The Germans called these Scottish soldiers “Die Damen aus der Hölle,” the "Ladies from Hell" in reference to kilts they wore and their bravery in combat.

My grandpa from Glasgow was a teenage soldier in the black watch, 5th Highland light infantry. He fought in the battle of the Somme and the battle of Ypres. I had chills watching this knowing more about what he must have gone through, just wish I could have met him.😔 He survived the war ranking as a regimental sergeant major, and died later as an old man long before I was born. So proud of my Scottish heritage and what he went through to give us our freedoms we have today.

Black Watch (1739-2006) battle honours: - Guadaloupe 1759, Martinique 1762, Havannah, North America 1763-64, Peninsula War, Waterloo 1815, Mysore, Busaco, Salamanca, South Africa 1846-47, Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882 '84, Kirbekan, Nile 1884-85, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899-1902 (Boer War) - World War 1: Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914 '18, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Ypres 1914 '17 '18, Langemarck 1914, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Pilckem, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Lys, Estaires, Messines 1918, Hazebrouck, Kemmel, Béthune, Scherpenberg, Soissonnais-Ourcq, Tardenois, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line 1918, Épéhy, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Courtrai, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Doiran 1917, Macedonia 1915-18, Egypt 1916, Gaza, Jerusalem, Tell'Asur, Megiddo, Sharon, Damascus, Palestine 1917-18, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1915-17 - World War 2: Defence of Arras, Ypres-Comines Canal, Dunkirk 1940, Somme 1940, St. Valery-en-Caux, Saar, Breville, Odon, Fontenay le Pesnil, Defence of Rauray, Normandy 1944, Caen, Falaise, Falaise Road, La Vie Crossing, Le Havre, Lower Maas, Venlo Pocket, Ourthe, Rhineland, Reichswald, Goch, Rhine 1945, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, Barkasan, British Somaliland 1940, Tobruk 1941, Tobruk Sortie, El Alamein, Advance on Tripoli, Medenine, Zemlet el Lebene, Mareth, Akarit, Wadi Akarit East, Djebel Roumana, Medjez Plain, Si Mediene, Tunis, North Africa 1941-43, Landing in Sicily, Vizzini, Sferro, Gerbini, Adrano, Sferro Hills, Sicily 1943, Cassino II, Liri Valley, Advance to Florence, Monte Scalari, Casa Fortis, Rimini Line, Casa Fabbri Ridge, Savio Bridgehead, Italy 1944-45, Athens, Greece 1944-45, Crete, Heraklion, Middle East 1941, Burma 1944 - Post War: Korea 1952-53; Al Basrah, Iraq 2003; Second Battle of Fallujah, Iraq 2004 The Black Watch, although no longer a regiment, still exists today as the 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (the Black Watch) and did two tours of Afghanistan in 2009 and 2011.

You may think you're cool if you did everything these guys did. But let me ask you, could you do everything they did _without pants?_

Absolute chills watching this. As an American, I've always been fascinated with Scotland and the Scots in general, especially their fearsome fighting forces like the Black Watch. I was over the moon to visit back in 2009 both Edinburgh and the Highlands and meet so many amazing people in that proud country. Some of the nicest people in the world I've met yet.

That horse at 1:15 has some good moves. It's moon walking there and a lot of people can't even do it.

The Canadian Black Watch also fought valiantly in both world wars and is deserving of recognition. To this day they are perpetuated by a reserve infantry unit based in Montreal.

I was born and raised in England, but Scots/Irish heritage. My Great Uncle was in the Black Watch and was killed at Dunkirk. We never knew what happened to his body, until we stumbled upon his grave in Northern France 15 years ago. The bravery of all these soldiers can never be forgotten.

“Give ‘em steel boys! Give ‘em steel!” - Unknown Scottish Soldier, 1805

One of my favorite units, thank you for covering them!!

My great uncle is Lieutenant Colonel Fred Beattie of the 1st Black Watch, he was personal body guard of Queen Elizabeth II and an all round gent.

