Army

All you need to know about the Royal Regiment of Scotland

Royal Regiment of Scotland (Picture: MOD).

The Royal Regiment of Scotland was formed on 28 March 2006 (Picture: MOD).

Scotland has a rich military history and the Royal Regiment of Scotland's background is a large part of that.

The regiment was only formed in 2006, through the amalgamation of Scotland's historic infantry regiments.

In the 1600 and 1700s, there were three Scottish Infantry Regiments with the earliest being formed in 1633.

Cruachan IV meet Prince Harry Meghan — The Royal Regiment of Scotland mascot, Corporal Cruachan IV, meets the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Edinburgh Garrison (Picture: MOD).

Over the next century, 14 Scottish Infantry Regiments served in the British Army.

By the turn of the 20th century, Army reforms had reduced the Scottish Infantry to nine regiments.

During both World Wars, Scottish Infantry Regiments were heavily involved with many battalions being raised by each regiment.

2 Scots get Op Shader medals — 2 SCOTS returning from deployment in Iraq as part of Operation Shader in 2018.

In the modern day, the Royal Regiment of Scotland formed from the existing six Scottish Infantry Regiments.

Today, there are seven battalions:

1 SCOTS, The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
2 SCOTS, The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland - a light role infantry Battalion

3 SCOTS, The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
4 SCOTS, The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland - a mechanised infantry Battalion
5 SCOTS, Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland - a rifle company
6 SCOTS, 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
7 SCOTS, 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

The Regiment and its battalions have soldiers committed to many military commitments overseas, including Operation Toral in Kabul, Afghanistan and Operation Gritrock in Sierra Leone.

In January, 2 SCOTS, who had deployed to South Sudan, Cyprus and Iraq during 2018 were presented with operational medals by His Royal Highness Prince Andrew.

In June 2018, soldiers from A Company of the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, known as the Highlanders, joined more than 100 firefighters who have been battled the Saddleworth Moor fires.