The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (the Duke of Albany's) to form the Queen's Own Highlanders in 1961.
History
The regiment was raised as the 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameronian Volunteers) on 17 August 1793 at Fort William by Sir Alan Cameron of Erracht,Jameson, p. 2 a cousin of Cameron of Lochiel. Initially mustered from among members of the Clan Cameron in Lochaber, the regiment eventually recruited from across the Highlands, and indeed, seldom elsewhere.
Wars with France 1793 – 1815 The regiment was deployed briefly to Ireland and southern England, then to Flanders in 1794 where it took part in an unsuccessful campaign under the command of the Duke of York during the French Revolutionary Wars.Jameson, p. 3 On its return to England, the 79th Foot was listed for disbandment, with the men being drafted into other units. In the end the regiment was reprieved, being instead posted to the West Indies in 1795; after a two-year tour the 79th returned to England again.Jameson, p. 4 The regiment was again in action against the French at the Battle of Alkmaar in October 1799 during the Helder Campaign.Jameson, p. 6 In 1800 the 79th was part of a force that took part in a failed assault on the Spanish coast at Ferrol.Jameson, p. 6
The 79th Foot landed in Egypt as part of an expeditionary force to prevent French control of the land route to India and saw action at the Battle of Abukir in March 1801.Jameson, p. 12 After victories at Mandora and Alexandria later that month, the British forced the surrender of the French forces at Cairo. Along with other regiments that took part in the Egyptian campaign the 79th Foot were henceforth permitted to bear a sphinx superscribed EGYPT on its colours and badges.Jameson, p. 15 The 79th spent the next two years in Menorca. A second battalion was formed in 1804,Jameson, p. 16 which supplied drafts to the 1st Battalion and did not go abroad, it being disbanded in 1815.Fairrie, p. 27
Originally on the Irish establishment, the regiment became part of the British Army in 1804 and was renamed the 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameron Highlanders). The 1st Battalion took part in the Battle of Copenhagen in August 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars.Jameson, p. 17
In July 1808, the 79th Foot was deployed to Portugal for service in the Peninsular War. The regiment took part in the Battle of Corunna in January 1809 and was subsequently evacuated to England.Jameson, p. 21 The regiment returned to Portugal in January 1810 and saw action at the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810,Jameson, p. 23 the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811Jameson, p. 28 and the Siege of Badajoz in March 1812.Jameson, p. 32 It fought at the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812,Jameson, p. 33 and took part in the occupation of Madrid in August 1812Jameson, p. 34 and the Siege of Burgos in September 1812.Jameson, p. 37 It also saw combat at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813,Jameson, p. 40 the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813Jameson, p. 41 and the Battle of the Nive in December 1813 before taking part in the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814.Jameson, p. 42
Following the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814, the regiment moved to Cork, Ireland.Jameson, p. 48 However, with the return of Napoleon from exile, the 79th Foot travelled to Belgium in May 1815. The regiment took part in the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars at Quatre Bras and Waterloo in June 1815.Jameson, p. 58 Of the 675 men of the regiment who took part in these battles, 103 were killed and a further 353 wounded. The 79th were one of only four regiments specifically mentioned by the Duke of Wellington in his Waterloo dispatch.Fairrie, p. 30
1816–1880 The 79th Foot remained in France until 1818, followed by home service, broken by tours of Canada (1825–36), Gibraltar (1841–48) and again Canada (1848–51).Fairrie, pp. 31-32
In June 1854, the regiment sailed from Portsmouth to Scutari as part of the Highland Brigade for service in the Crimean War.Jameson, p. 84 It fought at the Battle of Alma in September 1854,Jameson, p. 91 the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854,Jameson, p. 97 the siege of Sevastopol through the winter 1854Jameson, p. 100 and the expedition to Kerch, in the eastern Crimea, in May 1855.
After briefly returning to the UK, the regiment sailed to India to take part in the suppression of the Indian Rebellion. The regiment took part in the Capture of Lucknow in March 1858 and the Battle of Bareilly in May 1858, remaining in India until 1871 when they returned to the UK.Fairrie, pp. 33-34
Queen Victoria presented the regiment with new colours at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight, on 17 April 1873 and directed they should be known as the "Queen's Own" in August 1873. Consequently, they became the 79th Regiment, The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.
Under the Cardwell reforms, in 1873 the 79th were linked to the 42nd Highlanders, the two regiments sharing a common depot at Perth, with the 79th supplying men to bring the 42nd up to strength for the 1873 Ashanti campaign.
1881–1914 On 1 July 1881, as part of the Childers reforms, the 79th Foot was redesignated as 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, the county regiment of Inverness-shire. The Camerons were the only infantry regiment still to have a single regular battalion. The 1881 reforms also combined the Militia and Rifle Volunteers of the county with the regiment, they becoming respectively the 2nd (Militia) Battalion and the 1st (1st Inverness-shire Highland) Volunteer Battalion. In 1886, the new depot for the regiment, Cameron Barracks, was completed in Inverness by the Royal Engineers. In 1897 a 2nd regular battalion was raised, and the Militia battalion was renumbered to 3rd.
