Fighters who rode into the history books

Published on Wednesday 8 May 2002 01:00

IT was an era of war. King George III was on the throne, Nelson was at sea and Wellington was leading British armies against the French and Napoleon.

Fear gripped the nation that France’s Republicans would soon be marching on England. Holland, Spain, Austria and Prussia were all defeated - British regiments were the last of the European coalition forces left fighting the Emperor’s expansionist plans and his army of one million men.

Even in Edinburgh, a city which had previously had good relations with France thanks to the Auld Alliance, there was worry about the onward march of Napoleon.

Spurred to help, Sir Walter Scott, poet and author, took action. Together with friends, including Lord Ancram, and amid much pomp and ceremony, he formed The Royal Edinburgh Volunteer Light Dragoons and took on the roles of Quartermaster, Paymaster and Secretary.

Now 205 years and countless name changes later, the service of the regiment started by Scott, which came to be known as the Lothians & Border Horse Yeomanry, is finally being recognised.

A photographic exhibition on the history of the regiment - organised by the Lothians & Border Horse Association and The One O’clock Gun Association - opened at the Central Library yesterday, and there are growing demands for a more permanent monument.

Military historian John Thomson, who has been involved in staging the exhibition, says: "This is so important. Not many people know about the Lothians & Borders Horse and they could be forgotten about. Its veterans are getting old and that’s why something has to be done now.

"This is the first time we’ve had a public exhibition. The memorabilia is normally kept in the Cavalry Barracks in Colinton. In the early days when it was first set up, the soldiers were mostly landed gentry who had to be wealthy enough to keep their own horses. Their troopers tended to be their employees. It was a cheap means of getting defence. They only served in their area. They didn’t go abroad."

They might not have gone to foreign fields initially - or even had to face the invasion force they were established to repel - but Sir Walter Scott’s men certainly looked the part.

Consisting of 2000 armed and disciplined volunteers - including cavalry and two corps of artillery, each capable of serving twelve guns - they practised drill in the Botanic Garden while the cavalry trained at the Royal Riding Academy in Nicolson Street.

They were decked out in a 22 uniform of "peacock splendour", with scarlet coat, blue collar and cuffs, silver breeches, black boots ("fiercely spurred") and a helmet crested with leopard skin and a red and white hackle.

Three years later and the regiment faced the first amalgamation of many, merging with the Midlothian Yeomanry Cavalry. A century later it merged again, this time with the East Lothian & Berwickshire Yeomanry Cavalry and, under its new name of Lothians & Border Horse, the regiment saw action in the Boer War.

Then came the First World War and the regiment was called upon again. This time the corps consisted of three squadrons. B squadron served on the Western Front, eventually being absorbed into the 17th Royal Scots, while A and D squadrons served first in France and later in Macedonia. The regiment won battle honours for its bravery in France and Flanders, Macedonia and Doiran.

By 1939 the regiment’s horses had been replaced by armoured cars. And when the Second World War began, Lothians & Border Horse expanded to two regiments, with its soldiers serving as part of the British Army’s armoured divisions. The 1st regiment served in France until St Valery, after which it was

re-formed and served in the north-west Europe campaign until the end of the war.

Meanwhile, the 2nd regiment was fighting in North Africa and Italy, equipped with Sherman tanks. One of those soldiers was George Turnbull, sergeant tank commander of C Squadron.

Now 81, George, who lives in Juniper Green, laughs as he recalls: "I joined in early 1939. You could go to camp and I wanted a holiday."

Turnbull ended up fighting at the Battle of Kasserine Gap and Thala in February 1943. He says at that time the strength of the squadron was just seven old-fashioned Valentine tanks and four Crusader tanks which were expected to halt the might of Rommel’s Panzers.

"The tanks weren’t up to the job and mine was blown up. I managed to get out before it went on fire. Eight of us managed to escape. We hid until night and then went to an Arab village where they looked after us well, giving us food and shelter," he says.

