6th Black Watch

Discussion in 'British Army Units - Others' started by UNITEDSOUND, Jul 16, 2022.

  1. UNITEDSOUND

    UNITEDSOUND Junior Member

    Can anyone confirm if uniform in late 1944 was this?

    What is the ribbon above their left hand lapel?
    [​IMG]

    TIA
    David
     
  2. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    Looks like Africa Star ribbon. 6th B/W were part of 1st Army.
     
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  3. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    6 BW were part of 12 Infantry Brigade who were themselves part of 4 Infantry Division.

    4 Infantry Division were one of the two assault Divisions at the Fourth Battle of Cassino in May 44. From there, they pushed north all the way to Florence before being switched to the Adriatic Coast for Op OLIVE - the attack on the Gothic Line at Rimini.

    After Rimini, the Division pushed into the Po Valley but then stalled. The Division were then sent to Greece to help subdue the Communist Insurgency.

    Regards

    Frank
     
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  4. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Black Watch would normally be a hackle rather than badge on the Tan O Shanter - the pictures I have of 6th BW show them with Hackles - on the Battledress its Normally Tartan cut to the Order of the Thistle with the 4th Div sign (I have an original 6th BW jacket but its been with a mate for a long time so no photos) From the image I can't make out insignia but it wasn't always worn and depending on the angle can be hard to make out on photos

    The Uniform itself is right for the period - the gent on the right has American War Aid Battledress which was mostly seen in the Med

    Below from an old Military Illustrated article

    Image4.jpg Image2.jpg
     
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  5. UNITEDSOUND

    UNITEDSOUND Junior Member

    Thank you very much for replies.
    The chap on the left is my Father.
    He was seconded to 6BW after his battalion,100 HAA, was disbanded in September 1944 near Naples. I have several photos of him in Athens with 6 BW in 1945.
    I have no idea where the above image was taken but can’t help thinking of Cervinara near the infantry training camp. It could also be in Athens.
     
  6. UNITEDSOUND

    UNITEDSOUND Junior Member

    Thanks for this detail. My Father was awarded the Africa Star while still in 100 HAA. Does this ribbon cloud matters? Could he carry forward the ribbon from his old battalion to 6BW? The other soldiers uniform confuses me. Can he be a 6BW soldier with American War Aid Battledress? Was that just a uniform for general battalion use due to shortages of material?
     
  7. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Very interesting to see he was 100th HAA as they were raised in Motherwell (where I was born and still leave nearby) - even though they were Scottish raised they don't look to have identified as Scottish so I imagine wore standard headdress, so I'm confident the photo is from his 6th BW time, my general feel from the photos is Italy rather than Greece. War Aid uniforms were made by the Americans but for British and Commonwealth use (the Free Polish Forces seem to have liked them too) to help take the pressure off our manufacturing capacity. In terms of the Africa Star ribbon, it was earned by the men, so no matter where they went they would carry the right to wear it with them.
     
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  8. UNITEDSOUND

    UNITEDSOUND Junior Member

    Thanks again for your help. Here is an extract from my Father’s attestation.

    After attestation, Alex was appointed to the position of Gunner in the 100 HAA (Heavy Anti-Aircraft Artillery) Regiment on 20th August 1940.

    100th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a Scottish air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed at Motherwell during the period of international tension leading up to the outbreak of World War II


    On 16th September 1940 Alex was allocated to the newly formed 321 Battery which was based in Hamilton.


    On 13th July 1941 he was attached to 356 Battery then on the 14th August 1941 to 305 Battery followed by 304 Battery, all based at Hamilton. A further transfer on 9th September 1941 saw him moving to 265 Battery based at Dumbarton.
     
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  9. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Boo - Hamilton, thats the bad side of the Clyde ;-)
     
  10. gmyles

    gmyles Senior Member

    Hi

    This was up for sale for £75 a couple of months ago. I nearly bought it but that's a lot of money for a book which I am only interested in a few pages when they were in Greece.

    A HISTORY OF THE 6TH BATTALION THE BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLAND REGIMENT) 1939 - 1945 Written By B.J.G. Madden, STOCK CODE: 2137380

    There are 6 in UK libraries so you should be able to get one on an inter library loan.

    A history of the 6th Battalion, the Black Watch : (Royal Highland Regiment) 1939-1945 (Book, 1948) [WorldCat.org]

    Hope this helps.

    Gus
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2022
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  11. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    As seems to usually be the case, the Toronto Reference Library has a copy, so if you are interested in part of the book or something looked up, I might be able to help. I might be able to manage the section from September 1944 till the end of the war... though not until next month.
     
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  12. UNITEDSOUND

    UNITEDSOUND Junior Member

    I have the 6BW book. Thanks anyway.
     
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  13. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Sorry to jump on this thread but I was wondering if you would be willing to share some scans of some of the pages from the book? I'd love to see what was written about the battalion during May 1940, particularly when they were using the river scheldt as a defensive line around the 19th - 22nd. They would have been in places such as Bergwijk and Caster. Thank you
     

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