In 1882, the 1st Battalion moved from Gibraltar to Egypt, where they took part in the Anglo-Egyptian War, including the Battle of Tel el-Kebir in September 1882. Remaining in Egypt, they took part in the 1884-1885 Nile Expedition to the Sudan, including the defence of Kosheh and the Battle of Ginnis in December 1885.Raugh, p. 144
Returning to the UK in 1887, a proposal to convert the Regiment into the 3rd Battalion Scots Guards was dropped after concerted lobbying. In 1892 the 1st Battalion were posted to Malta, then Gibraltar, moving to Egypt in 1897. The battalion were part of General Kitchener's force during the 1898 reconquest of the Sudan,Fairrie, pp. 48-50 they participating in the Battle of Atbara in April and the Battle of Omdurman in September, with one company being present at the Fashoda Incident.
Returning to Cairo, the 1st Battalion travelled to South Africa in March 1900 and fought in the Second Boer War. On 27 February 1902, Lieutenants Harry Morant and Peter Handcock, formerly of the Bushveldt Carbineers, were executed following one of the first war crimes prosecutions in British military history by a firing squad of soldiers from the Cameron Highlanders inside Pretoria jail. Following the end of hostilities, 810 officers and men of the 1st battalion left Cape Town in the SS Dunera in late September 1902, arriving at Southampton early the following month. The 1st Battalion then remained in the UK until 1914.
In 1897, a 2nd Battalion was formed. Moving to Gibraltar in October 1899, it supplied drafts to the 1st Battalion during the Boer War. The 2nd Battalion remained abroad until 1914, moving to South Africa in 1904, China in 1908 and India from 1909.Fairrie, p. 51
In 1908, as part of the Haldane Reforms, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now has one Reserve and one Territorial battalion.These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), with the 4th Battalion at Rose Street in Inverness (Territorial Force)
First World War Battalions of the regiment during World War I included; +First World War BattalionsBattalionNotesService1st BtnRegularServed in France2nd BtnRegularIn India, later served in France & Greece3rd (Inverness, Banff, Elgin, and Nairn Militia) BtnMilitiaIn Scotland then Ireland1/4th Btn (d.1917)
2/4th Btn (f.1914, d.1918) 3/4th Btn (f.1915, d.1916)Territorial
War Raised War RaisedServed in France then disbanded
Remaining in the UK Remaining in Ripon10th (Lovat's Scouts) Btn (f.1914, t.1918)TerritorialFormed in Cairo then served in Greece and France5th (Service) Btn (f.1914, d.1918)War RaisedFormed in Inverness and served in France6th (Service) Btn (f.1914, d.1918)War RaisedFormed in Inverness and served in France7th (Service) Btn (f.1914, d.1918)War RaisedFormed in Inverness and served in France8th (Reserve) Btn (f.1914, c.1916)War RaisedFormed in Invergordon and converted in 19169th (Labour) Btn (f.1916, t.1917)War RaisedFormed in Blairgowrie and served in France11th (Service) Btn (f.1918, r.1918)War RaisedFormed in France and served there1st (Home Service) Garrison Btn (f.1917, t.1917)War RaisedFormed in Invergordon and remained in UK
Regular Army The 1st Battalion, commanded by James Douglas McLachlan, landed at Le Havre as Army Troops for the 1st Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front.
The 2nd Battalion, which had been in India, landed at Le Havre as part of the 81st Brigade in the 27th Division in December 1914 for service on the Western Front and then moved to Salonika in December 1915.
The 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion was posted to Birr in Ireland in November 1917 as part of a move to replace Irish Reserve Battalions with British troops at a time when there were concerns about the reliability of troops of both 'Nationalist' and 'Loyalist' communities.Bowman, p. 196
Territorial force The 1/4th Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 24th Brigade in the 8th Division in February 1915 for service on the Western Front.
New armies
Three service battalions of the Cameron Highlanders, raised in 1914, saw active service:The 5th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 26th Brigade in the 9th (Scottish) Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front, where they served for the remainder of the war.
The 6th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 45th Brigade in the 15th (Scottish) Division in July 1915 and also served on the Western Front for the rest of the war.
The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 44th Brigade in the 15th (Scottish) Division in July 1915. They served on the Western FrontA researched account of units' training in Norfolk in 1915 has been published in conjunction with the Highlanders' Museum: Mary Mackie: Hunstanton's Highland Heroes: West Norfolk 1915 (King's Lynn: Morningside Publishers, 2018. . until June 1918 when, due to high casualties incurred at Arras, the battalion was amalgamated with the 6th Camerons.Fairrie, p. 80
The North Uist-born war poet Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna, a highly important figure in 20th century Scottish Gaelic literature, served in combat with the 7th (Service) Battalion during the trench warfare along the Western Front and vividly described his war experiences in verse.Fred MacAulay (editor), Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna, Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, (1995), p. xxxiv
Inter-war The 1st Battalion was posted to India 1919 and then to the Sudan in 1934, returning to the UK in 1936.Fairrie, pp. 84-86 Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion was sent to Queenstown in Ireland where it saw action during the Irish War of Independence: the battalion was engaged in several fire-fights with the Irish Republican Army. In 1923 they joined the allied occupation forces in Germany, returning to the UK in 1926. In 1935 the battalion commenced a tour of foreign service, serving in Palestine, Egypt and, in 1938, India.
Second World War