The regiment was raised on 18 March 1689 by David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven to defend Edinburgh against the Jacobite forces of James VII. It's claimed that 800 men were recruited within the space of two hours. The regiment's first action was at the Battle of Killiecrankie on 27 July 1689. Although this battle was a defeat for the Williamite army, the Jacobite commander, John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee (Bonnie Dundee), was killed by a volley fired by Leven's Regiment, bringing an end to James II's attempt to save his throne in Scotland. The regiment was judged to have performed well and was granted the privilege of recruiting by beat of drum in the City of Edinburgh without prior permission of the provost.[2]
For a period it was known as Semphill's Regiment of Foot, the name under which it fought at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745 and the Battle of Culloden in 1746. When the British infantry were allocated numerical positions in the 'line' of Infantry the regiment was numbered 25th Regiment of Foot (based on its formation date) in 1751. The regiment fought at the Battle of Minden on 1 August 1759 with five other regiments; this battle honour was celebrated by the regiment each year on 1 August. The 25th was the county regiment of Sussex in 1782 when it became known as the 25th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot.[2]
The regiment was awarded the right to bear the emblem of the Sphinx for their role in the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. Its recruiting area was moved to the Scottish Borders region in 1805 from when the regiment became known as the 25th (the King's Own Borderers) Regiment of Foot.[3]
Victorian era
The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at Fulford Barracks in York from 1873, or by the Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment.[4] The regiment moved to Berwick Barracks in July 1881. Under the reforms the regiment became The King's Own Borderers on 1 July 1881.[5] A 3rd, Militia, Battalion was formed as the Scottish Borderers Militia, with headquarters at Dumfries. The regiment became The King's Own Scottish Borderers in 1887.[3]
During the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878 to 1880, the regiment formed part of the 2nd division which was renamed the Khyber Line Force while guarding the lines of communication between Kabul and Peshawar.[6] The 3rd (Militia) battalion was embodied in January 1900 for service in the Second Boer War, and 998 officers and men embarked for South Africa on the SS Kildon Castle two months later.[7] Most of the battalion returned home in June 1902.[8]
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve;[9] the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions.[10][3]
The Bachelor's Walk massacre happened in Dublin, on 26 July 1914, when a column of troops of the King's Own Scottish Borderers were accosted by a crowd on Bachelor's Walk. The troops attacked "hostile but unarmed" protesters with rifle fire and bayonets - resulting in the deaths of four civilians and injuries to in excess of 30 more.[11][12]
The regiment's two Territorial Force units, the 1/4th (Border) Battalion and the 1/5th (Dumfries & Galloway) Battalion, landed in Gallipoli as part of the 155th Brigade in the 52nd (Lowland) Division in June 1915. After being evacuated from Gallipoli in January 1916 they moved to Egypt and then took part in the Third Battle of Gaza in November 1917[14] before landing at Marseille in April 1918 for service on the Western Front.[13]
The 7th (Service) Battalion and the 8th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 46th Brigade in the 15th (Scottish) Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front.[13] They fought at the Battle of Loos in September 1915, the Battle of the Somme in November 1916, the Battle of Arras in May 1917, the Battle of Pilckem Ridge in August 1917, the Second Battle of the Somme in August 1918 and at the Second Battle of the Marne also in August 1918.[14]
Second World War
In the period between the wars, the regiment's regular battalions were sent all over the British Empire to Ireland, Egypt and Hong Kong but were quickly recalled home at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.[14]
The 6th Battalion took part in the Normandy landings as part of the 44th Brigade in the 15th (Scottish) Division in June 1944 and saw action at the Battle for Caen later that month and then advanced into Germany.[14]
The regiment was deployed to Aden as the garrison battalion in Aden on internal security duties in February 1962.[20] In April 1964, within three months of its return to the UK and during the 24 hours of its first day as the Spearhead Battalion of the UK Strategic Reserve, it was deployed back to Aden in response to the Radfan Campaign in what had become the Federation of South Arabia. Within a year of its return to the UK in May 1965, the regiment was again deployed overseas in response to Indonesia's aggression in Borneo against newly formed Malaysia.[20] The regiment was at first deployed in Hong Kong, replacing a Gurkha battalion sent to Borneo, then to the Jungle Warfare School at Kota Tinggi in Malaysia in August 1965.[20]
The regiment were then deployed in the mountainous and primary jungle areas of Sarawak in October 1965.[20] Shortly after its return to the UK the regiment was posted to Osnabrück in June 1967.[20] It was subsequently regularly posted to Northern Ireland as part of Operation Banner during the Troubles and suffered casualties during the 1989 Derryard attack which killed two of its men.[21] It took part in the Gulf War in 1991 but was one of the few Scottish regiments not deployed to the Yugoslav Wars: it was being mainly stationed in Northern Ireland instead.[22] The regiment also served in Iraq on Operation Telic in 2003.[14]
However almost immediately the Ministry of Defence moved to amalgamate the two battalions. This was not a new idea: the origins of the combined entity, Royal Scots Borderers, dates from the 1990 Options for Change review, when it was initially announced that the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers would amalgamate. That amalgamation was subsequently rescinded.[24] The Royal Scots Battalion and King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion duly amalgamated on 1 August 2006 – upon their amalgamation, the new battalion took the name Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.[25]
^ abThe King's Own Scottish Borderers Association. "1689 – 19th Century". The King's Own Scottish Borderers Association and Museum. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
^"Training Depots 1873–1881". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) The depot was the 6th Brigade Depot from 1873 to 1881, and the 25th Regimental District depot thereafter
^These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), with the 4th (Border) Battalion at Paton Street in Galashiels and the 5th (Dumfries & Galloway) Battalion at Loreburn Hall in Dumfries (both Territorial Force)
^ abcdefghijklmThe King's Own Scottish Borderers Association. "20th and 21st Centuries". The King's Own Scottish Borderers Association and Museum. Retrieved 16 October 2013.