War-raised bn.,15th (Scottish) Div. in NW Europe from Normandy to the Elbe. Roll of awards. Very scarce in its original printing.

The King's Own Scottish Borderers is one of only two Scottish regiments never to have been amalgamated until it joined forces with The Royal Scots to form the 1st battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006. It is also unusual in that it lost its Scottish status between 1782 and 1887 when it served as the 25th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot. Formed in Edinburgh in 1689, its first operational role was to defend the city during the period of turmoil following the accession of William and Mary of Orange. That same year the regiment fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie, where they withstood a ferocious charge by the Highlanders supporting James II. Since then, the regiment has fought in most of the major campaigns fought by the British Army. In 1887, the regiment became The King's Own Scottish Borderers. It served with distinction during the two World Wars and achieved nationwide fame in 1915 when Sergeant Piper Daniel Laidlaw won the Victoria Cross during the Battle of Loos. Despite coming under heavy fire he played his pipes in full view of the enemy, encouraging the Borderers with the sound of 'Blue Bonnets o'er the Border' and 'The Standard on the Braes o' Mar'. This concise account of the King's Own Scottish Borderers puts its story into the context of British military history and makes use of personal testimony to reveal the life of the regiment.

Excerpt from A Border Battalion: The History of the 7/8th (Service) Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers In the following pages an attempt has been made to write a history of the 7/8th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, during the entire period of its career. As a Service Battalion, it had a short life; and having fulfilled its purpose, it was disbanded and removed from the establishment of the Army. The chief object, therefore, of this volume is to provide a permanent record of the engagements and movements of the battalion during its active service; and to recall, to those who took part with it in the Campaign, scenes and incidents, grave and gay, in their proper setting and sequence. Many who, while not belonging to the battalion, were, for one reason or another, interested in its vicissitudes, will welcome a volume that contains a narrative of events with which they are, to some extent, already familiar from the letters and conversations of their friends. The history, which owes its inception to Lieut.-Col. H. P. Hart, D.S.O., has been compiled and, to a large extent, written by Captain J. Goss, M.C. Major J. H. Patrick, M.C., who, with the assistance of Sergeant E. H. Whitehead, collected from official sources much of the detailed information contained in the history, has also written several of the chapters. Other chapters have been contributed by Captains W. W. Henderson, M.C., A. B. Paton, M.C., P. Reay, M.C., J. Weir, M.C., and Lieutenants J. E. Thomson and J. D. Brown. The whole work has been revised, in many parts rewritten, and prepared for the Press, by Rev. J. Ferguson, B.D., who was the last Chaplain with the battalion. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.