Best Scottish Tours

Saturday, 17 November 2007

Tour Linlithgow Scotland

Tour Linlithgow, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland.

Friday, 16 November 2007

Visit Kirn Brae Dunoon Scotland

Visit Kirn Brae, Dunoon, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland.

Thursday, 15 November 2007

Scottish Hospital

" Can you tell me the quickest way I can get to a Hospital ? "
" Yes, go and tell Macdonald over there, that you are a Campbell ! "

Tour Pap Of Glencoe Scotland

Tour Pap Of Glencoe, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland.

Wednesday, 14 November 2007

Scottish Spirits

Scottish Spirits. Simply bursting with good Scottish Spirits.

Scottish Weather

Scottish Weather. It is getting a lot colder in Scotland, especially at night. Be careful you don't slip going home from the pub.

Monday, 12 November 2007

Spirit of the Glen Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Spirit of the Glen by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Tracks Include; Amazing Grace 2007, Sailing, Highland Cathedral, Last Of The Mohicans, Hector The Hero, Mull Of Kintyre, Dances With Wolves, Scottish Medley, Canon, The Day Thou Gavest, Caledonia, Over The Hills snd Far Away, Your Love Echoes Around The World, The Green Hills Of Tyrol. Best Scottish Christmas Gifts.

Scottish Cyclist

" Why did you faint, Madam ? "
" Oh, Policeman, have you ever seen a Scotsman in a kilt riding a bicycle ??? "

Scottish Passion

"Are you trembling with Scottish passion, Sandy, my Dear ? "
" No, Flora, it's the wind around my rear that's making me shiver !"

Sunday, 11 November 2007

The 4th Seaforth Highlanders

The 4th Seaforth Highlanders was one of the Territorial battalions that was in action before the end of 1914. It fought with the 7th (Meerut) Division, the 15th Scottish and from January 1916 with the 51st Highland. Sixty officers and 1110 other ranks died, one VC was awarded. A fine history. A great deal of care has gone into the production of this fine battalion history which has some unusual features, the number of colour plates depicting battlefield scenes, the drawings at the head of each chapter, and the system whereby events between successive chapters are described in a brief synopsis, thus preserving continuity in the narrative. There are two short sections on the second and third line battalions, neither of which went on active service. There is a list of Honours and Awards, grouped under the year in which they were awarded and in order of the date of the London Gazette notifying them, and these awards included a posthumous VC, to Sgt J.Meikle for gallantry in July 1918. From time to time casualty figures are given in the narrative and there is a plate showing 273 officers and 3783 other ranks served overseas with the battalion of whom 60 officers and 1110 other ranks died. This table also summarises the Honours awarded. The 4th Seaforth Highlanders were in the Seaforth and Cameron Brigade of the Highland Division when war broke out but left trhe brigade in November 1914 to go to France where they joined the Dehra Dun Brigade of the 7th (Meerut) Division of the Indian Corps, and when the division left France in November the battalion was transferred first to 46th Division, then the 15th Scottish and finally, in January 1916, back to the 51st Highland Division for the rest of the war. This is an outstanding history of a Territorial battalion that was in action before the end of 1914 and fought right through to the armistice. History of the Fourth Battalion the Seaforth Highlanders. With Some Account of the Military Annals of Ross, the Fencibles, the Volunteers, and the Home Defence and Reserve Battalions 1914-1919.

London Scottish in the Great War

The London Scottish originated in 1859 at a meeting of the Scottish residents in London at the Freemasons’ Tavern, in which it was decided to form a Volunteer Rifle Corps, to be designated the London Scottish Rifle Volunteers. A half company served with the Gordon Highlanders in S Africa and other volunteers in the City Imperial Volunteers. When the Territorial Force was created in 1908 the London Scottish became the 14th Battalion of the newly formed London Regiment, in the 4th London Brigade of the 2nd London Division. Soon after the outbreak of war second and third line battalions were formed, 2/14th and 3/14th (the latter became a reserve battalion); the original battalion was now 1/14th. 1/14th London Scottish was the first TF infantry battalion to join the BEF, in September 1914, where it was attached to GHQ. Just over a month later, on the night of 31st October, it fought its first battle at Messines, commemorated today by the memorial that stands beside the Messines-Ypres road. Among those who took part was the actor Ronald Colman who was wounded. The battalion remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war, fighting at Ypres, on the Somme, at Arras and Cambrai. 2/14th arrived in France in June 1916 with 179th Brigade, 60th (2/2nd London) Division, but five months later, in November, the division went to Macedonia and in June 1917 it moved again, to Palestine. 2/14th fought in both theatres, winning two VCs in Palestine. In May 1918 it left 60th Division and went to France where it joined 30th Division. This is a good history which deals with the two active battalions separately. The author himself commanded the 1/14th, but was seriously wounded on the Somme in October 1916 by a sniper. The operations in which they were engaged are well described and supported by good maps. Appendices give the composition of the various divisions in which the battalions served, the list of honours and awards (including Mentions in Despatches they total 438), and the roll of honour. In all 1,542 died serving with the London Scottish. LONDON SCOTTISH IN THE GREAT WAR.

