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Classic Battlefield Tours

Name: Classic Battlefield Tours
Address: Alton, GB
Telephone: +2039605302
Rating: 5

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16/06/2024

SS Politician

SS Politician was a cargo ship that ran aground off the coast of the Hebridean island of Eriskay in 1941. Her cargo included 22,000 cases of scotch whisky and £3 million worth of Jamaican banknotes. Much of the whisky was recovered by islanders from across the Hebrides, contrary to marine salvage laws. Because no duty had been paid on the whisky, members of HM Customs and Excise pursued and prosecuted those who had removed the cargo.

During the Second World War Politician participated in the Atlantic convoys between the UK and US. In February 1941 she was on her way to the north of Scotland, where she ran aground while attempting to rendezvous with a convoy. No-one was badly injured or killed in the accident.

The local islanders continually visited the wreck of Politician to unload whisky, even though it was in a hold filled with marine engine oil and seawater. Customs men undertook raids, arresting many and seizing the boats of those suspected of taking part. The excise authorities pushed for charges under the punitive customs legislation, but the authorities charged those arrested with theft. Many were found not guilty or not proven, and several were fined; 19 were incarcerated at Inverness Prison for terms ranging between 20 days and two months. Salvors were used to rescue as much of the ship as they could, and the whisky they raised was shipped back to its bonded warehouses; this was also looted during its journey. Two salvage crews removed much of the cargo, and the second crew raised the wreck off the seabed. Part of the ship's hold, and her stern, were cut away and sank to the bottom of Eriskay Sound; the remainder of the hold was destroyed with gelignite to prevent further looting.

A few of the Jamaican banknotes from Politician were presented at banks in Britain, Jamaica and other countries. As a result, in 1952 the blue ten-shilling notes were withdrawn and replaced with notes of the same design, printed in purple. Bottles of whisky have been raised from the seabed by divers, and some have been found in hiding places on Eriskay; these have been auctioned. The story of the wreck and looting was the basis for the book Whisky Galore; an adaptation was released as a film in 1949 and a remake in 2016.

15/06/2024

Peninsular War Tour with Dan Hill
9th September to 15th September 2024

Beginning our tour in Madrid, we visit sites of historical interest around the city on day one before making our way north-west to the area where bitter fighting had raged throughout the early part of the Peninsular Campaign, with a few stops in local villages of importance en-route.

Our second day comprises a full and in-depth study of one of the most important battles of the entire Peninsular Campaign – Salamanca. Throughout the day we will explore the battlefield in detail including ascending the famous ‘Arapiles’, all of the major battlefield sites and visiting an excellent local museum. Our afternoon ends in the beautiful city of Salamanca itself where further important fighting took place and where Wellington marched victorious into the city at the end of that legendary fight.

Our third day sees us move north with Wellington to Burgos to explore the costly and unsuccessful siege of that city. A detailed exploration of the relevant positions and a look at the remaining signs of what once passed here make a fascinating day of touring. In the afternoon we continue north-westwards to our accommodation in the vicinity of Vitoria.

Unsurprisingly day four is also a full day of study of yet another iconic fight – The Battle of Vitoria. Fought in June 1813, Vitoria was a resounding (but certainly not bloodless) victory for Wellington’s allied forces which set the French to flight, abandoning huge numbers of guns and equipment, allowing some fortunate redcoats to take their share of the ‘Loot of a Kingdom’.

Today we continue north towards the Pyrenees, first to the coast to Spain and the Basque Country where we study the two sieges of the city of San Sebastian and the subsequent sacking of the town. Our afternoon visit is to the much-overlooked battlefield of Sourauren, where French forces under Marshal Soult launched a determined assault on allied positions in the hopes of relieving the besieged garrison of Pamplona.

Our penultimate day is spent again on the west coast of the Franco-Spanish frontier visiting three key battlefields of the late 1813 campaign, namely The Bidassoa, Nivelle and Nive. Each offer a fascinating glimpse into the last-ditch fighting undertaken here by hard pressed French forces and Wellington’s by now highly experienced formations. Following our visit we head eastwards into France and on to our final destination – Toulouse.

Our last day on tour sees us traversing the modern city of Toulouse in search of the key locations fought over here in April 1814. Famously fought after the cessation of hostilities (though not known to the participants at the time), it was a very bloody fight, with Marshal Soult’s surrounded forces inflicting heavy casualties on Wellington’s troops. Our tour ends here in the stunning ‘La Ville Rose’, with its excellent rail and air links across Europe.

