42nd Regiment of Foot

Also known as The Black Watch.

Chronology

• 1725 four Independent Highland Companies raised to police Highlands, commonly called the Reicudan Dhu, or Black Watch
• 1729 two additional companies raised
• 1739 Earl of Craufurd's Regiment formed by regimentation of existing six coys and four new coys; also known until 1751 by the names of other colonels
• 1751 became 42nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot
• 1758 became 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot
• 1861 became 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot, The Black Watch
• 1881 amalgamated with the 73rd Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Regiment (The Black Watch)
• 2006 merged with five other Scottish regiments - the Royal Scots, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, The Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland

Service in British India

• 1857 Indian Mutiny
• 1882 Egyptian Campaign
• 1897 Subathu
• 1899 Sitapur
• 1919 Baluchistan
• 1921 Allahabad
• 1923 Quetta
• 1925 Lahore
• 1928 Chakratta
• 1931 Meerut
• 1935 Barrackpore

Regimental Journal

The Red Hackle :the Chronicle of the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Regiment, and of the Black Watch Association. First published in April 1921 but not during the war years, 1939 - 45, the British Library has issues from Volume 1, no. 3 (Oct. 1921)

External Links

Historical Books Online

• History of the Scottish Highlands : Highland clans and Highland regiments Volume 2 "The 42nd Royal Highland Regiment “The Black Watch” " by John S Keltie (c.1886) Archive.org. Indian service commences page 419 in 1857.
• History of the 42nd Royal Highlanders - "The Black Watch" now the first battalion "The Black Watch" (Royal Highlanders) 1729-1893 by John Percy 1893 Illustrated by Harry Payne Groves. Archive.org
• The "Black Watch": The Record of an Historic Regiment by Archibald Forbes 1896 Archive.org

Other

• 42nd Regiment of Foot Wikipedia
• Black Watch Wikipedia
• Black Watch Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) website
• List of Inscriptions on Christian Tombs and Tablets of Historical Interest in the United Provinces Limited preview google books. Pages 100-103 details memorials to the 42nd Royal Highlanders who fell in the Mutiny campaigns 1857-1860. Also gives some background about the regiment
• Private John Ellison in India 1860-1868 from RichardMoles.com
• The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) from British Armed Forces & National Service. Includes deployment of both the 1st and 2nd Battalions in India.
• The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) Regiments.org (archived site)
• The 1st Battalion Black Watch in India 1919-1936, Annual Manoeuvres 1933, Barrackpore 1934 from the Black Watch Archive, a memorial to John Davidson, a Black Watch Soldier. Includes many photographs.