Major (Commissioned Cliff Leader), Lovat Scouts
Originally, the Lovat Scouts were not formed to specifically fulfil the mountain warfare aspect of British Military requirements, but it was a role to which they found themselves very-well suited to in the latter stages of the Second World War. Initially, Mountain Warfare was a role only carried out by selected personnel of the Royal Marines (who had maintained this capability since they retook Gibraltar in 1704). The Lovat Scouts were formed in 1901 during the Boer War by the 14th Lord Lovat (father to "Shimi" Lovat, the 15th Lord Lovat; and uncle to David Stirling, the founder of the Special Air Service). The Lovat Scouts were to gain all their battle honours during the First World War, when there were at least four regiments of Lovat Scouts. Following the Armistice of November 1918 and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles, the Lovat Scouts were reduced to a single regiment, and then reduced further to a single battalion, and became a Yeomanry unit. During the inter-war period, authorisation was granted for a second battalion of Lovat Scouts to be raised, and this was done, with both battalions being combat-ready by the outbreak of the Second World War. Not involved with either the Battle of France or in the Norwegian Campaign, both battalions were sent to the Faroes Islands for Invasion Defence duties, and they would stay there for a period of two years before returning to Scotland.
In September 1943, it was decided that the Lovat Scouts should be trained in Winter & Mountain Warfare Combat Tactics with the Commandos, in order for them to act as an advanced party for the 52nd (Lowland) Division, which had been trained for Mountain Warfare in preparation for a proposed Allied Invasion of Norway, that was planned to take place in 1944. This training started in the Scottish Highlands at the Commando Snow and Mountain Warfare Training Centre (CSMWTC), which after a period of six months, had moved to the Mountainous area of Snowdonia in North West Wales. After assessing their skills and capabilities at the CSMWTC, it was decided that the Lovat Scouts would be intensively trained in advanced warfare tactics to enable them to carry out a role that would now be referred to as Mountain Leaders, a role that the Royal Marines still carry out with pride.
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In early December 1943, the Lovat Scouts boarded RMS Mauretania, and headed to New York. The journey took 11 days, and went without incident. They arrived at Grand Central Station and then travelled by train over a period of five days to the Jasper National Park, Alberta in Canada. The training started with basic ski training, with the emphasis on cross country work with the type of load that would have to be carried in action e.g. sleeping bag, rations for two or more days, and a rifle. This was followed by survival instruction—what to do and what not to do to exist and function in very cold conditions e.g. by digging snow holes in which to sleep, or erecting simple shelters from the virgin pine and spruce forests. After this stage, there was instruction and practice in ascents on snow and ice, use of ice axe, crampons etc.
Typically, men would spend three or four weeks at a mountain base, in the vicinity of Mount Edith Cavell, or in the Tonquin Valley — all within the 4200 square miles of Jasper National Park. In that time, squadrons would practice their survival work in expeditions usually lasting about two or three days at a time, with the men sleeping in snow holes (see above left). For the remainder of the time, they were billeted in canvas marquees, each accommodating about 25 men, with a large wood-burning stove in the middle that was kept on night and day with logs sawn from the fallen or naturally dead trees in the area.
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At the end of the three or four weeks on Mount Edith Cavell or in the Tonquin Valley, the men would come down for a few days' rest and recreation in the chalets in Jasper, Alberta. Alberta was then a "dry" province, so there was no alcohol. When a few days' leave was given, most made the 500-mile journey to Vancouver or Halifax, Nova Scotia or Windsor, Ontario, where they were entertained by the many Scottish expatriates, or their descendants, who were able to get limitless supplies of liquor from over the U.S. border.
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The Lovat Scouts were taught to survive in mountain areas so swiftly that they progressed to the snow covered peaks quickly. However, this also led to some close scrapes and a few tragedies. The closer they got to the permanent snow cap areas, the higher the risk of avalanches became. One infamous incident saw four members of a "Sharpshooter" team being observed to be "swimming" through the snow, with their rifles slung across their backs. There were also instances were members of the regiment were buried under the snow, which led to a number of fatalities, but also led to a number of instances of the Lovat Scouts using their entrenching tools to dig themselves out of avalanches. To signify those who were at a grade of what would be considered "Mountain Leaders" (then known as Climb Leaders, and later Cliff Leaders), an insignia based on that used by the Royal Marines was introduced, grading from 3rd class to 1st class, with the previous grade awarded required to have been awarded for a chance to having the award upgraded to the next grade. Those who were awarded 1st class awards were used for instructing purposes, and generally relegated to non-combatant roles, enabling them to focus on the training of new recruits at the Commando Snow and Mountain Warfare Training Centre, by that time located in Snowdonia, although there were the occasions where the personnel in question requested to be placed in a combat command, stating that "we've trained the men, we know the men and they know us, so we should be permitted to go into combat with them". Naturally, there was no officer who would find fault with this, and permission would be given for combat duties. The Lovat Scouts featured in a few sections of the info-film "Ordeal by Ice", where they can be seen not only skiing, but climbing glaciers, casualty evacuation and a number of clips with specialist armoured vehicles. Although the info-film states that the training was during the winter of 1944/45, the main group of the Lovat Scouts had gone through some time previous to this date, and those featured in this film are highly likely those who were being trained as replacements.
