Balaklava Company, 5th (Princess Louises's Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) was an infantry regiment of the British Army until amalgamation into The Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006.

The regiment was created in 1881 as an amalgamation of the 91st and 93rd Regiments of Foot. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was expanded to 15 battalions during the First World War and nine during the Second World War. The regiment sent an active battalion to serve in the Commonwealth Division in Korea and gained a high public profile for its role in Aden during 1967. As part of the restructuring of the infantry in 2004, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was amalgamated with the other Scottish infantry regiments into the seven battalion strong Royal Regiment of Scotland. Following a further round of defence cuts announced in July 2012, 5 Scots (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) is to be reduced to a single public duties company called Balaklava Company, 5 SCOTS (A&SH), Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Formation
It was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 91st (Princess Louise's Argyllshire) Regiment and the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment as outlined in the Childers Reforms. The regiment is one of the six Scottish line infantry regiments, and wears a version of the Government Sett as its regimental tartan. It also had the largest cap badge in the British Army. The uniform included the Glengarry as its ceremonial headress.

At the Childers reform amalgamation the Argyll and Sutherland Highlander’ already had a well-earned reputation for valour in the face of the enemy, most notably the 93rd (later 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) during the Crimean War. Here the 93rd earned the sobriquet of “The Fighting Highlanders” and carried with it the legendary status of having been the original “Thin Red Line”. This title was bestowed following the immortal action of the 93rd at Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in which this single battalion alone stood between the undefended British Army Headquarters and 25,000 charging Russian Cavalrymen whose attack the British Heavy Brigade had failed to thwart. The 93rd, under the command of Sir Colin Campbell, not only held steady but for the first time in the history of the British Army broke a large cavalry charge using musket fire alone, without having been formed into a square.

This action was witnessed by The Times correspondent, W. H. Russell, who reported that nothing stood between the Russian cavalry and the defenceless British base but the "thin red streak tipped with a line of steel of the 93rd” a description immediately paraphrased and passed into folklore as "The Thin Red Line". Later popularised by Kipling in his evocative poem “Tommy Atkins” the saying came to epitomise everything the British Army stood for. This great feat of arms is still recognised today by the plain red and white dicing worn on the cap band of the ASHR Glengarry bonnets which is the only regiment authorised to display such colours.

World War I
When the Great War broke out in 1914 the regiment had two Regular Battalions (1st and 2nd), two Militia Battalions (3rd and 4th) and five Territorial Battalions (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th each of which split into 1st, 2nd and 3rd-line battalions). Seven more Service Battalions were raised for Kitchener's Army and they were numbered 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th.

Ten of the battalions served in France and Flanders (1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 14th) gaining 65 battle honours and four served in the Mediterranean area (1st, 5th, 6th and 12th) gaining a further 13 battle honours.

431 officers and 6475 other ranks lost their lives and six Victoria Crosses were awarded to the regiment during the war.

World War II
There were nine Argyll and Sutherland battalions raised during the Second World War.

The 1st Battalion fought in the Western Desert Campaign, Crete, Abyssinia, Sicily and in the Italian Campaign. The first action for the 1st Battalion was at Sidi Barani where they joined the battle on 10 December 1940 as part of the 16th Brigade. On 17 May 1941 the battalion moved to Crete where they formed part of the defence based on the east side of the island at Tymbaki. Most of the Argylls marched from Tymbaki to the airfield at Heraklion on the night of 24 May to help support the 14th Infantry Brigade in the fighting at that airfield. They were successfully evacuated on 29 May from Heraklion but their convoy suffered air attacks and many casualties on the route away from Crete. The Argylls left at Tymbaki were captured when the island surrendered. The 1st Battalion was shipped to Alexandria and after garrison duties followed by a raid into the Gondar region of Abyssinia, they were sent back to the Western Desert where they were eventually attached to the 10th Indian Infantry Division and fought at the Battle of El Alamein. The 1st Battalion landed on Sicily during Operation Husky in 1943 and fought throughout the Italian Campaign with firstly the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and then the 8th Indian Infantry Division.