Funnily enough, the Blackwatch would become fictional icons as well, due to Battletech. Tex talks quite a bit about them but to give you an idea, the Blackwatch of Battletech is beyond legendary (on the tabletop, their piloting and gunnery skills are _0s_ not the 1-6 that usually applies and this number helps determine the 'target number' for a dice roll for an action). They were a 'Royal' Regiment of the Star League, and they were given the best equipment and training that (at the time) humanity could muster. When Stephen Amaris (aka BT Palpy) eliminated the entire Cameron dynasty in a coup, one of his goons accidentally tripped a failsafe alarm and got vaporized... which alerted the Blackwatch. The first responders were a mix of various infantry including jump-pack troops (who braved the automated anti-infantry weaponry (which Amaris managed to turn) of the palace to start breaching into the throne room) while the 'mechs started mobilizing. Quickly the infantry managed to get close enough that they could kill Amaris, who was at this time radioing his troops to reinforce him. Amaris would send a few nukes at various Blackwatch bases, and particularly at Fort Cameron (aka Blackwatch HQ). Nine of these 'mechs would be outside of the blast radius and made their last stand in the nearby flats between Unity City and Pudget Sound. They stood between the Rim Worlds Republic 4th Dragoons and Unity City... and for several hours they _stopped the 4th Dragoons dead in their tracks_ (reducing the elite 4th Dragoons from a _regiment_ to a handful of battered _companies_ when it was all said and done). The 4th Dragoons managed to wither the ad-hoc unit to 5 'mechs before deciding to send units to pin the remainder down before sending _two_ tactical nukes on them... ... and _some of the Blackwatch survived_ all that, creating the resistance group 'Ghosts of the Blackwatch'... and depending who you ask kept Amaris up at night just by existing.

Being Scottish and watching this video brought a smile to my face 😊😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I got a request for a video. 2ENG during the Korean War. Engineers along with an Artillery Unit held the line near the 38th Parallel while everyone else had to retreat. They got surrounded and held out for 4 days before they had to burn the colors and flee into the jungle. Same 2E that earned "Devil Dog" status with the Marines in WW1. Wish they get more recognition.

Nice to see some strait up history of famous units, please make more they are quite simple but very enjoyable from it's own unique simple perspective

Thanks for making this video! It makes me even more proud to be scottish

The Black Watch is so Famouse that they are used in a Lot of Science Fiction as Well. They are used in Battletech for Example and where so Dedicated to Duty and Honor that they couldnt even be Killed Completly by Useing Nukes against them. They are a Legendary Regiment both in Real Life and in Fiction.

No matter what anyone says despite them not being as good as they use to be the Blackwatch has to be one of the greatest regiments to ever live.

Scotland's heroes tried to join them a few years ago sadly couldn't but i will always remember and honor them as a clansman of campbell and a scotsman and i am glad we scots finally get some recognition

My great grandfather was in this unit before immigrating to the states, Thank You for giving these brave men a stage on which people can be educated about them! Truly the bravest and highest class of men!

My grandmother had two step-uncles from Glasgow, Scotland that served in WW1. I believe one served in the Black Watch while the other served in the Scots Guards.

I'm a Brit who lives in Sotogrande, southern Spain which is about 20 minutes away from Gibraltar. In Gibraltar there's a reenactment group which parades through main street dressed in Black Watch uniforms (red coats, kilts, fur skin hat and brown bess muskets)

Loved this video, and hope one day you will cover the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders as another regiment of renown

My great Grandfather served in the Black Watch as a lieutenant and was taken prisoner when the 51st Division surrendered at St Valery en Caux

When you’re a newly arrived German conscript and the eerily beautiful music of the pipes starts playing Johnny Cope on a misty morning.

As a young man I was told that 1 of my ancestors started the black watch. Lord Duncan Campbell. I never really knew anything else about them. This was very educational thank you.

I'm Canadian of Irish and Scottish descent so I love learning about this type of thing. I'd love to go to Scotland and Ireland some day. In my province Prince Edward Island and even the rest of Atlantic Canada you can still see so much Scottish/Irish influence on our culture to this day

Please do a video on the battle of Delville wood. As a South African it would be truly amazing to see our troops remembered on this channel. Thanks..

