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In 1899 Lord Lovat decided that with the skill of the Highlanders at stalking, shooting and spying, he could defeat the Boers at their own game and so after applying to the Ministry of War Lord Lovat was granted permission to raise two companies of scouts for service in South Africa.
Recruiting from the stalkers, ghillies and shepherds from the northern Highlands of Scotland and he then assembled at Beaufort Castle in 1900 January and formed two companies. They were named Lovat Scouts and were intended, as the name suggests, scouting out and supplying vital intelligence information about the Boers, whose tactics made them an often unseen and deadly foe. The first company was mounted on Highland ponies while the second was a foot contingent. On seeing service in South Africa as part of the Highland Division, they soon put their stalking skills to great use. With the use of spyglasses, Heliograph and Semaphore they soon greatly improved the intelligence capability of the Division so much that Lord Lovat on his return to Inverness was allowed to raise a second contingent of Scouts.
So 6th August 1901 saw the raising of 113th Company (Lovat Scouts) Imperial Yeomanry & 114th Company (Lovat Scouts) Imperial Yeomanry as independent companies in Scotland, for the Second Contingent. Moving quickly to serve in South Africa and suffering a high number of casualties and Third contingent was needed so in December 1901 the 178th Company (Lovat Scouts) replaced 113th and 114th Companies in a Third Contingent.
By August 1902 they returned home and were disbanded in Scotland in the peace after the South African War.
Lord Lovat was again allowed to raise the Lovat Scouts as Yeomanry and on the 3 Jan 1903 re-formed them as two Yeomanry Regiments: 1st Lovat's Scouts Imperial Yeomanry and 2nd Lovat's Scouts Imperial Yeomanry each of 500 men who were trained in the role of mounted infantry.
1908 January 4th transferred to Territorial Force with HQ at Beauly,
1st Lovat's Scouts
HQ- Beauly
A Squadron at Roy Bridge
B Squadron at Lochmaddy North Uist
C Squadron at Skeabost (Skye)
D Squadron at Beauly
In the Highland Mounted Brigade.
2nd Lovat's Scouts
Headquarters - Beauly
E Squadron at Kyle of Lochalsh
F Squadron at Dornoch
G Squadron at Alness
H Squadron at Inverness
In 1908 lord Lovat went on to command the Highland Mounted Brigade until 1915 when the First World War took him on to other things. At the outbreak of the WW1 both regiments were still part of the Highland Mounted Brigade and moved to Grimsby to take over the defence of the coastline from Sutton-on-sea to Skegness.
The 1st and 2nd were dismounted in September 1915 both moved to Gallipoli, landing on 26 September 1915 and becoming attached to the 2nd Mounted Division.
They were then both evacuated from Gallipoli in December 1915 arriving in Egypt in February 1916. Also in 1916 Lord Lovat formed the Lovat Scouts (Sharpshooters) who were so successful that there were plans to provide Lovat Scout Observer Units to every Division in the British Army. This unit had no equal in the world in providing intelligence gathering in close observation of the enemy.
At this time the Mounted Brigade was absorbed into the 2nd Dismounted Brigade in the Western Frontier Force.
The 1st and 2nd Lovat Scouts with a company from 1/3rd Scottish Horse on 27 September 1916 formed the 10th (Lovat's Scouts) Battalion, the Cameron Highlanders. This unit moved with its Division to Salonika in October 1916 and joined 27th Division. From 1916 - 1918 they served very successfully in Macedonia proving again their skill in observation, fieldcraft and sniping.
In June 1918 they finally left the Division and moved to France, becoming Lines of Communication Troops for Territorial Force.
After The Great War on 2 Jul 1920 the Lovat Scouts were reconstituted in the T.A. with an HQ at Inverness as 1st and 2nd Lovat Scouts Yeomanry.
With their training returning to scouting in late 1920 they were with one pony for every fourth man and the remainder as cyclists. They were quickly reduced to one regiment in August 1922:
A Squadron in Inverness-shire
B Squadron in The Islands
C Squadron in Sutherland, Ross-shire and Caithness
In 1939 the Lovat Scouts were again mobilized to provide “Mounted Scouts” for reconnaissance and close protection. The Regiment formed part of the 9th (Highland) Division until 1940 when they joined the Mounted Cavalry Division in Nottinghamshire. They then sailed to the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic to protect that island from an expected German invasion. They returned to Scotland in 1942 and shortly thereafter began training as a Mountain Reconnaissance Regiment s His initial infantry induction took place in Fort George, and was carried out by the training staff of the Cameron Highlanders. In December 1944 skiing was moved to Alberta, Canada, for a further five months, before the Regiment returned to Aberdeen for a well earned leave. In 1943 they landed in Naples and carried out many successful behind the lines patrols and continued in this campaign until the cease fire was announced in 1945.