The 2nd Battalion fought valiantly against the Japanese Army during the fighting in Malaya and Singapore (See Battle of Bukit Timah). Led by the tough Lieut. Col. Ian Stewart they were one of the very few British units that was prepared for the jungle warfare in Malaya. In the months before the invasion of southern Thailand and Malaya in 1941, Stewart took his battalion into the harshest terrain he could find and developed tactics to fight effectively in those areas. This training that the 2nd Argylls went through would make them arguably the most effective unit in General Percival's Malayan Command, earning them the nickname 'the jungle beasts'.

During the withdrawal of the Indian 11th Infantry Division the 2nd Argylls slowed the enemy advance and inflicted heavy casualties on them. During these actions the battalion became so depleted by battle that it was ordered back to cross the causeway into Singapore. Two days later, an Australian staff officer in company with the 2000 or so men of the 22nd Australian Brigade (the absolute tail guard of the British forces) arrived at the causeway. He was amazed to find all 250 of the ASHR, the proud remnants of the whole battalion who had been in action almost continually since the Japanese invaded six weeks previously, camped on the Malay side of the water. When asked what they were doing still in Malaya when they could have been in the relative comfort of Singapore their commanding officer, Major Ian Stewart, replied “You know the trouble with you Australians is that you have no sense of history. When the story of this campaign is written you will find that the ASHR goes down as the last unit to cross this causeway what’s more - piped across by their pipers” (Thompson 2005 p. 251)

Having suffered the massive loss of some 800 men due to being continuously used as the buffer to protect the retreating army (especially at the Battle of Slim River), the remaining Argylls, upon arriving in Singapore were reinforced with Royal Marines who had survived the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse in December 1941 changing their name to Plymouth Argylls (in reference to the Argylls affiliation to the Plymouth Argyle Football team and that all the Marines were from the Plymouth Division). The battalion surrendered with the rest of General Percival's army in Singapore in February 1942. Many Argylls died in captivity as P.O.W's or in the jungle trying to avoid capture. Two Argyll soldiers even managed to avoid capture throughout the war in Northern Malaya, where they had remained since the Battle of Slim River. Only 22 of the Plymouth Marines (out of 210) and 52 Argylls reached Ceylon.

A few Argylls managed to escape to India, including Lt.Col.Stewart, where they lectured on Jungle warfare tactics. After this the evacuees became part of No.6 GHQ Training Team which organized training exercises and lectures for the 14th Indian Infantry Division and British 2nd Infantry Division.

In May 1942 the 15th Battalion was redesignated as the new 2nd Battalion. This battalion took part in the Normandy battles with the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division and ended the war on the Elbe River.

In March 1942, two British privates of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Macfarlane and Goldie, escaped from Stalag IX-C at Bad Sulza in Thuringia. They jemmied their way out of their barrack hut wearing their blue work detail overalls over their battledress. These were boldly marked 'KG' (Kriegsgefangener, prisoner of war) on the back in red.

Throughout their escape bid, both men wore 40 lb rucksacks that concealed the markings and which they never took off in public. One of them later recalled, 'We attracted a certain amount of attention on the road because of our large packs but we made a point of keeping ourselves clean and shaven and also cleaned our boots regularly. No one stopped us on the way.'

After enduring a week in a salt wagon bound for Belgium, the two men made contact with an escape line there and, by mid-summer, they were safely back in Scotland.

After the war, in 1948, the two regular battalions were merged into one, forming a single-battalion regiment.

Korean War
The battalion was one of the first British units to serve in Korea, arriving there in September 1950 as part of the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade. Its first major action, in the battle of Naktong, the battalion was involved in a tragic friendly fire incident, in the fight for Hill 282. Thereafter, the battalion took part in the 8th Army's push to the Yalu river, winning a battle honour at the Battle of Pakchon; then the subsequent retreat before the Chinese intervention, and the recovery and counter-attack to line Kansas, near the present Military Demarcation Line.