Tour Details
Accommodation in 4 star hotels on a bed and breakfast basis
Air-conditioned transportation throughout the tour
Access to all Museums and Battlefields on the Itinerary
Service of your expert guide
We provide double rooms for single person use
We do not charge single supplements
Lunch and dinner are not included
Cost per person £2,350

To book follow this link:https://classicbattlefieldtours.com/tours/peninsular-war-salamanca-to-toulouse-tour/

14/06/2024

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His Majesty's Government.

The name derives from an elaborate medieval ceremony for preparing a candidate to receive his knighthood, of which ritual bathing (as a symbol of purification) was an element. While not all knights went through such an elaborate ceremony, knights so created were known as "knights of the Bath".

George I constituted the Knights of the Bath as a regular military order. He did not revive the order, which did not previously exist, in the sense of a body of knights governed by a set of statutes and whose numbers were replenished when vacancies occurred.

The Order consists of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom (currently King Charles III), the Great Master (currently William, Prince of Wales), and three Classes of members:

Knight Grand Cross (GCB) or Dame Grand Cross (GCB);
Knight Commander (KCB) or Dame Commander (DCB);
Companion (CB).

Members belong to either the Civil Division or the Military Division. Knight Companion (KB), the order's only class prior to 1815, is no longer an option. Commonwealth citizens who are not subjects of the British monarch and foreign nationals may be made Honorary Members.

The Order of the Bath is the most senior of the British orders of chivalry, after the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, and the (dormant) Order of St Patrick.

13/06/2024

Ronald Reagan- Military service

In April 1937, Reagan enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. He was assigned as a private in Des Moines' 322nd Cavalry Regiment and reassigned to second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps. He later became a part of the 323rd Cavalry Regiment in California. As relations between the United States and Japan worsened, Reagan was ordered for active duty while he was filming Kings Row. Wasserman and Warner Bros. lawyers successfully sent draft deferments to complete the film in October 1941. However, to avoid accusations of Reagan being a draft dodger, the studio let him go in April 1942.

Reagan reported for duty with severe near-sightedness. His first assignment was at Fort Mason as a liaison officer, a role that allowed him to transfer to the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). Reagan became an AAF public relations officer and was subsequently assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit in Culver City where he felt that it was "impossible to remove an incompetent or lazy worker" due to what he felt was "the incompetence, the delays, and inefficiencies" of the federal bureaucracy. Despite this, Reagan participated in the Provisional Task Force Show Unit in Burbank and continued to make theatrical films. He was also ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the sixth War Loan Drive before being reassigned to Fort MacArthur until his discharge on December 9, 1945, as a captain. Throughout his military service, Reagan produced over 400 training films.

12/06/2024

Operation Bagration

Operation Bagration was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation, a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II, just over two weeks after the start of Operation Overlord in the west, causing N**i Germany to have to fight on two major fronts at the same time. The Soviet Union destroyed 28 of 34 divisions of Army Group Centre and completely shattered the German front line. It was the biggest defeat in German military history, with around 450,000 German casualties, while 300,000 other German soldiers were cut off in the Courland Pocket.

On 22 June 1944, the Red Army attacked Army Group Centre in Byelorussia, with the objective of encircling and destroying its main component armies. By 28 June, the German 4th Army had been destroyed, along with most of the Third Panzer and Ninth Armies. The Red Army exploited the collapse of the German front line to encircle German formations in the vicinity of Minsk in the Minsk Offensive and destroy them, with Minsk liberated on 4 July. With the end of effective German resistance in Byelorussia, the Soviet offensive continued on to Lithuania, Poland and Romania over the course of July and August.

11/06/2024

Bishop

The Bishop, formal designation Ordnance QF 25-pdr on Carrier Valentine 25-pdr Mk 1, was a British self-propelled gun vehicle based on the Valentine tank and armed with the QF 25-pounder gun-howitzer, which could fire an 25 lb HE shell or an armour-piercing shell. A result of a rushed attempt to create a self-propelled gun, the vehicle had numerous problems, was produced in limited numbers and was soon replaced by better designs.

The rapid manoeuvre warfare practiced in the North African Campaign led to a requirement for a self-propelled artillery vehicle armed with the 25-pounder gun-howitzer. In June 1941, the development was entrusted to the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company. A prototype was ready for trials by August and 100 were ordered by November 1941.

The vehicle was based on the Valentine II hull, with the turret replaced by a fixed boxy superstructure with large rear doors. It was nicknamed the Bishop for its high mitre-like superstructure.

