A nice white on red embroided Royal Scots paste i.e gleu back shoulder title

This is a good example of a nice white on red embroided Royal Scots paste i.e gleu back shoulder title. At the start of World War II, the 1st Battalion embarked for France as part of the BEF. They fought hard and stubbornly throughout the retreat which, for most of the BEF, was to end at Dunkirk. However, for the 1st Battalion, forming part of a perimeter defence for the beaches and after a desperate defence across the Bethune-Merville road, at Le Paradis, where they suffered appalling losses, many were taken prisoner and very few escaped home. The 2nd Battalion, based in Hong Kong, saw action when the Japanese attacked in December 1941. Here too, The Royal Scots fought heroically but the result was inevitable and the whole Battalion had been killed, wounded or become POW’s by the time of the surrender of the Colony on Christmas Day 1941. The 1st Battalion was reconstituted after Dunkirk and took part in the Arakan campaign in Burma in 1943 and the Battle of Kohima in 1944. A new 2nd Battalion (originally the 12th) was formed in May 1942 and served in Italy and Palestine whilst the 7th/9th and 8th fought in Europe after D-Day. During WorId War II, the posthumous award of the George Cross to Capt Douglas Ford, for his actions whilst a POW in Hong Kong, was a unique distinction within the Regiment. Approximatly 10,000 served as Royal Scots in the War. Fortunately the numbers killed or died in WW2 at a total of 1241 were a fraction of those in WW1. Of these 243 were from 2RS who died or were killed (murdered) as POW’s of the Japanese or on the Lisbon Maru after the loss of Hong Kong. There were, of course, 15 Service Battalions in WW1 against only 4 in WW2 (or 6 if the reconstituted 1 and 2 RS are included). Thankfully tactics were very different and medical services available to the wounded, in particular the speed of evacuation, considerably more sophisticated. The Regiment was awarded 39 Battle Honours for WW2. This example is in a perfect un-issued condition.

Code: 51331