fitness for Role inspection took place. This involved a string of preliminary inspections
such as REME, Ordnance, Ammunition, Documents, Medical, Hygiene, Education and Messing. In spite of the fact that most of these took place whilst the Cadres were still on, they went remarkably smoothly. On the 1st of February the Staff Officers from HQ 3rd Division carried out their inspection. The General Officer Commanding 3rd Division, Major General Worsley, who was to carry out the final inspection, said that he wished the day to take the form of a Rifle Meeting. This was run at Dechmont Ranges, near Livingston on 15th February, and took the form of an Inter-Company Competition. We were incredibly lucky with the weather for although the ground was covered with snow we had a lovely sunny day for the Meeting. The standard of shooting was not high, particularly as Companies had had virtually no time to practice, but the day went smoothly and the General seemed pleased with what he had seen. The Inter-Company Competition was won by Support Company with A Company second and D Company third. The individual winner of the SLR was Private Young of Support Company. The winning GPMG pair were Lance Corporal Binnie and Private Allan of Support Company.
General Worsley's final report included these remarks:
"On the morning of my inspection I was met by a very smart, alert and well drilled Quarter Guard drawn from all Companies of the Battalion. I was able to speak to a large number of officers, NCOs and men throughout my visit and I was impressed by their bearing, cheerfulness and enthusiasm. All Ranks are fully aware of the task ahead of them in completing the reforming of the Battalion and are facing up to this task with energy and sound common sense. "I regard 1 A and SH as a fine Battalion which is entirely fit for operations in Northern Ireland, but due to lack of experience and specialised training is not yet fit for world-wide operations overseas. I regard the overall standard as highly satisfactory."
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5. a b c d e f g h i j
Kenya
Since the autumn of 1972, planning had been taking place for the Battalion's trip to Kenya. This was due to take place from mid-March to Easter 1973. The first suspicions that all might not be well with the exercise began to percolate through in mid-February and it was finally confirmed at the end of February that instead of going to Kenya we were to become Spearhead Battalion and then that we were to move back to Northern Ireland to cover the issue of the White Paper. Sergeant McWilliams and ten men who were too young to go to Northern Ireland did manage to go to Kenya.
Northern Ireland
Once it became clear that the battalion was not going to Kenya, IS Training once again became the focus of activities and the battalion managed to cram in as much training as possible in the short time it had available. On Friday, 2nd March, the Sergeants' Mess Ball took place and during the evening OC D Company withdrew early in order to catch the early morning boat to Belfast, (Shades of Waterloo). The remainder of D Company crossed to Belfast on Monday, 5th March. Their task for the first few days was to guard the Polling Stations during the Referendum and apart from Administrative problems there were no particular difficulties. They then moved into Belfast and were placed under command of 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment.
Northern Ireland 2nd Tour – 5th to 27th March 1973
The whole Battalion returned to Scotland on the 27th of March and took a well-deserved long weekend.
Public Duties
After a ten day sort out period the whole Battalion went on leave until 1st May. It was then plunged into the start of the Public Duties cycle. The first major event was the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and for this we provided a Guard of Honour, commanded by Major Stewart-Liddon, at St Giles and the Palace Guards at Holyrood House. The Lord High Commissioner was Brigadier Lord Ballantrae (Colonel of the Black Watch) and we knew that we would be watched closely. All the various guards and the bands acquitted themselves well and we received a very complimentary letter from Lord Ballantrae which said: "Thank you for the admirable Guards provided during my time at Holyrood House. They were without exception smart and well turned out, and it was a great pleasure to be guarded by members of a Regiment which I have known for well over 40 years." "The Mounting each morning, with your splendid Band, Pipes and Drums was admired from the Dining Room windows by all our guests, including such distinguished ones as the Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and the Archbishop of York.”
The second major event was the Installation of Lieutenant General Sir Chandos Blair as the Governor of Edinburgh Castle. We provided two guards, the Pipes and Drums and Military Band and a large number of Waiters for the Reception in the Castle afterwards. The smartness of the guards was commented on by many people and the waiters were "most favourably noticed."