The Bishop first saw action during the Second Battle of El Alamein in North Africa and remained in service during the early part of the Italian Campaign. Due to its limitations and the Valentine's characteristic slow speed, the Bishop was poorly received. The Bishop was replaced by the M7 Priest (105 mm) and Sexton (25-pounder) when those became available in sufficient numbers and surviving Bishops were diverted for training in self-propelled gun tactics.

The US 105 Millimeter Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 which replaced the Bishop, was given the service name "Priest" by the British, as part of its superstructure was said to resemble a priest's pulpit. Following this line of names, a 1942 self-propelled gun armed with the 57 mm QF 6 pounder anti-tank gun was the Deacon, and a 1943 vehicle with the QF 25-pounder on a chassis derived from the M3 Medium tank was the Sexton. This practice was continued after the war with FV433 Abbot and ended in 1993 when they were replaced with the AS-90.

10/06/2024

Childers Reforms

The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms.

From 1881, regimental seniority numbers were officially abolished and battalions came to be known by their number within the regiment and the regimental district name. Unofficially, the regiments were still referred to by their numbers by their officers and men, as tradition, and several regiments, such as "The Buffs" (the Royal East Kent Regiment), the Cameron Highlanders, and the "Black Watch", lobbied to keep their distinct names as part of their battalion titles.

In practice, it was not always possible to apply the scheme strictly: the Cameron Highlanders initially had only one regular battalion, while several regiments had more or fewer militia regiments than specified by the initial scheme. In addition, the King's Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) had no local regimental districts, and their affiliated militia and volunteer battalions were selected not on a territorial basis, but due to their "rifle" traditions. This structure lasted until 1948, when every regiment of line infantry had its regular battalions decreased to one, with only the three original Guards Division regiments retaining two regular battalions.

Also in 1881, short service was increased to seven years with the colours, and five with the reserve, of the twelve-year enlistment period that the Cardwell Reforms had introduced. He also introduced the ability for time-served soldiers to extend service in the reserve by four years, albeit classed as the second division, or Section D, of the First Class Army Reserve.

For reasons of economy and efficiency, an attempt was made to have the facings of uniforms standardised: Royal regiments would have dark blue facings, English and Welsh regiments would have white facings, Irish regiments would wear green facings (in effect only the Connaught Rangers as all other Irish Regiments were 'Royal Regiments'), and Scottish regiments would have yellow facings. Officers' uniforms had lace in distinctive national patterns: rose pattern for England and Wales, thistle for Scotland and shamrock for Ireland.

08/06/2024

Hellfire Corner - Ypres

Hellfire Corner was a junction in the Ypres Salient in the First World War. The main supplies for the British Army in this sector passed along the road from Ypres to Menin - the famous Menin Road. A section of the road was where the Sint-Jan-Zillebeke road and the Ypres-Roulers (Roeselare) railway crossed the road. The German Army positions overlooked this spot and their guns were registered upon it so that movement through this junction was perilous, making it the most dangerous place in the sector.

07/06/2024

Hi**er Diaries

The Hi**er Diaries (German: Hi**er-Tagebücher) were a series of sixty volumes of journals purportedly written by Adolf Hi**er, but forged by Konrad Kujau between 1981 and 1983. The diaries were purchased in 1983 for 9.3 million Deutsche Marks (£2.3 million or $3.7 million) by the West German news magazine Stern, which sold serialisation rights to several news organisations. One of the publications involved was The Sunday Times, who asked their independent director, the historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, to authenticate the diaries; he did so, pronouncing them genuine. At the press conference to announce the publication, Trevor-Roper announced that on reflection he had changed his mind, and other historians also raised questions concerning their validity. Rigorous forensic analysis, which had not been performed previously, quickly confirmed that the diaries were fakes.

Kujau, born and raised in East Germany, had a history of petty crime and deception. In the mid-1970s he began selling N**i memorabilia which he had smuggled from the East, but found he could raise the prices by forging additional authentication details to associate ordinary souvenirs to the N**i leaders. He began forging paintings by Hi**er and an increasing number of notes, poems and letters, until he produced his first diary in the mid-to-late 1970s. The West German journalist with Stern who "discovered" the diaries and was involved in their purchase was Gerd Heidemann, who had an obsession with the N**is. When Stern started buying the diaries, Heidemann stole a significant proportion of the money.

