6th Bn. Gordon Highlanders 1944

There are eight histories in the Argyll and Sutherland Regiment series of books. They are as follows:

1st Battalion
Graham, F. C. C. History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders 1st Battalion (Princess Louise’s) 1939-45.London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1948, (NYPL) (D.Ryan)

2nd Battalion (2 volumes)
Stewart, Ian MacArthur. History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 2nd battalion (The Thin Red Line) Malayan campaign, 1941-42. London, New York: T. Nelson, 1947. (NYPL) (D.Ryan)

McElwee, William Lloyd. History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 2nd Battalion (reconstituted) European Campaign 1944-45.London, New York: T. Nelson, 1949. (NYPL) (D.Ryan)

5th Battalion
Flower, Desmond. History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. 5th Battalion, 91st Anti-Tank Regiment, 1939-45.London: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd., 1950. (NYPL) (D.Ryan)

6th Battalion
Paul, William Tratt, ed. History of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 6th Battalion 93rd Anti-Tank Regiment (A & SH).London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1949. (NYPL) (D.Ryan)

7th Battalion
Cameron, Ian Currie. History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 7th Battalion from El Alamein to Germany.
London: T. Nelson and sons, 1946? (NYPL) (D.Ryan)

8th Battalion
Malcolm, A.D. History of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders: 8th Battalion. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., 1949. (NYPL) (D.Ryan)

9th Battalion
Barker, Frank Richard Peter. History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 9th Battalion, 54th Light A.A. Regiment, 1939-45. London, New York: Nelson: 1950. (NYPL) (D.Ryan)


There is also another history of the 1st Battalion:

Anderson, Brigadier R.C.B., History of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1st Battalion 1939 – 1954. Edinburgh:T & A Constable Ltd, 1956 (NYPL)

There were no histories of the following battalions:

10th Battalion (T.A.)
This battalion from Stirling was merged with the 7th Battalion on August 7th, 1940 as the 7th/10th Battalion.

11th Battalion (T.A.)
I gave the history of this battalion in the thread already.

12th (Home Defence) Battalion
The battalion was formed at Stirling as a home defence battalion on November 2nd, 1939 from the 63rd Group NDC. It was retitled as the 30th Battalion on December 24th, 1941. It remained at Stirling until the first quarter of 1942 and moved to Blairadam by April 1st, 1942. It then moved to Carnoustie by July 1st, 1942 and was located there until it was disbanded on January 6th, 1943.

13th (Home Defence) Battalion
The battalion was formed from the 63rd Group NDC at Dumbarton in December 1939. It was located at Dumbarton on April 1st and July 1st, 1940. It was absorbed into the 12th (HD) Battalion on August 28th, 1940.

14th (Home Defence) Battalion
75th Group absorbed into 65th Group NDC. The battalion was raised in December 1939 from the 65th Group NDC at Paisley. It was based in Paisley and was disbanded on October 4th, 1941.

50th (Holding) Battalion
The battalion was raised on May 28th, 1940 at Alloa. It was renamed as the 15th Battalion on October 9th, 1940 and became a Field Force Unit. It then moved to Alchen (Elgin?) from Alloa.

216th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) – 2 December 1940 to 24 February 1941
It served in the North Highlands under the brigade at Elgin(?).

HQ Orkney Area, OSDEF – 24 February 1941 to 5 November 1941
In March 1941 it moved to the Orkneys, where it remained for more than two years. It was located at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys in August 1941.

207th Independent Infantry Brigade – 5 November 1941 to 27 May 1942
It joined the 207th Independent Infantry Brigade on November 5th, 1941 in the Orkneys. It was then reformed as the 2nd Battalion on May 28th, 1942 (May 5th, 1942).

70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion
The battalion was formed from one Young Soldier Company each of the 13th (HD) and 14th (HD) Battalions and one Young Soldier Company of the 10th (HD) Battalion, The Royal Scots Fusiliers on September 19th, 1940 at Clydebank. The battalion moved from Cyldebank to Ayr by January 1st, 1941. It moved to Banff by April 1st, 1941. By January 1st, 1942, it had moved to Fort George. It formed the 2nd Battalion, The Highland Regiment, a holding unit, on February 15th, 1942 and was located at Forres on April 1st, 1942. By July 1st, 1942 the battalion moved to Muir of Ord. It was changed to the role of an infantry counter-attack battalion on October 1st, 1942 and classifed as an infantry mobile defence battalion when it was disbanded on January 1st, 1943.