By late April 1944, spring (and warmer weather) was well on the way, and the regiment embarked by train for a journey to Halifax for the start of their scheduled return to the UK. Their intended date of embarkation was delayed however, when some of the regiment fell ill with scarlet fever. In spite of this temporary setback, training continued with work on river crossings (whether or not the individual soldiers could swim) and route marches. Members of the regiment who were unable to swim were quickly taught, and this by no means probably saved the lives of many personnel when the regiment were deployed to Italy a few months later. Eventually, and once the Scarlet Fever outbreak had been overcome and dealt with, the regiment embarked on the converted liner RMS Andes on convoy, which had an uneventful crossing. Due to the Scarlet Fever outbreak delaying their departure from Halifax, the regiment were mid-Atlantic on 6th June, the day of the Normandy landings, meaning that they missed the chance to join in the D-Day landings. This meant that the Lovat Scouts were to head to the UK to await further orders. On arrival at Liverpool, the regiment entrained for Aberdeen Kittybrewster railway station, where it spent about three weeks, including spells of home leave (some of the better Senior Climb Leaders and almost all the Climb Lead Instructors were sent to Snowdonia or to the North of Scotland to act as Mountain Rescue Teams). By this time, the proposed Allied Invasion of Norway had been cancelled, and the 52nd (Lowland) Division were converted to a glider-borne unit.
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As a consequence of its training in Jasper, the Scouts was sent to Italy, arriving in Naples in July 1944, to take their part in the relatively fluid situation following the fall of Monte Cassino. It was decided that Italy would be the better choice of combat area for the Lovat Scouts, as Italy would at least offer them the chance to put their specialist training into practice. In the event, they seldom had the opportunity to do so, but the British High Command couldn't risk facing more criticism over training units for roles that the units would never be asked carried out in a combat environment (the main victim of this was the 52nd (Lowland) Division). As part of, successively, the 10th Indian Infantry Division, Polish 2nd Corps, and latterly the recently arrived Jewish Brigade, the regiment took part in the remainder of the Italian campaign, up until the German surrender, which came into effect on 4th May 1945. The total losses were 50 men, mostly to mines on the mountainous passes. However, the Lovat Scouts mastery of marksmanship led to a large number of enemy casualties. The level of marksmanship spread from the standard riflemen all the way up to those who were assigned to the support weapons (Bren Guns, Vickers Heavy Machine Guns, mortars, PIATs, 25pdr Guns). There were numerous reports of Lovat Scouts Mortar Crews (manning the British 3" mortar) achieving first round bullseye hits on German defensive positions during the fighting around Venice.
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The Lovat Scouts that didn't make the journey to Italy stayed in the UK to continue their work alongside the RAF Mountain Rescue Teams (who had only been established in 1943 themselves) with their primary role of search and rescue of crashed aircrew, in addition to assisting the instructors at the Commando Mountain and Winter Warfare Training Centre.
That's not all...
As a result of the Mountain Warfare Training alongside the Commandos, some of the Lovat Scouts elected to join the commandos, and were attached to No4 Commando in the run-up to D-Day, and were very happy to serve under their Clan Chief, Lord “Shimi” Lovat (see below), who, according to Winston Churchill “was the most handsome man to have ever slit a throat”. D-Day saw what was perhaps the most famous exchange of words between members of the Lovat Scouts. This was between “Shimi” Lovat and his personal piper, Bill Millin. As the landing craft in which they were in approached Sword beach, “Shimi” Lovat turned to Millin and said,
“Millin, prepare to pipe us ashore.”
Millin remembered that all pipers has received a directive from the War Office stating that they were forbidden from piping a unit ashore.
“But sir, the War Office has directed that we are not allowed to pipe ashore”
On hearing this, “Shimi” Lovat was furious. He turned to Millin and declared,
“That is the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, so that rule doesn’t apply!”
As a result, Millin piped the Commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade ashore, much to the astonishment of the Germans defending the beach, who were so stunned by this, they ceased firing at the commandos momentarily. This allowed some commandos to sneak up on the German pillboxes and other defensive positions and destroyed them with a mix of Satchel Charges, PIAT guns, Hand Grenades and close quarters combat. Millin continued piping at the head of the commandos as they advanced inland, eventually linking up with the Officers and Men of 7th Battalion, Parachute Regiment and D Company, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry who had seized the bridge earlier that evening. Based on the timings agreed in England prior to D-Day, the Commandos and Lovat Scouts had linked up with the Airborne Forces a mere 2½ minutes late, a fact stated by several veterans after the war, both Airborne and Commandos, with one, who was a Commando serving under Lord Lovat, saying in an interview with the BBC:
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"We landed on Sword beach, and shortly after, we moved inland. When we got to the bridges that the paras had taken during the night, Lord Lovat said to Major Howard, "Sorry we're late chaps". I looked at my watch, and by my reckoning, we were about two minutes late. Now, when you consider that those timings were made in England before we landed, not knowing what sort of resistance we would come across, the fact we were about two minutes late, I thought were quite remarkable."
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Notable members of the Lovat Scouts:
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Simon Fraser, the 15th Lord Lovat DSO, MC
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Bill Millin
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James Campbell
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John MacDonald
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George Fraser MM
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James Mellis MiD
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Addie MacKenzie
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Frank Henderson
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* Davison - an instructor at CBTC Achnacarry
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* Martin - sniper instructor
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* - first name not known
