Where do I find pics of combat soldiers in kilts???

[Brasilikilt]

Hello all

I've been googling for a while with no luck in finding a website which has a decent assortment of period photos of soldiers in the trenches or on the frontlines in their kilts........I seem to recall seeing them all over the place until I actually started looking for them.
I tried "The great war forum" but they aren't registering anyone new, and apparently won't allow unregistered members see their content.
Whatever photos I have been able to find are usually the portrait style photos taken in a studio with a back drop etc etc.
If anyone knows of a place online which has these kinds of photos, especially ones which show their weapons and equipment , I'm all ears!
thanks
Brasilikilt

[macwilkin]

There are a few photos on the Scottish Military Historical Society's web site:

http://www.btinternet.com/~james.mckay/dispatch.htm

About half-way down the page, you'll see a link (No. 5) for "Scottish Military Illustrations. There is a section for 20th century photos.

It's not on the web, but the best printed source for this query is the Osprey book, "Scottish Divisions of the World Wars" by Mike Chappell:

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/titl...=P4695&ser=ELI

Besides the full-colour prints, it is full of pictures from the First World War.

Cheers,

Todd

[Archangel]

You'll be hard pressed to find WW2 pics since they stopped wearing the kilt during Dunkirk. Googling Dunkirk and Camerons will give you some.

There are several good sites based on specific groups.
Camerons, the last to wear the kilt: http://www.eldonspecialties.com/df/camerons/
Liverpool Scottish, go to the trench exhibit: http://www.liverpoolscottish.org.uk/

This is a collection: http://www.gwpda.org/photos/greatwar.htm

Sort of my hobby, anything in particular you're looking for?

Art stores help the imagination but are not photos:

[James]

Look at 'Forgotten Scottish Voices', by Derek Young, Published Tempus.
ISBN: 0 7524 33261

Fascinating stuff about WW1 and some interesting pictures.

A troll through the WW1 books will throw up quite a few pictures of highland troops-dressed as they really were dressed.

Osprey a bit pop, and too many of their illustrations are ideal rather than actual.

Somewhere there is a picture of a kilted officer at Arnhem-and also John Masters makes an amusing reference in his biography about using the kilt of one of his officers as a light shield when in close proximity to the Japanese during the second Chindit expedition. Apparently the officer in question was not entirely happy at matches being lit under his kilt for the inspection of a map!

Whilst Roy Farran whilst serving behind the lines in Italy [SAS] makes mention of a piper being dropped by parachute whilst actually wearing the kilt.

A very real problem with all such research being that whilst army and even regimental regulations might be saying one thing-both individuals and sub units would in both world wars be on occasion doing their own thing.

Back in the 50's I saw members of the A&SH entering an operational theatre kilted, but do not know if they ever wore them on operations.

James

[Archangel]

Look at 'Forgotten Scottish Voices', by Derek Young, Published Tempus.
ISBN: 0 7524 33261

Fascinating stuff about WW1 and some interesting pictures.

A troll through the WW1 books will throw up quite a few pictures of highland troops-dressed as they really were dressed.

Osprey a bit pop, and too many of their illustrations are ideal rather than actual.

Somewhere there is a picture of a kilted officer at Arnhem-and also John Masters makes an amusing reference in his biography about using the kilt of one of his officers as a light shield when in close proximity to the Japanese during the second Chindit expedition. Apparently the officer in question was not entirely happy at matches being lit under his kilt for the inspection of a map!

Whilst Roy Farran whilst serving behind the lines in Italy [SAS] makes mention of a piper being dropped by parachute whilst actually wearing the kilt.

A very real problem with all such research being that whilst army and even regimental regulations might be saying one thing-both individuals and sub units would in both world wars be on occasion doing their own thing.

Back in the 50's I saw members of the A&SH entering an operational theatre kilted, but do not know if they ever wore them on operations.

James

Mad Major Frank Churchill apparently wore his kilt on commando raids. One of the top ranked British officers wore his kilt throughout, (does that count? near the battle is not in the battle.)
The sad legend of Canadians in Hong Kong has it that the Japanese attacked the kilted on washday. They could see the whites on the line and knew it was a relaxed time. I don't know if that's true, can't remember the reference for that, not sure how many were kilted.

[Southern Breeze]

My grandfather served in the army during WWII.I remember seeing two pictures that he had taken of pipers,one was in Sicily,the other was in Holland.If I can find them,I'll post them.He also mentioned in a letter a piper playing at a memorial service near Bastogne.

[macwilkin]

Archangel:

There were no Highland Regiments, Canadian or otherwise, in the fall of Hong Kong -- The Winnepeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada. The 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots were there, but they are a Lowland Regiment, so only their band would have had kilts. There was a Scottish company in the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force (VDF), but I can't find any record of whether they were kilted. There is a reference to them wearing the Gordon tartan on the Scottish Military Historical Society's web site.

James: The Osprey book on the Scottish Divisions in the World Wars is packed with many pictures from both conflicts, not just the plates -- and the author and artist of this paticular volume, Michael Chappell, is a retired RSM with The Wessex Regiment who served 22 years with the British Army home and abroad.

Sir Fitzroy Maclean, who was reportedly the model for James Bond, was once asked if he parachuted into the Balkans with his kilt on -- he was the British liason to Tito's partisans.

Cheers,

Todd

[Brasilikilt]

Thanks for all the links and feedback bros!!

I'm looking into WW1 more than WW2 since the Highland units were pretty much kilted throughout that entire conflict.
I had also checked out some books from the library, and found that the few pics of troops in kilts were few and far between, and most of them were too small to show much detail :-(
A while ago I was moving some stuff around (while kilted) and picked up my bayonetted Mauser bolt-action.
Something hit me while I was there in my kilt, holding the rifle. I could see in my mind's eye with an eerie clarity all those guys my age and younger, cold, wet, covered in mud and probably nervous beyond anything we could comprehend.
In addition to studying their weapons and equipment, you can look at an old photo, see the expressions on their faces, look at where they were and get a vague understanding of how they could cope with their surroundings.
I feel that evertime any of us wear a kilt, we continue the traditions and freedoms that those guys fought and died for.

[Archangel]

Archangel:

There were no Highland Regiments, Canadian or otherwise, in the fall of Hong Kong -- The Winnepeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada. The 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots were there, but they are a Lowland Regiment, so only their band would have had kilts. There was a Scottish company in the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force (VDF), but I can't find any record of whether they were kilted. There is a reference to them wearing the Gordon tartan on the Scottish Military Historical Society's web site.

Cheers,

Todd

No argument here, I presented that story as something I was unsure of. I'm not sure where I picked it up. I should really spend some time researching that tragic episode.
I did find a reference to A&SH in Singapore. Kilts were not mentioned.

[Freelander Sporrano]

I see from the many fine pictures which I thank Archangel pointing the way to that many of the men aren't wearing any sporrans.Is it in the case of the paintings Artistic liecence Was this for reasons other than running or did some simply only wear them for dress purposes