Kujau and Heidemann spent time in prison for their parts in the fraud, and several newspaper editors lost their jobs. The story of the scandal was the basis for the films Selling Hi**er (1991) for the British channel ITV, the German film Schtonk! (1992), and the television series Faking Hi**er (2021)

06/06/2024

James Stagg

Group Captain James Martin Stagg, CB, OBE, FRSE (30 June 1900 – 23 June 1975) was a British Met Office meteorologist attached to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War who notably persuaded General Dwight D. Eisenhower to change the date of the Allied invasion of Europe from 5 to 6 June 1944.

Stagg was appointed the Chief Meteorological Officer, SHAEF for Operation Overlord. On 6 November 1943, he was granted an emergency commission with the rank of group captain in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve; this leant him the necessary authority in a military milieu unused to outsiders.

Stagg worked with three forecasting teams from the Royal Navy, Met Office and the USAAF. The detail of the D-Day forecasts is in the accounts published by participants, including Stagg himself.

Planners of the Normandy landings in June 1944 allowed for the tides, the time of day, and the phase of the moon – these conditions would be satisfactory on only a few days in each month. A full moon was desirable, as it would provide illumination for aircraft pilots and have the highest tides. The landings would be shortly before dawn, mid-way between low and high tide, with the tide coming in. This would improve the visibility of obstacles on the beach, while minimising the amount of time the men would be exposed in the open. Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. However, on 4 June, conditions were unsuitable for a landing: high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft, and low clouds would prevent aircraft from finding their targets.

Stagg met Eisenhower on the evening of 4 June. He and his meteorological team predicted that the weather would improve enough for the invasion to proceed on 6 June. The next available dates with the required tidal conditions (but without the desirable full moon) would be two weeks later, from 18 to 20 June. Postponement of the invasion would have required recalling men and ships already in position to cross the Channel, and would have increased the chance that the invasion plans would be detected. After much discussion with the other senior commanders, Eisenhower decided that the invasion should go ahead on the 6th. A major storm battered the Normandy coast from 19 to 22 June, which would have made the beach landings impossible.

Allied control of the Atlantic gave Allied meteorologists an advantage in the North Atlantic weather war for storm prediction. As the Luftwaffe meteorological centre in Paris was predicting two weeks of stormy weather, many Wehrmacht commanders left their posts to attend war games in Rennes, and men in many units were given leave. German Commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel returned to Germany for his wife's birthday and to meet with Hi**er to try to obtain more Panzers.

For his invaluable services over the D-Day period, Stagg was appointed an Officer of the US Legion of Merit in October 1945.

05/06/2024

Danuvia 43M submachine gun

The 43M submachine gun was developed by Pal Kiraly, based on the MKMO and MKPS series of submachine guns he had worked on for SIG in Switzerland before returning to Hungary (we would go on to make the San Cristobal carbines for the Dominican Republic after WW2). The initial version of the gun was the 1939 39M, with a 3” longer barrel and fixed buttstock. This was adopted by the Hungarian military, but only ordered in small numbers (about 600), which led the FEG factory to delay production until they could get enough other orders to economically justify tooling up. That finally happened in 1942, and in the meantime Kiraly and the factory had nearly finished the improved and shortened 43M version.

Ultimately about 13,000 39M SMGs were made from 1942 to 1944, and about 5,000 43M SMGs in 1944. At that point Allied bombing ended production, and the tooling was eventually confiscated during Russian occupation of Hungary.

Mechanically the 43M (and 39M) are lever-delayed blowback actions, firing the 9x25mm Ma**er Export cartridge – the most powerful submachine gun cartridge in use at the time. The 43M stock feels very flimsy and uncomfortable, and it folds under the action of the gun. In addition, the 40-round magazine folds forward into the stock (much like the SIG MK series guns) to make it a much more compact gun to transport. Note that the 39M and 43M use different magazines!

03/06/2024

What happen to Joachim Peiper after the Ardennes offisive?

Joachim Peiper (30 January 1915 – 14 July 1976) was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) officer and war criminal convicted for the Malmedy massacre of U.S. Army prisoners of war (POWs). During the Second World War in Europe, Peiper served as personal adjutant to Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS, and as a tank commander in the Waffen-SS. German historian Jens Westemeier writes that Peiper personified N**i ideology, as a purportedly ruthless glory-hound commander who was indifferent to the combat casualties of Battle Group Peiper, and who tolerated, expected, and indeed encouraged war crimes by his Waffen-SS soldiers.

