The Highland Subaltern

[neloon]

My father's uncles who served in kilted regiments during the Great War used to talk of the advantages of the kilt in trench warfare.

As I mentioned above, my father was in the Gordons in WW1. At Cambrai in 1917, the Seaforths gave way and the Germans got behind the British line. Nothing for it but to run off down the trench. But on one side was a machine gunner on the other a flammerwerfer (flame thrower) - my father got the flammerwerfer. He was able to keep running, whipping off his blazing kilt. (No "short drawers" as stated in the OP video.) He was in hospital for a year, lying in a water bath until the burns healed - no antibiotics in those days. So the kilt had its good points - if he had been wearing breeks, I would not be here to tell you about it!

Alan

[Troglodyte]

Yes, the sawing of the selvedge at the back of the legs has long been a problem - a young Queen Victoria is recorded as being concerned about the raw skin at the back of the legs of a body of Highlanders she was reviewing, and requested measures were taken.

Kilted soldiers were particularly vulnerable to gas attacks also - the gas burning any bare skin. One solution was to issue the men with women's silk bloomers, which was taken by the men in a way that can be easily imagined!

For anyone unfamiliar with the book, I can reccommend 'Last Man Standing' by Norman Collins which are the memoirs of a Seaforth Highlander. A fascinating account of Collins' memories, his personal diaries and his own photographs that preserve in detail day-to-day life of a Highlander in the Great War. He ran away from home to join-up, and lived to be more than 100 years old.

I understand that British troops going up the line would usually do so quietly and unobtrusively, but I remember as a young boy being told by one of my father's uncles of his battalion forming up behind the pipes and drums, and goning in whilst making a din. Their intention was to let the Germans opposite know exactly who were facing them.

Sadly, my father and his uncles are no longer living, and they served in different regiments, including the Seaforths, but I have a vague idea the noisy ones may have been the London Scottish. Has anyone elso heard of such..?

[ThistleDown]

Yes, the sawing of the selvedge at the back of the legs has long been a problem

I've no experience in warfare conditions, obviously, but our problem, as children, was at the top of the knee cap, where the wet edge made frequent contact with the skin.

[Recon1342]

I've no experience in warfare conditions, obviously, but our problem, as children, was at the top of the knee cap, where the wet edge made frequent contact with the skin.

Modern fabrics have done wonders for the lowly, foot-slogging infantryman. That being said, soaking wet or knee deep in mud is miserable no matter what new wonder fabric your uniform is made of. In the summer of 2004, I was in the lovely little hamlet of Fallujah, Iraq. I’d have beaten someone black and blue to wear a kilt. 120*F is too hot for trousers…

[jf42]

Modern fabrics have done wonders for the lowly, foot-slogging infantryman. That being said, soaking wet or knee deep in mud is miserable no matter what new wonder fabric your uniform is made of. In the summer of 2004, I was in the lovely little hamlet of Fallujah, Iraq. I’d have beaten someone black and blue to wear a kilt. 120*F is too hot for trousers…

120*F is too hot for anything