Posted on 08/12/2004 10:05:21 PM PDT by neverdem
A chill ran down the spines of admirers of the British army when they heard that the green-eyeshade lads at the Treasury may be about to do with word processors what generations of Frenchmen, Americans, Indians, Burmese, Egyptians, Afrikaners, Germans, Japanese, Chinese and the IRA couldn't do with bullet, bayonet, shell, sword and bomb: wipe out the Black Watch. That Scottish regiment, once the 42nd of Foot, has served Britain with extraordinary valor for 2 1/2 centuries. Some of its story belongs to Americans as well: At Fort Ticonderoga in northern New York stands a small cairn with a shiny plaque commemorating the day in 1758 when the regiment lost more than half its strength in a pitched battle of the great war for empire, which in turn set the conditions for American independence 20 years later.
Something more substantial than sentiment, though, should cause Americans to note with alarm the swinging of a Treasury ax at the roots of the British military establishment. Some 20,000 military and civilian jobs will go, and with them four infantry battalions (out of 40), three Royal Air Force squadrons and a dozen surface warships. Of these losses, the one most troubling to Americans should be the cuts to an army that, at 102,000 men and women, will number half what it did in 1980.
To be sure, as always when politicians cut end strength, the talk will be of far greater capability with fewer personnel, of network-enabled this and information-dominant that. Some of the jargon (borrowed from us) may even be true. But the hard fact remains that the British government, squeezed by the costs of its social welfare state and dominated by a Treasury that has little use for the armed forces, is cutting its military in wartime, and when its ...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
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Eliminating the "Black Watch"? Pure madness. The anti-warriors in the bureaucracy are probably partying with joy over the idea of getting rid of this most historic unit.
The UK already had their military cut too deeply. This is a very sad thing.
Special Meeting on Black Watch Future
11/08/2004 10:45
http://northtonight.grampiantv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=4518
Perth and Kinross Council will later discuss support for the campaign to safeguard the Black Watch.
Councillors will return early from their summer recess to attend today's special meeting to consider the regiment's future under defence cuts.
It's expected there'll be cross-party backing for a formal letter to be sent to Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, and Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram.
....wait till Connor/Duncan MacLeod hears about this...no more Scottish Units, They must raise their own. :)
DON'T LET POLITICIANS BETRAY BLACK WATCH
Jul 23 2004
BY WAR VETERAN ALFRED AGED 108
By Natalie Walker
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=14453295&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=don-t-let-politicians-betray-black-watch-name_page.html
SCOTLAND'S oldest soldier has backed the Record's campaign to save the Black Watch.
Alfred Anderson yesterday said he believed every Scot should fight to save his former regiment.
The World War I veteran, who celebrated his 108th birthday last month with a card from the Queen, said he felt 'betrayed' when he heard the Black Watch was set to be scrapped.
Alfred, of Alyth, Perthshire, said: 'It's just unthinkable for any government to think about getting rid of a regiment of this calibre.
'I was very sad and felt betrayed when I heard the news.
'The Black Watch is known and respected around the world and everyone who serves in it serves with pride.
'It's one of the oldest established regiments anywhere and this is notime for it to go.
'The world is a changed place now. We are under new threats and if anything we need more regiments like the Black Watch, not less.'
'It's excellent that the Daily Record is fighting this move.
'Every Scot should fight this and try to stop this happening.'
The regiment has emerged as the most likely to be scrapped following sweeping defence cuts announced this week.
Alfred, who is the oldest man in Scotland,was only18when with he was sent to France in 1915 with the 5th Battalion of the Black Watch.
He served a brief term as batman to the late Queen Mother's brother, Captain Fergus Bowes Lyon, who died in 1915.
Alfred's war ended a year later when he was hit by a piece of shrapnel from a German shell which killed several of his pals.
Alfred, who has 18 great-grandchildren, also told how he was disappointed Black Watch had been sent to Iraq.
The pensioner, who still lives in his own home, said: 'I was saddened when I heard the news. Those young men going off there.
'I was told I was fighting the war to end all wars.'
Alfred was awarded the prestigious Legion d'Honneur by France six years ago and received a visit from Prince Charles when he turned 100.
Former Black Watch soldier John McGregor, who took part in the D-Day landings, also backed the Record's campaign.
John, 88, from Inverness, said: 'We should be getting rid of civil servants not soldiers.
'Without them there is no peace. You simply can't replace a soldier with a piece of equipment.'
yo.
My farm is close to the Ft. Ticonderoga trenches in the woods where Black Watch fought alongside Colonials against the French
in 1758- you can still feel them there. My hound dogs would circle all the way around the battlefield to the other side and not cross over it; so neither would I tread on hallowed ground as I followed them round...
God Bless Black Watch.
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