The next event was the visit to Edinburgh by Her Majesty The Queen and involved a Guard of Honour, Palace Guards and of course the Presentation of Colours. Once the Presentation of the New Colours and Laying Up of the Old Colours were over the Battalion spent the remainder of the summer involved mainly in Public Duties but also managing to fit in some training and leave. B Company vanished to Redford Barracks to run the administrative backing for the Tattoo as well as providing the men for the Historical item.
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6. k l m n o p q r s t
Visitors
As usual the battalion had a multitude of visitors and it is intended to only mention some of the more noteworthy. On 12th January, Mr. Blaker, MP, the Under-Secretary of State paid a quick visit to Ritchie Camp. On 6th June, General Sir Michael Carver, the Chief of the General Staff saw Companies training and had tea in the Officers Mess. Lieutenant General Sir Chandos Blair, Brigadier Tony Findlay, Brigadier Riddle Webster, General Sir Cecil Blacker, the Adjutant General, General Sir William Jackson, the Quartermaster General, Brigadier Blake and Major Ian Fraser from Headquarters UKLF, Brigadier Cooper from MOD, Colonel and Mrs Stokes of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, Major General Dick Worsley, GOC 3 Div, and on a variety of occasions Brigadier Roly Guy the Brigade Commander.
Other Activities
Small recruiting teams from the Battalion were sent to a variety of places throughout the summer ranging from Blair Drummond Safari Park to the Thomson Foundation Gala Day. It is questionable whether much active recruiting was achieved but we received letters from most of them thanking us for our assistance.
A Company provided a Demonstration Platoon at Cultybraggan for the CCF Camps and another Platoon to help run the Game Fair. The latter was a great deal more popular and profitable to the Jocks than the former.
On the training side Support Company had a good week's training at Salisbury Plains and another at Barry Buddon, A Company went to Garelochhead
and D Company to Garelochhead and Barry Buddon. The Signal Platoon carried out two exercises, one in England and the other in the West of Scotland.
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Northern Ireland Training
In September the battalion once again started the Northern Ireland Training cycle, the training for Northern Ireland followed much the same pattern as the previous year involving a week's instruction by the Northern Ireland Training Team, ten days at Lydd/Hythe and a stream of Specialist courses involving Photography, Video Tape, Television, Teleprinter, Sniper, Photofit Kit, Search, Radar and 1 Ton Armoured drivers.
The ten days at Lydd/Hythe was particularly useful and the maximum use was made of the Ranges and Rype Village. A large number of improvements had been made to the area and it was one of the best specialised training area anywhere. The training involved everyone in a great deal of hard work and lack of sleep but gave the battalion a very good foundation from which to build up the rest of its training. It was only a pity that we went there at the start of our training rather than at the end.
Northern Ireland 3rd Tour – 12th November 1973 to 24th February 1974
Individual Training
The Individual Training period started as soon as the battalion returned from leave in March 1974 and Cadres were run for the Mortars, Anti Tanks, Assault Pioneers, Signals, Skill at Arms Coaches and individual training. Two NCOs Cadres were held and a successful final tactics and field firing week was run at Warcop training area. As mentioned elsewhere there has also been a constant stream of driving cadres. A very successful Subalterns Cadre was run for three days culminating in a 30 mile cross country march by day and night with a variety of exacting individual tests on the way.
This year we are carrying out the new Shoot to Kill Personal Weapon Tests for the first time. The results so far have been better than expected but we still have a long way to go. Everyone has also had to complete the Physical Assessment test which has shown that rather too many people in a fighting battalion are not as fit as they should be.
