I t t i r , UI{ !t^J rt V-

llrrl rtrtcstion (]tme. " Sir," he is repltted1,, lrrivc stitl , " Tf rve, vorrr: llegimenb, aro

rr.t,:rllru'r:rl l.r r:cl.rri rr rrrrr rlisLitrt:tivc rlrcgs,

ntity \\,(:, it[ letrst,, \1'ear itlt obviotts ertlblcint

t., 5,l,,rru itt rr gloucle thab wo ore (Jernerorr

iiishlanders ? Mny I suggest a heckle tol,L"*u.r, behind the caP hadge in thelrnfinornl? " " Yeg," the King. replie<l," I lil<e thbt idea. And' whrit colour werevotr thinking the hackle should" be ? ":" Tho moet Juitable colour woul<l obviousiybo royal blue, Sir, " roplied the Cxrlonel.' Lieut.-Col. Wimberley waa delightedrvith the iniorrnal roply' he had received'.When the parede was over, letters wero atuuco rvritteo to the Colonel of tho Rogiment(r\{aior-Genoral N. J. G. Camenon, C-8.,i:.lut.C.;, to sprea<l the good news, toG.H.Q. in Frane,e, and to " Willie " Ander-son's, rvho were told. to pro<luce 800 hecklesfor the lsti Battaliron. This honour wes tobe no Battslion ttophy, the hackle was toIrc worn by all wearer€.of the 79th tsrtan,rvho.were to bo ileprived of the kilt by War()ffice orders.

Ihe ilet Battaliou reoords show thetthe officere and tbe pipo band worp the Bluel{aekle for the first time on llth Fobruary;1940, . at the Beating of. Betrsat in Arrss.The Blue llackle was-not taken into generalusa by thb lst Bsttalion until the 14ehrYarch, 1940. The first mention of the.BlueIIackIe inl the " 79th News rl iloes .nottrppoor until'the Octnber, 1940, number,rvheq the following psrsgrsph was part ofthe Editorisl:-

" The Bluo'ffacHc "Boyal Blue Eeckle' b priirted ele€wherein this issue. This pipe tune.was cdm-posed by L/C. J. Marfiech, the Queen'sOwn Cemeron llighlanders,. aud iledicateilto Lieut.-Col. D:- N. 'IVimberley, M.C.,who was ir cor""'end, of the Battalionyhich E.M. The King, Colouol-in-Chief,inspected in France in fgqg. Tho wear-ing of the Royal Blue Eaokls witl thelrolmoral was.fhen insffiut€d to mark thefirst oecasion or which . His Mejestyvinited l Battalion in the,fi"l+':

Ihe readerr now Inowe,tiiat ther6 wagtnoro to it.than that. .,;,._rl iri.

Th, lst Bnttation..aftor, the King'sinrpeetinn returned, to th.h,iitaily Ar8grig.

ll'ho liilb, as rrsnal, rvas thtr rlress for all pur-frrses, w.hether rrnlcxrrling trains, mixingtxrttt:t'uto, rrri l.lrr,' rn()r'(: n(,1'lrurl rliggirrg. Tlrr:,,ttl.y 'trrrtts<rir-rtl pt:rx,,rrrrcl rulro lt{b tlrc billel,rtueru rvorc tlre A.'I.T. rlrivens, und they, inlnost iusLorrens, ryore, tartau trews. Eveuthe padre, !-rank Maclarrchlan (now ministerof the Okl High Chrueh, Inverneas), was t<tbe seon teking the air rlreeeed. in hieCamemn kiit. lt was not until the end ofFetrruary, 1940, that Che threatened. battledregs arrived in the QM's. storFand. therethe trousors were to stay.l

Lieut.-Cnl. Wimberley had now leftthe Battalion on promotion, 'snd his placeae C.O. had been taken by Liout.-Col. PatMillor (r* Brig. C*. P. Rose-Miller,D.S.O., M.C., retd;), who followed. Iieut.-Col. Wimborloy's lead in refubing trl oo{rn-tensnce the wearing of trrrusors bv the lstRattalion. In the back of evorybody.lgmind. was ths hope thab, a8 in the 1914 Jilar,the .War Office would sti[ r€sc-inil theirordor. The Battslion was, therefone, deter-mined to prove thot the kilt was euiteble formodern warfare- You never Baw a.memberof the 1st Battslion oither on or off'dubyd.ressed oiherwise than in th€ kilt, Battledless tops wer.e storting to be. iseued audthee€ all had tfie large square patch B€'w'n onthe sleeve. . The writei's bsttle c[,resa tophad brses pips, brass 'Cemerrn shorild€iibuttons, and " ooller dogr " : thoulhoffi.cers diil not aomally in p-eqco time weir" oollar_ dqgr,"' !t .*i" oi,reA'-that'anyembelUshment that m^sde tle wearbr mgreeasily rocoguiseble'as a Camercli was dl tothe good. .

The " phoney " war ended.. o"- tOtnMay,.1940, atd the Bettalion advanced intoBelgiur,. . to take up pgaitions .East 'ofBrussols, not very fai ftom the Battiefielilof _'Waterloo;.where our forbeers had fought12.5 yeara before. It is not intended to w;teof the. withdrswal to Dunliirk, except.totouch on the wearing of the kiit. y"liontstories havs been spreod abodt the iearingof thl kilt by the Ist Rattalion, igcluilingone Press sccorint of the. '1st Eattalioiithrowing Bway their tr,r**, a.""td Ih;kilt, and. at*acking the - Germsnd: .-Thiemust be untru6 b&aue€"the 1st Bettaliqnhad no trsus€rs to thiow &wsy. Th.yadvanced into Belgium in the i<ilt; th.ifought, th€ir wuy heck to Dunkirk in' ,thA

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