**German Soldier gets bayoneted** Some British guy named Edward: “For the watch.”

Proud to say my great great grandfather came from Fife served in the 7th battalion and survived the war

These soldiers come from Scotland a place you all know well From the hardest part of Glasgow where the Teddy Boys do dwell They’re given a British uniform they’re given a British gun They join a British regiment to have themselves some fun

in the Battletech sci fi lore, the black watch also had a role in the Amaris civil war as discussed in the videos from the Black pants legion channel.

I recently went to the Somme graves on a school trip, I saw lots of cordon highlanders and many black watch graves, lest we forget.

Finally, some Scottish praise!

I came for the battletech blackwatch, I still have faint machine gun bag pipe PTSD nightmares *bag pipe sounds in the distance*

You guys should do a video in the Punitive expedition during the Mexican revolution or the Mexican revolution in general, is a very interesting and complicated event with historical events, such as the first combat use of the Airplane in the world.

My ancestor was in the 42nd Regiment. Fought in the Peninsular wars and at Waterloo. Managed to survive it all as well, with just a gunshot to the arm.

I learned of the Black Watch through Napoleon total war and Battletech. The Black Watch in Battletech are particularly noteworthy as they are a bunch of mad bastards who find nukes to be an inconvenience.

The Black Watch is a regiment second to none. I was proud to serve as one of them. - Nemo Me Impune Lacessit.

You should look into the Gordon Highlanders, their motto "Bydand" is an adjective of the Scots phrase 'Bide and Fecht' meaning "Stay and Fight".

Scottish people are born fighters. It’s in their DNA. Truly there is no better infantry unit than the Scots. And I’m not even Scottish

I went to Glasgow when I was younger and witnessed a few street fights, everyone of them occurred in front of a pub. They would be bleeding but smiling. You can tell they didn’t take it all that serious 😂 you don’t want to mess with these people lol. My family emigrated from Scotland to America in the 1700s. Clan Fletcher from Argyll

Twelve pipers left the Glasgow Military Piper's school for France with the Blackwatch, two came home.

This video fills me with pride as a veteran of the regiment god bless Scotland and god save the king 🇬🇧

Funny how I just bought a Black Watch kilt for this weekends Renaissance Fair, and then this pops up in my feed. Perfect!

As a history lover, this was very helpful Thanks to simple history for giving me daily news❤️

Love the videos keep them up, I learned most of my history from you

Nuclear weapons are merely inconvenient.

my favorite thing about scots is that they have a specific dude who just plays the bagpipes in the most intense enviroment

My grandad was in the Canadian black watch during ww2

My grandad was an Irish man from Cork. He served in the black watch regiment in the trenches and then settled in the North East of England after the great war . Sadly he died a year or so before I was born in the 1960s.

Should definitely do a video like this for the "79th Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders!"

I can only imagine how bone chilling bag pipes would be in battle

The locals towns i live in and nearby have photos of the Scottish regiments before and after WW1. Its really heartwrenching to see some photos with 300 troops reduced to less than 20. For the little villages, they never did recover populations.

My ancestor Robert Nicholson was in the 8th battalion in WW1 and this video helped me understand what the conditions he fought through were like.

The Scottish Canadian Celtic punk band the Real Mckenzies has a lot of songs about Scottish and Canadian regiments and war heroes. They have a couple songs about this

Bagpiper: +10 to accuracy to all the allies within range.

Kilts are amazingly cool looking

The retreat from Mons "we're here because we're here because we're here because we're here"

Nukes are merely inconvenient. Men too angry to die. Hobbies include whiskey, bagpipes, and murder, not necessarily in that order.

The Scottish infantry, there is no finer a band of fighting men.

Anyone else here do to Tex talks battletech and his stories of "The God Damn Black Watch!"

Yeah! I would love to see more on Scottish regiments!

