Known as Régiment de Douglas (qv) 1635-1677
Commanding Officers:
The Royal Scots, the oldest Infantry Regiment
of the Line in the British Army, was formed in 1633 when Sir John Hepburn
under a Royal Warrant granted by King Charles I, raised a body of men in
Scotland for service in France. By 1635 he commanded a force of over
8,000, including many who had fought as mercenaries in the "Green
Brigade" for King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. It was by virtue of
the Royal Warrant that the entire Regiment was considered as British; a
regular force in a standing Army that could be recalled to Britain at
will. And in 1661, the Regiment was summoned to Britain to bridge the gap
between the disbandment of the New Model Army and the creation of a
Regular Army, organized along the same lines as the British units in
Foreign Service. The Regiment was thus the model for all others.
Since these early days the Regiment has served in many
theatres all over the world and fought in many campaigns from Tangier to
The War of Spanish Succession, The Napoleonic Wars and The Peninsular War
to name but a few.
More recently the Regiment has seen conflict in both
World Wars, the Gulf War 1991 and action in Northern Ireland with
operational tours in Bosnia and Iraq.
Our main role is as a Light Role Infantry Battalion specialising in the
fields of jungle and mountainous warfare. This encompasses many infantry
skills, so the oppotunities open to young men willing to join The Royal
Scots is endless. With the best training anywhere in the world The Royal
Scots offers an exciting and rewarding career.
For the future (2005) structure, see Royal
Regiment of Scotland
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