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The All Ranks Dance—Assembly Rooms, 3rd May 1974
Two months after returning from Belfast more than 1000 All Ranks and their wives, friends, relations and several former members of the battalion gathered in the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh for what was a successful evening—organised chaos some might say! The ghost of guests at many a pompous occasion in those rooms were no doubt horrified as the "Blue Coral" let shriek their first notes. Soon the dance was under way. The committee sold their raffle tickets, people moved chairs and tables in all directions. These had been collected somehow by C/Sgt Douglas after the figures had rocketed from 700 to over 1000. SQMS Ball and his cooks produced an excellent buffet complete with Boars Heads with flashing eyes. Cpl Sandy Morrison stood like Horatio at the gate, warding off the milling mass of starving women, while the mouth-watering array of food was being inspected. The dance continued, and the drink flowed, much of it on the ballroom floor. DRINKING IN THE BALLROOM IS ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN. The Chairman of the dance committee just hoped the manager of the Assembly Rooms would take the weekend off. Charlie McNair's jazz band arrived and added to the noise and revelry, while downstairs the Disco was
proving very popular, approved by the Commanding Officer and the RSM, where they were found gyrating in the dark with their partners! Another group—the Big D provided the cabaret in the main sitting-out area. The joint was jumpin' to such an extent that the Raffle winners were hard to find. They were either deaf,
dancing or "having difficulty of a sort''. The portable TV Set and Teasmade went to single soldiers followed by the minor prizes—pewter mug, hairdryer, watches,
lighter and a hamper of food and drink all to the accompaniment of cheers and jeers. The buses arrived at 1 a.m., and soon the RSM and his volunteers set about cleaning the place, while CSM Blair and Sgt Begley checked the bars. The "workers" left the Assembly Rooms almost returned to their normal state, as the clocks struck 5 and it was day again. The ghosts were happier now, and the PRI had spent a worthwhile Ł800. Thanks are due to the committee including; RSM Kennedy; CSMs Blair and Chapman; All Coy Representatives; C/Sgt Douglas; SQMS Ball and his cooks; The MT Drivers; Sgt Begley, C/Sgt Paterson, Sgt
Carmichael and their barmen.
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If anyone can put names to faces with companies, dates and locations.
Please e-mail with page name, row number and picture letter to ayoung287@msn.com
Preparation for the Move
The remainder of summer and autumn was spent in preparing for BAOR, but there were other things. Major Struan Robertson, the Pipes and Drums (some- times), the Military Band, Cruachan and the Pony Major and a doughty band of "Freedom Fighters"collected Freedom ceremonies from various Regimental Towns, starting on 20th July, at Alloa, and went on doing so over a protracted period.
The Battalion Highland Games on 31st July, went off well, preceded by a very small time-margin the Officers Mess Guest Night to dine out Colonel Paddy Palmer. The change of Command took place formally on 2nd August, and the battalion departed on block leave for three weeks. On return from leave the second large batch of Armoured Personnel Carrier Student Drivers departed for Bordon. It is worth recording here that the MTO and his team of instructors achieved a unique and very praiseworthy record of 100% plus pass rate on these courses, even managing to qualify some of the course administration staff.
In early September the Pipes and Drums departed for London to join the Regimental Band of the Welsh Guards for their American Tour. On 10th and 11th September, a Battalion Rifle Meeting was held at Dreghorn Ranges and on the 12th the Inter Company Boxing Finals. September also saw Adventure Training at Ardentigh, Signals Conversion Training at Warminster for the Sigs Platoon and about 130 other all ranks and an Officers/SNCO's Study Day also at Warminster.
On the 18th September, the Battalion held an Open Day for the Provosts and Editors of local newspapers from within the Regimental area. The object of having the Open Day was two-fold;—First, to try and return some of the quite remarkable hospitality given to the Battalion during its stay in Kirknewton, and secondly to give our friends a chance to meet us on our home ground, to learn a little bit about how we operate and what our role was to be in Germany. Due to various circumstances not as many guests as we hoped were able to accept but we were very glad to see those who did manage to come.
From 29th September to 6th October, most of the battalion went to Otterburn for a dismounted tactical training period. In spite of appalling weather this was a most useful and enjoyable period culminating in a two-day battalion exercise where many useful lessons were learned or re-learned.
On 14th October, the pre-advance party departed for Osnabruck followed at the end of the month by the advance party about 100 strong. Early November saw the Main Body on leave and then from 20th-30th November, the Main Body move.
Updated: 28 October 2009