WW1 Royal Highland (Black Watch) Regiment Cap Badge – FIRST PATTERN

Guaranteed original. Complete & intact. This is an original Royal Highland (Black Watch) Regiment Cap Badge for sale. In good condition. Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military cap badges for sale including other Royal Highland (Black Watch) Regiment cap badges.

For more original cap badges for sale, click here.

The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) was a Scottish infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 (as the Royal Highland Regiment (The Black Watch) to 2006. In 2006 the regiment was restructured to be a battalion The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland The Black Watch was formed as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 when the Royal Highland Regiment (The Black Watch) was amalgamated with the 73rd (Perthshire) Foot to form two battalions of the newly named Black Watch (Royal Highlanders). During World War I the 25 battalions of Black Watch fought mainly in France and Flanders, except for the 2nd Battalion which fought in Mesopotamia and Palestine, and the 10th Battalion which was in the Balkans. Only the 1st and 2nd battalions were regulars. A number of authors state that the regiment was given the nickname “Ladies from Hell” (“Die Damen aus der Helle”) by German troops, allegedly on account of their kilts and fighting qualities, although it is reported that no German sources to support the claim have been found. (Scottish troops wore kilts up until 1940).

Battalions of the Watch fought in almost every major action of the British in World War II, from Palestine to Dunkirk to Normandy and as Chindits (42 and 73 columns) in Burma . The Black Watch was fiercely defeated by German Fallschirmjager and Gebirgsjager during the Battle of Crete in May 1941. The regiment was the first to cross the Rhine and into Germany during the Allied advance in 1945. After the war, in 1948, the two regular battalions were merged into one. The regiment won honours after the Battle of the Hook during the Korean War in November 1952, and were subsequently involved in peacekeeping in various parts of the world; the same activity for which the regiment was raised 250 years earlier. During the state funeral of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, nine bagpipers from the regiment were invited to travel to the United States and participate in the funeral procession from the White House to the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. They performed The Brown Haired Maiden, The Badge of Scotland, The 51st Highland Division, and The Barren Rocks of Aden. It was the last British military unit to leave Hong Kong in 1997 and played a prominent role in the handover ceremony.

Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military badges for sale including other Royal Highland (Black Watch) Regiment cap badges.