The Fifteenth Scottish Division

The senior of Kitchener’s Second New Army Divisions, the 15th Scottish was raised at Aldershot in September 1914 with a nucleus of men surplus to the requirements of the 9th Scottish Division and brought up to strength with drafts sent down from Scotland. It arrived in France in July 1915 and its first major battle was at Loos in which it captured its objectives, Loos itself and Hill 70, at a cost of 6, 404 casualties. All five VCs the division was to be awarded were won during the battle, four of them in twenty-four hours at Hill 70. The division remained in this sector till July 1916 when it moved down to the Somme where it achieved a notable success in capturing Martinpuich on 15th September. It took part in the Arras offensive in April 1917 and three months later it was fighting in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge during Third Ypres. It was back in the Arras sector when the German March 1918 offensive was launched and where the division held the enemy drive on Arras. For a short spell in July/August the division was under French command and took part in the capture of Buzancy and neighbouring villages. Total casualties throughout the war amounted to 45,542. This is an excellent history, well set out and with very good maps to support the interesting and well-written account of the division’s record. A most useful innovation is the provision of marginal notes which highlight events described in the accompanying text, and the top of each page is dated, a most welcome feature in a fast-moving narrative. A remarkable feature is the number of appendices which take up 192 pages and provide a wealth of detail: Order of Battle; Commanders and Staff both divisional and brigade with all changes; chronology of moves and events; casualties by battalions/units by dates with officers named and other ranks tabulated; complete list of recipients of Honours and Awards, by battalions/units. Of special interest are the operation orders for the Battle of Loos and the translation of a German report on the battle. FIFTEENTH (SCOTTISH) DIVISION 1914-1919.

The Banff Coastal Command

A Separate Little War. The Banff Coastal Command Strike Wing Versus the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe 1944-1945. Every day for nine months from September 1944 to the end of the war, young British, Commonwealth and Norwegian airmen flew from Banff aerodrome in northern Scotland in their Mosquitoes and Beaufighters to target the German U-Boats, merchantmen and freighters plying along the coast and in the fjords and leads of southwest Norway, encountering the Luftwaffe and flakships every step of the way. This Scottish strike wing fought in some of the bitterest and bloodiest attacks of the war, all at very low level and at close quarters. Their contribution to winning the war was crucial and while the cost in precious lives and equipment was in the same proportion as Bomber Command, they inflicted far greater damage to the enemy in relation to their losses. With Group Captain The Hon. Max Aitken, DSO DFC as station commander, Banff was eventually to become the base for a total of six Mosquito squadrons (including 235, 248 and 143), together with B Flight of the elite 333 Norwegian Squadron, and would team up on missions with the nearby Dallachy Beaufighter strike wing (404 RCAF, 455 RAAF, 489 RNZAF and 144 Squadrons). A Separate Little War, then, is a well researched and detailed history of a microcosm of Coastal Command. Supported by many photographs, maps and charts, the vast majority never published before, the author has drawn on the personal accounts of, amongst others, British and Norwegian pilots, ground crew and civilians which augment the official sources, to give a compelling, accurate and fascinating depiction of an aerodrome at war. It is a subject which will be of great interest and value to the general reader and to those students of the Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, RAF and former Commonwealth Air Forces, the Polish Air Force and of maritime air operations during World War Two. A SEPARATE LITTLE WAR: The Banff Coastal Command Strike Wing Versus the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe 1944-1945.

The Hebrides at War

The Scottish Hebrides at War. Factual, dramatic, humorous, and tragic by turn, this book reveals an aspect to the war long ignored. It is full of first-hand accounts from military and civilians of U-boat attacks, convoy attacks, gathering, training and repairs, the preparation for D-day, and much else besides. The Hebrides at War.

Glasgow at War

Glasgow at War. This lavishly illustrated book explores the impact of the First and Second World Wars on the city of Glasgow, its people and its industries. The citizens of Glasgow were affected by war in a variety of ways: the topics covered are wide ranging and include the role of Volunteer Defence Forces and the Home Guard; changing patterns of employment, especially for women, in factories, munitions and nursing; the fear and devastation caused by air raids and the experience of evacuation, and of course the courage and sacrifice of Glasgow's servicemen and women in the Army, Air Force and Navy. There is also extensive coverage of how war shaped Glasgow's industries, in particular the importance of warship building in the Clyde shipyards, and the large-scale manufacture of artillery and munitions. Wartime also brought many new people to Glasgow: servicemen and women from occupied Europe and from across the Atlantic, as well as visiting politicians and royalty. Some of these special visits are illustrated, as are the great victory parades where thousands came together to celebrate that war was finally over. The authors have drawn on a wide variety of sources in writing this fascinating and moving book, but it is perhaps the period photographs which will impress the reader most. Many have never been published before, and they tell the story of Glasgow at war most vividly and powerfully. Glasgow at War.