In early 1945, in Hungary, Kampfgruppe Peiper fought in Operation Southwind (17–24 February 1945) and in Operation Spring Awakening (6–15 March 1945) in the battles of which, despite killing many enemy soldiers, Peiper's aggressive style of command cost many more wounded and dead Waffen-SS soldiers than were necessary to win the battle. On 1 May 1945, as the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hi**er was forced into Austria, Peiper's men learned of the death of the Führer the previous day. On 8 May, the German high command ordered the units of the Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hi**er to surrender to the U.S. Army that was across the River Enns.

Just returned from an excellent bespoke tour of Operation Southwind (Sundwind) in Slovakia.

29/05/2024

Wire catcher

A wire catcher is a device used to protect military personnel in open vehicles against taut-wire traps.

A wire catcher consists of a strip of angle iron bolted upright to the forward bumper of a jeep. "It extends above the heads of those riding in the jeep, and is notched a few inches from the top so that any wire extending across the road will be caught and snipped."

The first land vehicle wire cutter to be demonstrated was attached to a Killen-Strait tractor for the British in 1915. Two scissor-like Royal Navy torpedo net cutters were fitted to the front of the tractor at the end of two protruding shaped metal rods. The tractor was driven into a field of tensioned barbed wire that had been strung up at precisely the cutter's height. It was not effective with wire at different heights and was not put into service. Heavy tanks were used simply to crush barbed wire obstacles instead.

During World War II, the Germans employed taut-wire traps strung across roadways designed to harm enemy soldiers riding in open vehicles such as jeeps and motorcycles. Wire catchers were installed on jeeps as field modifications.

Wire catchers were used up through the Vietnam War.

28/05/2024

Battle of Vercors

The Battle of Vercors in July and August 1944 was between a rural group of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) [maquis] and the armed forces of N**i Germany. The maquis used the prominent scenic plateau known as the Massif du Vercors (Vercors Plateau) as a refuge. The maquis carried out sabotage and partisan operations against the Germans. After the Normandy Invasion of 6 June 1944, the leadership of a force of about 4,000 maquis declared the Free Republic of Vercors and attempted to create a conventional army to oppose the German occupation.

The Allies supported the maquis with parachute drops of weapons and by supplying teams of advisors and trainers but the uprising was premature. In July 1944, up to 10,000 German soldiers invaded the massif and killed more than 600 maquisards and 200 civilians. It was Germany's largest anti-partisan operation in Western Europe. In August 1944, shortly after the battle for the Vercors, the area was liberated from German control by the Americans and the FFI.

27/05/2024

Room 40

Room 40, also known as 40 O.B. (old building), was the cryptanalysis section of the British Admiralty during the First World War.

The group, which was formed in October 1914, began when Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, the Director of Naval Intelligence, gave intercepts from the German radio station at Nauen, near Berlin, to Director of Naval Education Alfred Ewing, who constructed ciphers as a hobby. Ewing recruited civilians such as William Montgomery, a translator of theological works from German, and Nigel de Grey, a publisher. It was estimated that during the war Room 40 decrypted around 15,000 intercepted German communications from wireless and telegraph traffic.

Most notably the section intercepted and decoded the Zimmermann Telegram, a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico. Its decoding has been described as the most significant intelligence triumph for Britain during World War I because it played a significant role in drawing the then-neutral United States into the conflict.

26/05/2024

Financial crisis of 1914

The European liquidation of American securities in 1914 was the sell off of about $3 billion (equivalent to $91.26 billion in 2023) of foreign portfolio investments at the start of World War I, taking place at the same time as the broader July Crisis of 1914. Together with loans to finance the Allied war effort, made by J.P. Morgan and others, the liquidation of European-held securities transformed the United States from a debtor nation to a creditor nation for the first time in its history.

When Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, global stock exchanges were non-functional after days of massive selloffs.

American banker Frank A. Vanderlip wrote to his wife:

You can not possibly have any conception of what has happened to the world. Civilization has broken down, and there is the most absolute derangement of a great part of our affairs.

After several consecutive days of sell offs, Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo closed the New York Stock Exchange on July 31. For four months the stock market remained closed to prevent the sale of British-held American securities. As the leading financial superpower in 1914, Britain was under tremendous pressure to maintain its gold payments. McAdoo was determined to keep pace but his ambitions were hampered by a Federal Reserve System still in its infancy. During the course of the crisis, McAdoo distributed gold to Treasury offices to protect the dollar and intervened in the near bankruptcy of New York City. On August 3, while the stock market was still closed, he increased the supply of paper money to avoid a run on the banks that would force them to suspend deposit convertibility, as they had in the Panic of 1907.

