49th West Riding Black Watch

[OC Richard]

Here's an interesting thing.

He's obviously a soldier of The Black Watch.

But his divisional badge is the polar bear, the 49th West Riding. That got me curious!

I looked it up, what helps date the photo was that the polar bear was changed to the roaring design in April 1943.

According to the organizational chart I found on Wiki, this man must be in the "1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish (Black Watch)".

I've seen Tyneside Scottish badges, I didn't realise they were part of The Black Watch. Wiki says they were raised as the 12th Battalion Durham Light Infantry in 1939 but "secured affiliation" with The Black Watch in 1940. After exemplary service in Western Europe in WWII they became an artillery regiment in 1947.

Wiki says the 70th Infantry Brigade, in which that Battalion served, was disbanded in August 1944.