Active 1 August 2006– Branch British Army Role Light Role | Allegiance United Kingdom Type Infantry Part of 38th (Irish) Brigade | |
The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 SCOTS) is a light role infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
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The battalion formed on 1 August 2006 when its antecedent regiments - the Royal Scots and the Kings Own Scottish Borderers - amalgamated as part of the formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The battalion was based at Dreghorn Barracks in Edinburgh until August 2014 when it was moved to Palace Barracks in Holywood, Northern Ireland.
A written statement in December 2016 stated that it will be a Specialised Infantry battalion, reconfigured to provide an increased contribution to countering terrorism and building stability overseas.
History
When the Scottish infantry regiments amalgamated to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland on 28 March 2006, the Royal Scots Battalion and the King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion initially maintained their identities as separate battalions.
However almost immediately the Ministry of Defence moved to amalgamate the two battalions. This was not a new idea: the origins of the combined entity, Royal Scots Borderers, dates from the 1990 Options for Change review, when it was initially announced that the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers would amalgamate. That amalgamation was subsequently rescinded. The Royal Scots Battalion and King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion duly amalgamated on 1 August 2006 – upon their amalgamation, the new battalion took the name The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Since the amalgamation, the battalion has been deployed several times both to Iraq on Operation TELIC and to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK., most recently to Afghanistan in September 2012 on HERRICK 17 as the Brigade Advisory Group and Operations Company. In September 2014, B Company deployed to Sierra Leone on Operation GRITROCK to help fight the outbreak of Ebola and in September 2015, the 1 SCOTS Battlegroup deployed on Operation TOSCA to Cyprus as part of the ongoing UN peacekeeping operations.
Uniform and traditions
The battalion wears a flat black hackle behind the Royal Regiment of Scotland cap badge on the TOS (Tam o' Shanter) to distinguish itself as the Royal Scots Borderers. It recruits its soldiers from Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh, the Lothians, Borders and parts of Lanarkshire, which was traditionally the recruiting ground of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) until they were disbanded in 1968. The battalion home headquarters and museums are based at Edinburgh Castle for the Royal Scots and Berwick for the King's Own Scottish Borderers. A Company of 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland maintains an affiliation to the 1st Battalion.