25/05/2024

Lunch and Talk at the RAF Club on Thursday 15th August 2024

The Hawker Typhoon and the RP 3 Rocket “Scourge of the Wehrmacht “
By
Dr Ray Carter

This talk is about the story of the Hawker Typhoon and the RP3 60Ib air to surface missile. This combination made a fearsome weapon system that spread destruction and terror amongst the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS forces in Normandy from 1944 until 1945.

I will be describing the troubled development of the aircraft and the need for a series of changes to both the engine and the airframe. I will be explaining the deployment and tactics used by Typhoons in their role as RAF ground attack aircraft. The Typhoon squadrons attacked trains, road rolling stock, road convoys, troop concentrations, armoured columns and precision targets like German radar stations and German Army headquarters. The impact of these missions was significant in helping the allies win the critical Normandy “battle of build-up”. The Typhoon also played a major part in halting the Mortain counter-attack and contributing to the killing fields of Falaise.

I will be using 1/72 scale models to visualise these missions and the participants will be asked to plan and carry out a simulated attack on a typical German convoy advancing toward the front line.

We will be exploring the reasons behind and the impact of the little know conflict between the leadership of the RAF 2nd TAC and the British ground forces in the early days of the D Day Landings.

We will conclude with a discussion surrounding the post war controversy regarding the actual physical damage achieved, contrasted with the impact upon the morale and effectiveness of German forces and the fading prospects of victory.

Please email me if you are interested in attending:

[email protected]

20/05/2024

Royal Scots

The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I. The regiment existed continuously until 2006, when it amalgamated with the King's Own Scottish Borderers to become the Royal Scots Borderers, which merged with the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment), the Black Watch, the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Until 2004, the Royal Scots had been one of five line infantry regiments never to be amalgamated in its entire history, a claim shared by The Green Howards, The Cheshire Regiment, The Royal Welch Fusiliers and The King's Own Scottish Borderers. When five Scottish regiments were amalgamated to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland on 28 March 2006, the Royal Scots Battalion and the King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion initially maintained their identities as separate battalions.

However almost immediately the Ministry of Defence moved to amalgamate the two battalions. The Royal Scots Battalion and King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion duly amalgamated on 1 August 2006 – upon their amalgamation, the new battalion took the name Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.

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Royal Army Chaplains' Department The Army Chaplains' Department was formed by Royal Warrant of 23 September 1796; until then chaplains had been part of individual regiments, but not on the central establishment. Only Anglican chaplains were recruited until 1827, when Presbyterians were recognised, but not commissioned until 1858. Roman Catholic chaplains were recruited from 1836, Methodist chaplains from 1881, and Jewish chaplains from 1892. During the First World War some 4,400 Army Chaplains were recruited and 179 lost their lives on active service. The department received the "Royal" prefix in February 1919. During the Second World War another 96 British and 38 Commonwealth Army Chaplains lost their lives.

Martini–Henry Rifle The changes in military rifle taking place all over Europe during that second half of 19th Century took had left military planners both in Great Britain and Europe in a dilemma. The introduction of the Dreyse Pattern Needle Rifle in 1864 caused shockwaves and in effect an arms race, in an instant ,the Needle fire rifle had set about the accelerated development of the breech loading rifle as a weapon of choice in all the industrialised countries. The trend too, for smaller projectiles with a great ballistic accuracy and velocity were beginning to become the requirement. As a result the British Army produced the Martini–Henry, breech-loading single-shot rifle with a lever action. It first entered service in 1871, eventually replacing the Snider–Enfield, a muzzle-loader converted to the cartridge system. Martini–Henry variants were used throughout the British Empire for 47 years. It combined the dropping-block action first developed by Henry O. Peabody (in his Peabody rifle) and improved by the Swiss designer Friedrich von Martini, combined with the polygonal rifling designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry. Though the Snider was the first breechloader firing a metallic cartridge in regular British service, the Martini was designed from the outset as a breechloader and was both faster firing and had a longer range. There were four main marks of the Martini–Henry rifle produced: Mark I (released in June 1871), Mark II, Mark III, and Mark IV. There was also an 1877 carbine version with variations that included a Garrison Artillery Carbine, an Artillery Carbine (Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III), and smaller versions designed as training rifles for military cadets. The Mark IV Martini–Henry rifle ended production in 1889, replaced by the Lee–Metford, but it remained in service throughout the British Empire until the end of the First World War. It was seen in use by some Afghan tribesmen as late as the Soviet invasion. Early in 2010 and 2011