Annals of the 12TH CAMERONIANS in WWII
The 12th Battalion The Cameronians was formed at Lanark Racecourse on the 29th May, 1940. It was composed of details of a highland Light Infantry Holding Battalion at Dumbarton, a direct intake of recruits and of details left behind by the 6th and 7th Cameronians when they proceeded to France.
At first the Battalion was known as the 50th Cameronians, but the desgination was soon changed to 12th.
Under the command of Lieut.-Colonel (later Colonel) A. T. Coltart, M.C., the Battalion trained at Lanark until October 1940, then it moved to Lossiemouth. There it remained until February 194l with the operational role of counter-attack on Lossiemouth and Kinloss airfields.
In February 1941 the Battalion moved to Caithness and joined the 227th Independent Infantry Brigade, then forming for the defence of Caithness – as part of the Orkney and Shetland defences.
Brigade training for this operational role continued for the next fifteen months.
The Battalion was completely mechanised and supplied with weapons and other equipment on a comparatively lavish scale.
In February 1942 Lieut,-Colonel Coltart vacated command on promotion and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel (later Colonel) H. P. Mackley.
In May 1942 the Battalion left the 227th Brigade and went to the Faroe Isles for a year.
In May 1943 it was withdrawn to Dorchester in Southern England where it was disbanded.
This was a great disappointment to all ranks, who had trained together with the greatest keenness, gaining a high reputation for smartness and efficiency – especially among junior leaders. It was unfortunate that, at a time when some reduction in the number of Infantry Battalions was necessary, the 12th was an Independent Battalion and not part of any Field Formation.
Formation.
On disbandment some of the personnel found ” homes” in other Cameronian Battalions ; but about 400 were drafted to Battalions of other Regiments in Italy – where they suffered heavy casualties.
Barclay Chapter 4, p 58 &59.
Eric Linklater
The nearest are the Orkneys, squat and prosperous, divided by the swollen tides of the Pentland Firth; then the Shetlands, long dark and narrow, poor and picturesque, bearing good sailors and small brown sheep; lastly far out to the north-west, the wild, abruptly rising, cloud-hung Faeroes (sic), breeding also sheep and sailors, as if in her extremity nature could rear only what was born with a good coat or a bold heart.”