I assume since the battalion's without a history did not see active combat service their histories were not written.

There are some other histories, which may cover these battalions in part. I saw these a long time ago in the New York Public Library.

Malcolm of Poltalloch, G.I. Argyllshire Highlanders 1860-1960. Glasgow: The Halberd Press, 1960. (NYPL)

Sutherland, Douglas. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. London: Leo Cooper (Famous Regiments), 1969. (NYPL)

 

David,
you have come up with the goods again. Hats off to yourself. I did not know that there was two books that covered the 1st battalion!

Would you advise obtaining a copy of Anderson, Brigadier R.C.B. book if i can obtain one?

Thank-you
Stu.

 

I haven't seen Anderson's book in a long time. You might want to see if some other member has a copy so that they can recommend if it is worthwhile or not.

 

Seems it readily available in the UK:

History of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. 1st Battalion, 1939-1954: Amazon.co.uk: Brigadier R.C.B. Anderson: Books

 

And reasonably priced as well.

 

Looks like Molesholme to me, but can't find the place on Google map

 

John,
not sure what you mean by Molesholme, can you please gives us a clue?

Gary, you was quick off the mark with the heads-up. Cheers.Someone is taking a Liberty at £188 sheets.

 

John,
I'm thinking you have had a look at the T.A. RECORD OF SERVICE PAPERS for your man?
It would have been wise to say so, if that was the case? If you look on a map & find the town of Barrhead in the County of Renfrew, or Renfrewshire has it is called know ( i think) you will find a small hamlet or village that goes by the name of Mallestheugh.

Its just south of junction 4 on the M77. That is in a south easterly direction of Barrhead. I'm looking at a map that has rather small print .

Regards,
Stu.

 

Malletsheugh is the spelling, and I think that may be correct Stu, and where the paper says 'Newstone' it should be Newton Mearns. I think my friend mentioned Paisley area for the family, which is nearby. And there's a Malletsheugh Cottage on Malletsheugh Road, could be the precise location. The cottage on google street looks much refurbished but looks like it was an old cottage.

My friend was illegitimate and never met his dad. The goal would be to find some army photos, so the search goes on.

You mention T.A. service papers, the document I posted is that?

John

 

John, not sure if you have the war diaries of the 6 Gordons for the all of 1944? I'm willing to send them on with the offer that i made in my post 16. It will make interesting reading to both of you. If you are both interested, then please do say so? I will contact you regarding sending them on! Not much more that one can do. Good luck in finding any army photos.

Regards,
Stu.

 

Thanks for the offer Stu. I'll let you know, let me do a bit of studying first as his service records suggest he went AWOL on more than one occasion before embarcation, so right now I'm not sure where he was and where he went not even sure he was at Anzio.

 

Hi there, i'm living in Australia and I've been looking for any information on my Grandfather who fought with the Gordon Highlanders in WW2. His name was Joseph (Joe) Lynn and he fought in North Africa & Italy. It's been very tough to find any information on his service. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

Andrew.

Go to www.gov.uk and type in ‘How do I obtain a military Service Record’. That will tell you what to do.

Only the 6th Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders served in Italy. The First Battalion served in North Africa and Sicily.

Regards

Frank

 

Ok thankyou. I will try. My father has littke knowledge as my grandfather would rarely discuss it but he has always mentioned North Africa & Anzio. I guess it must have been Sicily then as he was definitely in North Africa. Thanks again.

 

Andrew.

If he was at Anzio then he is definitely 6 GORDONS. They were part of 2 Infantry Brigade who were themselves part of 1 Infantry Division.

1 Infantry Division started their journey to Anzio via North Africa. The Division was given the task of attacking Pantellaria island but it was largely unopposed. From there, they were committed to Anzio in Jan 44 - and stayed right to the breakout on 23 May 44.

Regards

Frank

 

Thankyou again. Great information. I'd love to know his journey and be able to tell my father.

 

Andrew.

You should read ‘The perilous road to Rome and beyond’ by Edward Grace MC. He was an Officer in 6 GORDONS.

Regards

Frank

 

I will definitely look it up. Thankyou again.

 

Just finished reading the first 40 pages online preview. The rest of the book on order now. Incredible read thus far. To think my papa Lynn woulda been all of 20 and going through this is very surreal and rather humbling.