The role of the Lovat Scouts in this theatre of war cannot be fully calculated, but their value to the 8th Army was immense.
In 1945 they moved to Greece where they carried out a peace keeping role in allowing free elections to take place and the handover of weapons from the resistance movements. The annual meetings stopped in the mid 50s.
In March 1947 the Lovat Scouts were reconstituted in T.A. at Inverness and transferred to Royal Armoured Corps becoming ‘C’ (Lovat Scouts) Squadron, Scottish Horse.
In October 1956 The Scottish Horse and The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry amalgamated and the Lovat Scouts were reduced to Troop strength.
Today they are still Troop strength but now mounted on Armoured Vehicles and represented by the Lovat Scout Troop of ‘C’ (Fife and Forfar/Scottish Horse) Squadron of The Queen’s Own Yeomanry. Their OC still wears the traditional Scout’s spyglass on his Service Dress today as a visible reminder of over 100 years of Scouting.
In January 1949 a detachment of C (Lovat Scouts) Squadron, Scottish Horse was also tasked to raise an Artillery Regiment for use in difficult terrain. Once again the Scouts skills on the hills were called for and 677th Mountain Regiment, Royal Artillery (Lovat Scouts) was formed. With an artillery battery at Uist, mounted on pack ponies and a battery in Inverness-shire, Ross-shire and Sutherland, mounted in jeeps. Their successor is the Lovat Scouts Platoon of C (Highlanders) Company, 51st Highland Regiment reduced based at Kirkwall and Lerwick
The Lovat Scout War Memorial
Located in Beauly in Inverness-shire and erected in the 1900s to commemorate those lost in the Boer War. This was paid for by funds raised by the local community, and has recently been restored to its former glory.
Battle Honours Index of Battle Honours
South Africa 1900-02, The Great War: France and Flanders 1916-18, Macedonia 1916-18, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1915-16
Uniform:
Initially: khaki
Facings: blue
Tartan: Hunting Fraser
Headdress: slouch hat with blue plume (1903) and Balmoral bonnet)
Associated Regular Regiments:
Dragoons 1908-1947
Honorary Colonels of Royal Colonels
Honorary Colonel:
1900-1913 vacant
1913.06.04 Col. Simon Joseph (Fraser) Lovat, 14th Baron Lovat, KT, KCMG, KCVO, CB, DSO
Colonel Commandant:
1922.01.13 Col. Simon Joseph (Fraser) Lovat, 14th Baron Lovat, KT, KCMG, KCVO, CB, DSO
1933.08.09 Col. A.W. Macdonald, DSO, TD
1938.08.09 Col. D.G. Baillie, CMG, DSO, TD
Honorary Colonel:
1945.08.09 Col. I.M. Campbell, DSO, TD
Motto:
'Je suis prest' (I am ready)
Marches: The Lovat Scouts, by James Scott Skinner
History Books:
Lovat Scouts, by Scottish Military Historical Society.
Lovat Scouts, by Diana M. Henderson (Scots at War) [Internet Archive]
Lovat Scouts Yeomanry, by Philip Clifford.
Lovat Scouts, by George Monaghan.
1st Lovat Scouts, by Chris Baker (The British Army in the Great War).
2nd Lovat Scouts, by Chris Baker (The British Army in the Great War).
Lovat Scouts, by Brad Chappell (The Regimental Warpath 1914-1918)
The Lovat Scouts: World War II, by Eric Walker
Biography and Gallantry Awards:
The Men of the Imperial Yeomanry, Lovat’s Scouts and Scottish Horse in the Boer War of 1899 to 1902, by Kevin Asplin
Lord Lovat's Scouts (No 2 Company) 1901 [roster]
Gordon Llewellyn Griffiths (1888 - 1943), by Philip Clifford.
Museums:
Regimental Museuam of the Fife and Forfar Yeoamnry /Scottish Horse, Cupar, Fife (Army Museums Ogilvy Trust)
Regimental Museum of the Queen's Own Highlanders, Fort George (Army Museums Ogilvy Trust)
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