"We had to hide the next day and then, come that night, we were told to walk towards a star for four hours and that would take us into another village.

"Amazingly, that’s exactly what we did and we arrived. But when we got there, the Arabs refused to help us. In the end, I pointed my revolver at one and that certainly kept him quiet."

He adds: "Three of our men were injured and their injuries were getting worse, so they walked into enemy lines to give themselves up. The rest of us got back to the regiment after three days. When we reached them we had to bury a number of our people.

"It was a sad, sad day. But you couldn’t let yourself think about the people you lost. You had to get on with the job."

On May 13, 1944, he fought at Cassino. When they went on to Perugia, several men, including George, were wounded by German shells. He says: "I lost half my stomach. I woke up in a nunnery. I can’t really think of a better place and I was very well looked after."

Such was the regiment’s bravery that one military observer wrote: "At Perugia, the 2nd Lothians had their first real rest since the beginning of the battle.

"Many of their number had been left behind in wayside graves on the long, lonely road from Cassino, a burnt-out tank beside them as a memorial to their last sacrifice. Those tanks which have come through are pitted with the marks of shell and small arms fire, and the mud and dust of 200 miles still clings to them.

"The crews themselves have made the longest advance yet carried out in this war by British armour in Europe, and will press on until the enemy is finally driven out of Italy. Their spirit is magnificent, their native humour undimmed. Scotland should feel proud of them, as they are of Scotland."

George adds: "I was an invalid there for six months and was then sent home to Edinburgh."

However, George says he has many happy memories of his time serving with the Lothians & Border Horse and believes the name of the regiment should be commemorated somewhere in the city where it was born.

"We had many good times as well as bad. There was a strong camaraderie between the boys. I remember we ran a donkey derby in Africa and the whole regiment came. We got donkeys from the Arabs and got some bookies and raised quite a sum of money for the invalids. Thankfully, I was never captured during my time - I made sure my tank was fast in reverse!

"But what the men of the regiment did in my time and before should be remembered. People shouldn’t forget that many gave their lives."

George Robinson, of the One O’clock Gun Association, agrees. "We’re trying to get a permanent exhibition so these men can be remembered forever," he says.

"The men fought for their country but history has forgotten about them. We’re hoping to redress that starting with this exhibition."

The Lothians & Border Horse exhibition is at Central Library, George IV Bridge, and runs for five weeks.

The 200-year legacy of Scott’s Light Dragoons

1797: Sir Walter Scott forms the Royal Edinburgh Volunteer Light Dragoons. The Duke of Buccleuch forms the East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry.

1800: Dragoons merge with the Midlothian Yeomanry Cavalry, becomes the Royal Midlothian Yeomanry Cavalry.

1838: Both Yeomanry regiments are disbanded.

1846: East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry reformed.

1848: Royal Midlothian Yeomanry Cavalry reformed. East Lothian Yeomanry raises a third troop in Berwickshire.

1872: Royal Midlothian Yeomanry Cavalry disbanded again. Seven years later, it reforms again - but this time it amalgamates with the East Lothian & Berwickshire Yeomanry Cavalry.

1908: Regiment changes name again to become Lothians & Border Horse.

1921: Regiment’s horses replaced by armoured cars.

1939: Expanded to form 1st and 2nd Lothians & Border Horse Yeomanry.

1947: Both regiments amalgamate.

1956: Queen’s Own Lowland Yeomanry formed when the amalgamated Lothians & Border Horse Yeomanry merges with the Queen’s Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry and the Lanarkshire Yeomanry.

1967: Queen’s Own Lowland Yeomanry disbanded.

1992: Resurrected as the Scottish Yeomanry, a reconnaissance unit. The regiment’s HQ Squadron becomes the Lothians & Border Horse Squadron based at Inchdrewer House, Colinton.

1999: The Scottish Yeomanry disbanded due to defence cuts.