Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Brydon
I hope the attached notes will be legible, they are part of a Liverpool Scottish archive I acquired some time ago and were prepared by a Kings Regiment officer with, I think, assistance from the Liverpool Scottish.
I hope they will be of interest,
P.B.
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To fill that out, here is some contemporary detail:
Inspection of 1st Bn Cameron Highlanders by H.M. King, December 5th 1940.
Excerpt from War Diary:
“Lt Col Wimberley asked H.M. if the Pipe Band could continuing to wear the Kilt if and when the remainder of the Battalion were faced to adopt battle dress trousers owing to a shortage of Kilts. H.M. graciously agreed and also to the Bn wearing patches of Cameron tartan on either shoulder. Lt Col asked the Colonel-in-Chief if the Bn as a mark of distinction might wear a hackle in their Balmorals as has long been done in the topee in India with service dress. H.M. was pleased to agree to this request & that the hackle should be of Royal blue & not white to mark the fact that the Camerons were a Royal regiment, the only other Royal Highland regiment being the Black Watch who wear the Red Hackle.”
It seems the original intention was to adopt a white hackle as worn on the Wolsely and 'topee' in India by various Highland regiments since the early C20th. It's not clear whether the blue hackle was the King's idea or the result of communal discussion.