8 NOV 2020

On 24th April, 1633, Sir John Hepburn raised a regiment of 1200 men which ultimately became the Royal Scots.

Charles I issued a Royal Warrant in 1633 for Sir John Hepburn to raise a Scottish Regiment to serve in France as Garde Écossaise; the bodyguard of King Louis XIII and the Regiment went on to serve during the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), losing three Colonels in various actions in 38 years.

Due to the Royal Warrant the Regiment remained part of the British standing Army and could be recalled to Britain at any time The Regiment remained in France during the turmoil of the civil war and was not recalled until 1661, following Oliver Cromwell’s death in 1658 and the abdication of his son as Lord Protector in 1659. After the first elections in 20 years, Parliament was reformed and proclaimed Charles II as King and invited him to return to England from exile in 1660. In 1661 the Regiment was finally recalled to plug the gap between the disbandment of the Cromwell’s New Model Army and the creation of a Regular Army, in which the Regiment became the model for all other units.

The Royal Scots Museum is situated in Edinburgh Castle.The Museum is a private one and is financially dependent on voluntary contributions.

The story of the Regiment is explained in chronological order on pictorial wall panels supported by maps, display cases, tableaux and dioramas. The medal collection is too large to be openly displayed and therefore only a selection is on view. The remainder is mounted in drawers which can be opened on request. Also to be seen are collections of silver, sets of drums and old colours. Other interesting features of the Museum are the descriptions given of contemporary life in the Army and the overhead panels which show significant national and world events of the relevant period.

The Royal Scots were merged with other Scottish regiments in 2006 to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

1942 07 27  El Alamein, Mancò la Fortuna… - Ken Smith 

…non il valore

First battle of El Alamein, 27 July, 1942 “We could see the Australians and British advancing rather spread out, about 750 yards in front of us, all in groups corresponding with their units. We ceased fire with the machine-guns — there was still plenty of time for them — but continued with our 47/32s … When they got within 300 yards, we opened up with everything. The noise was terrific; you could only tell a gun was firing by the smoke and powder coming out of its muzzle. It was almost eleven o’clock. My tommy-gun broke down after about 3,000 rounds — ejector broken! The machine-gun also played up a bit after 5,000 rounds. But by that time the attack was beginning to peter out. The British artillery had packed it in. By midday it was all over.”– Second Lieutenant Eithel Torelli, Trento Division

RIP Sean Connery