British Empire in the late 19th/early 20th century

[cadmium]

I have 2 areas I'm curious about..

1. Where might a soldier (from a Scottish regiment by all accounts) have served in the years between 1895 and the first world war?

2. What would live have been like for a 'professional' soldier in that time?

[johnniegarve]

I would think South Africa, the Boer War & India. An uncle of mine was a regular soldier in India before the war. The squaddies paid a barber to shave them in their beds in the morning while sleeping, before reveille.

[Currie]

Hello Johnnie,

Imagine waking with a start when someone’s shaving your neck with a cut-throat razor.

Hello Mikokunsaki,

What life was like for a soldier in the British Army would depend on whether or not he was an officer or just one of the other ranks and lots of other variables. The answer to that question would probably fill a book.

There are a couple of books online that may help:

“Mr. Thomas Atkins” published 1900. http://www.archive.org/stream/cihm_0536 ... 1/mode/2up

“The Way they Have in the Army” published 1916. http://www.archive.org/stream/waytheyha ... 9/mode/2up


I read somewhere that you were mainly interested in 1895. This clipping, “Stations of the British Army” is from The Yorkshire Herald, 11 Sep 1895. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad28 ... d-Army.jpg

These are the Scottish regiments I’ve untangled from that lot. Note that where two places are mentioned the last named is that to which the Depot of the Regiment was stationed. The Depot was for processing & training new recruits etc. I’ve added places in square brackets, that’s where the battalion was the previous March. I hope I haven’t missed anyone.

Royal Scots (1st Foot), 1st bat. Chatham, [Chatham] 2nd batt. Belgaum, Madras. [Belgaum]

R. Sc. Fus. (21st), Aldershot; Ayr. [Shorncliffe] 2nd bat., Sialkote, Bengal; Ayr. [Sialkote]

K. O. S. Bord (25th), York; Berwick-on-Tweed. [York] 2nd bat., Chitral, Punjab. [Kuldunnah]

1st bat. Camn. Highlanders (79th), Gibraltar; Inverness. [Malta]

1st bat, (the Cameronians) Scotch Rif. (26th), Shaza anpur; Hamilton. [passage to India]
2nd bat. Scotch Rif (90th) Parkhurst, Hamilton. [Jubblepore, Bengal]

1st bat. High. L. I. (71st), Malta; Hamilton. [Aldershot]
2nd bat. High. L.I. (74th), Fyzabad; Hamilton. [Fyzabad]

1st bat. Gordon Highrs. (75th), Chitral, Punjab; Aberdeen. [Rawal Pindi]
2nd bat. Gordon Highrs, (92nd) Glasgow; Aberdeen. [Glasgow]

1st bat. Arg, and South Highrs, (91st), Aldershot, Stirling. [Aldershot]
2nd bat. Suth. and Arg. Highrs. (93rd) Messa? Meer; Stirling. [Meeam Meer]

1st bat. Sea Highrs. (72nd), Aldershot; Fort George. [Tipperary]
2nd bat. Se. Highrs. (78th) Chitral, Punjab; Fort George. [Ferozepore]

1st bat., R. Highrs. (Black Watch, 42nd), Mauritius; Perth. [Mauritius]
2nd bat. Royal Highrs. (Black Watch, 73rd), Edinburgh, Perth. [Edinburgh]

If you need location information over a longer period you could try the long defunct -www.regiments.org- site. There are old snapshots at the Way-Back Machine at the Internet Archive if you can get it to work. Try a 2005 snapshot, the Scottish regiments are in the alphabetical section of the regiments tab indexed as follows: http://www.archive.org/

The Royal Scots, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, The Cameronians, The Highland Light Infantry, The Gordon Highlanders, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Seaforth Highlanders, The Black Watch.

Hope that helps,
Alan

[Montrose Budie]

What about the Scots Guards ?

mb

[Currie]

Thanks mb,

I knew I would have missed at least one of them, which is why I said I hope I haven’t missed anyone. It’s about the only one in the newspaper list that sticks out like a sore thumb.

The Scots Guards were also in foreign parts, in London and thereabouts, where it seems they usually were when they weren’t off fighting somewhere.

All the best,
Alan

[Hibee]

I can't believe we missed out on the Boxer Uprising.

Hibee

[Montrose Budie]

Thanks mb,

I knew I would have missed at least one of them, which is why I said I hope I haven’t missed anyone. It’s about the only one in the newspaper list that sticks out like a sore thumb.

The Scots Guards were also in foreign parts, in London and thereabouts, where it seems they usually were when they weren’t off fighting somewhere.

All the best,
Alan

Hi Alan

You did a top class job on the Regiments of Foot, to the point of differentiating between the 1st and 2nd Battalions.

We've only missed out the cavalry, - the only Scottish regiment of the line then was the 2nd Dragoons, The Royal Scots Greys (amalagamated in 1971 with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales Dragoon Guards) [themselves the product of the amalgamation in 1922 of 3rd Dragoon Guards {Prince of Wales's} and 6th Dragoon Guards {Carabiniers}] to form the The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys), still in existence today !

See regimental name changes and amalgamations over the years, see complicated situations ! PM me if you ever need any info.

If the Boer War comes into question, then substantial numbers of Scots serving with the militia, part of whose terms of engagement was that they wouldn't be required to serve abroad, did indeed volunteer to serve in S Africa in substantial numbers when called on to do so. In fact not only foot soldiers, but also yeomanry.

mb