The battalion finished its tour of operation leaving Korea in April 1951.

1945–2006
In 1948, the 2nd Battalion was amalgamated with the 1st Battalion which then saw service in Palestine, Korea, British Guiana, Berlin, Suez, Singapore, Borneo, Hong Kong, Aden and the Falklands. The Argylls were noted during the Aden Emergency for their reoccupation of the Crater district of Aden, under controversial Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Colin Campbell Mitchell.

In 1970 the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, as the junior regiment of the Scottish Division, faced disbandment as part of a general downsizing of the army. A "Save the Argylls" campaign involving the petitioning of Parliament resulted in a compromise under which a single regular company retained the title and colours of the regiment. "Balaclava Company" continued as an independent unit from 20 January 1971 until the regiment was restored to full battalion size on 17 January 1972.

The beginning of the 21st century saw the battalion's contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process being recognised by the award of the Wilkinson Sword of Peace, when under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jonny Gray. Under his command it also saw action in the Iraq War in 2004.

Amalgamation
In 2006, as part of the restructuring of the infantry, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were amalgamated with the other Scottish infantry regiments into the single Royal Regiment of Scotland. The battalion traditionally recruits from the counties of Argyll and Bute, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Stirlingshire.

The regiment's last role before amalgamation was in the air assault role as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. Elements of the new regiment originally affiliated with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders included a regular battalion (5 SCOTS), an affiliated company of the Territorial Army battalion, 51st Highland Volunteers (7 SCOTS) and an Army Cadet Force battalion. The 5th Battalion continued recruiting in the area allocated to the Argylls, wore a green hackle on its headdress to differentiate it from the other battalions, and were permitted to use the title "The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders" in reference to the battalion.

On 5 July 2012 a further series of measures to reduce the total size of the British Army were announced by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond. These included the reduction of 5 Scots (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) to a single company (Balaclava Company) for public (ceremonial) duties in Scotland.

Queen Elizabeth II visited the Highlanders at Howe Barracks in Canterbury in June 2013 to mark their relocation to Scotland.

Museum
The Regimental Museum is housed at the regiment's headquarters, located at Stirling Castle. Exhibits include uniforms, weapons, paintings, dioramas, medals, regimental silver and regalia, documents and military memorabilia.

Battle honours

 * Cape of Good Hope 1806, Rolica, Vimeira, Corunna, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula, South Africa 1846-7, 1851-2-3, Alma, Balaklava, Sevastopol, Lucknow, South Africa 1879, Modder River, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899–1902.
 * The Great War – Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, 18, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Messines 1914, 18, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915, 17, 18, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916, 18, Albert 1916, 18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917,18, Scarpe 1917, 18, Arleux, Pilckem, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917,18, St Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Bethune, Soissonnais-Ourcq, Tardenois, Amiens, Hindenburg Line, Epehy, Canal du Nord, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Kortrijk, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Italy 1917–18, Struma, Doiran 1917,18, Macedonia 1915–18, Gallipoli 1915–16, Rumani, Egypt 1916, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jaffa, Palestine 1917–18.
 * The Second World War– Somme 1940, Odon, Tourmauville Bridge, Caen, Esquay, Mont Pincon, Quarry Hill, Estry, Falaise, Dives Crossing, Aart, Lower Maas, Meijel, Venlo Pocket, Ourthe, Rhineland, Reichswald, Rhine, Uelzen, Artlenburg, North-West Europe 1940, 44–45, Abyssinia 1941, Sidi Barrani, El Alamein, Medenine, Akarit, Diebel Azzag 1942, Kef Ouiba Pass, Mine de Sedjenane, Medjez Plain, Longstop Hill 1943, North Africa 1940–43, Landing in Sicily, Gerbini, Adrano, Centuripe, Sicily 1943, Termoli, Sangro, Cassino II, Liri Valley, Aquino, Monte Casalino, Monte Spaduro, Monte Grande, Senio, Santerno Crossing, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943–45, Crete, Heraklion, Middle East 1941, North Malaya, Grik Road, Central Malaya, Ipoh, Slim River, Singapore Island, Malaya 1941–42.
 * Korean War - Pakchon, Korea 1950–51.

