Scots Guards

The Scots Guards' enlistment books were maintained through each soldier's period of service, the basic details comprising regimental number, name, place and date of enlistment and rank held at date of discharge or death. Every man enlisted into the regiment during this period of nearly a hundred years is recorded.

The origins of the Scots Guards go back to 1642 when the Regiment was raised by Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll. The 1st Battalion Scots Guards are currently at Aldershot, while F Company Scots Guards and Regimental Headquarters are at Wellington Barracks, near Buckingham Palace, London. While these are military units the Regiment itself is a charity, registered in England and Wales No. 249900 and in Scotland No. SC038227.

The Scots Guards' first Battle Honour is Namur, the earliest awarded to British Regiments, from the siege there in 1695. Other particularly distinctive honours include those from the Peninsular War, Waterloo, the Crimean War and the Boer War. During the First World War Ypres 1914, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916, Ypres 1917 and Cambrai 1917 are regimentally very prominent; from the Second World War Medenine and Djebel Bou Aoukaz 1943 I, both in the North African campaign, Monte Camino and Anzio in Italy, Quarry Hill in Normandy and Rhineland towards the end in Germany. The two post-1945 Battle Honours are Falkland Islands 1982 and Gulf 1991.

Eleven Scots Guardsmen have won the Victoria Cross and one the Albert Medal in Gold. The Regiment has the unusual distinction of the youngest ever winner of the Distinguished Service Order.

For more information about the Regiment, including the history and access arrangements for the archives, see www.scotsguards.org.

Access the Scots Guards records through Findmypast's British Army service records and select Scots Guards in the series field.