35097 BRITISH NCO & SCOTTISH HIGHLANDER WESTERN DESERT WWII

The tradition of forming regiments of Scotsmen living in the mountainous part of their country (called Highlanders) dates back to the 18th century. The regiments formed in this way were, of course, composed of volunteers, and one of the oldest such regiments was The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). In the nineteenth century, others were also formed, including: The Highland Light Infantry or The Gordon Highlanders. At the outbreak of World War II, these regiments were most often assigned to individual infantry divisions, and their structure, equipment and most uniforms were the same as in regular British infantry units. The exception was the use of a beret with different tartan patterns. In many cases, these regiments underwent a long and glorious combat route in 1939-1945. An example is the unit Gordon Highlanders, whose subunits entered combat during the campaign in France in 1940 and from which they were evacuated during Operation Dynamo. Later, they served in North Africa, took part in the Battle of El-Alamein, in Sicily (1943), but also in Normandy (1944) and North-Western Europe (1944-1945). Another example would be a regiment Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, whose 1st Battalion performed well during the campaigns in North Africa (1940-1943) and Italy (1943-1945), and the 2nd Battalion - as one of the few in the British army - did a great job in the course of the fighting in Malaya in the years 1941-1942.