Affiliations
Early connections between the regiment and the Royal Marines date from Balaclava in the Crimean War and Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny, but the main association stems from World War II. In July 1940, after the fall of Dunkirk, the 5th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders served with the Royal Marine Brigade for over a year. When HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk in December 1941, the Royal Marines survivors joined up with the remnants of the 2nd Battalion, in the defence of Singapore. They formed what became known as 'The Plymouth Argyll’s', after the association football team, since both ships were Plymouth manned. Most of the Highlanders and Marines who survived the bitter fighting were taken prisoner by the Japanese. The Royal Marines inter-unit rugby football trophy is the 'Argyll Bowl', presented to the Corps by the Regiment in 1941. A message of greetings is sent to the Regiment each year on their Regimental Day, 25 October, the anniversary of the Battle of Balaclava in 1854.

The regiment has also created several alliances with regiments in the Commonwealth during its history. An official alliance with the 91st Regiment (Canadian Highlanders) of the Canadian Militia was later recognized by that regiment changing its official title to The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) and adopting the dress distinctions of the regiment in Scotland.

In 1924, the Argylls formed an alliance with The Calgary Highlanders, and that unit also adopted the dress distinctions of the Imperial Argylls.

In 1886 it was widely speculated that English football club Plymouth Argyle which was formed in that year was named after the regiment's football team as they were stationed at the time in Plymouth, Devon. One of the club's founders F. Grose suggested the name in a meeting with the other founder members. He also suggested that the aim of the new club was to emulated the style of play and teamwork that the Argyll and Sutherland football team used that won them the Army Cup which greatly impressed him. There is also a strong belief that Argyle adopted the regiment's colour of Green. There is also a street named after the regiment called Sutherland Terrace in the Mutley area of Plymouth.

Several Australian and New Zealand units had also formed affiliations with the Argylls during the 20th Century, including the Byron Scottish and the Royal Australian Regiment.


 * 🇨🇦 – The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)
 * 🇨🇦 – The Calgary Highlanders
 * 🇦🇺 – The Royal Queensland Regiment
 * 🇦🇺 – The Royal New South Wales Regiment
 * 🇵🇰 – 1st Battalion (Scinde), The Frontier Force Regiment
 * – HMS Argyll

Victoria Cross recipients

 * Lance Corporal J. Dunlay, 16 Nov 1857, Indian Mutiny
 * Captain W.G.D Stewart, 16 Nov 1857, Indian Mutiny
 * Private P. Grant, 16 Nov 1857, Indian Mutiny
 * Private (later Sergeant) D. MacKay, 16 Nov 1857, Indian Mutiny
 * Colour-Sergeant J. Munro, 16 Nov 1857, Indian Mutiny
 * Sergeant J. Paton, 16 Nov 1857, Indian Mutiny
 * Lieutenant (later Major-General) W. McBean, 11 Mar 1858, Indian Mutiny
 * Capt J.A. Liddell 31 Jul 1915 Belgium
 * Lieut J.R.N. Graham 22 Apr 1917 Mesopotamia
 * 2nd Lieut A. Henderson MC 23 Apr 1917 France
 * 2nd Lieut J.C. Buchan 21 Mar 1918 France
 * Lieut D.L. MacIntyre 24–27 Aug 1918 France
 * Lieut W.D. Bissett 25 Oct 1918 France
 * Lieut Col L.M. Campbell, DSO, TD 6 Apr 1943 Wadi Akarit
 * Major J.T. McKellar Anderson, DSO, TD 23 Apr 1943 Longstop
 * Major K. Muir 23 Sep 1950 Korea