I’m from Dundee so it would be my local regiment they got a nice museum I would definitely recommend it

Please do a video like this about the Royal Irish Rifles.

36th Ulster Division would be a great addition. Made up of UVF men that was created to fight against Irish Home Rule to join the ranks 3 regiments in the Division on the outbreak of WWI. To be the only British Division to gain all objectives at the Somme 1st July 1916, and King Edward claiming they were the finest men he ever seen in 1915 just before they left for France. A Division close to Northern Ireland's heart and to mine due to a few family members being in it

My great great grandfather was part of the 4th/5th who fought in the 3rd battle of Ypres. He was originally part of the Scottish Horse Regiment but after that was dismounted he became part of the Black Watch. He has no known grave as during a heavy bombardment while trying to reach an objective called Tower Hamlets, 32 of the 37 killed that day were blown to pieces. Very proud of my heritage, and have visited Tynecot memorial where his name is immortalised.

“Twa recruiting sergeants cam fae the black watch, through markets an fairs some recruits for to catch, an aw that they listed wis forty an twa, enlist me Bonnie lady an come awa”

Angry Scottish bagpipes resonate even in Battletech.

They fought in Crete and at Tobruk in 41,greatly feared by the enemy

6:40 That german soldier took the "fighting till the afterlife" too serious that his rifle shoot by itself.

Great video! I just started to catch on to how much of Battletech/Mechwarrior lore is based off WWI..

Oh look, it's the graduates of the Gunslinger program. They drive their General Motors into battle and nukes are merely inconvenient to them. Ten points for Gryffindor if you get the reference.

By the time you hear the bagpipes blaring and the battlecries ..... it's already too late for you to retreat .

'And the Piper stood, in the line of fire, and played them o'er the top'

A veteran of the great war called Alfred Anderson who was born in 1899 and died in 2003. He served in the black watch and fought in the trenches. Watch his video on KZfaq when he tells his story.

I am actually in the SD&G highlanders we are close to the blackwatch and the other several scottish units in canada search up each of these units in canada and you can see Battle honors and our pride cheers and up the Glens.

"Let me tell you about the Black Watch... The Black Watch or 191st Royal Battlemech Division could trace it's lineage back to Ancient Scotland of Terra, in 1725 as a volunteer militia for the purposes of keeping watch for crime. By the 28th Century, they had significantly evolved. In the purest terms, The Black Watch was no joke; they were not a parade unit. They were not a Propaganda piece to scare people into leaving the Royal Family alone, and they did not idly bask in their Royal Regiment status. They were the chosen protectors of House Cameron, and thus, the First Family of Star League. The Black Watch was not a Bauble or a Plaything. They were a ruthlessly loyal fighting force dedicated to their duty. They were a hardened group of war-fighting experts given the finest equipment Humanity could muster, along with the best training of ANY regiment in the Inner Sphere. In addition, each and every one of them were graduates of the Gunslinger Programme, Which in Battletech is the equivalent of saying they are all pretty god-damn amazing at their job, and have spent their entire military career in Special Forces level training just for, Instances, like this. They had a Single Duty, which they took very, seriously. That duty was to protect the Royal Family. The Royal Family which Stephan Amaris had just decided to harm. When one of Stephan's idiot goon's managed to trip an alarm in the Throne Room and get vaporised in the process, the Black Watch was Alerted, Activated, and immediately went into battle." ---- Professor Randolph Percival Checkers Esquire, the Third, 3141.

My grandpa, Willie Ross, joined the Royal Highland Regiment, AKA The Black Watch in February 1914 just a month or two after his 18th birthday and six months before the outbreak of war. Although badly wounded in action he survived the war but died in 1923 aged just 27, leaving my grannie to raise two bairns on just an army widow’s pension.

You can never be careful enough around bagpipes. You can easily put out an aye. Or worse, get kilt!

Being Scottish and watching this video brought a smile to my face 😊😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Imagine getting bayonet charged by a screaming man in a skirt and the last thing you hear is Scotland forever.

5:22 it's weird hearing my hometown and neighbouring locations get read out as they are usually looked over by everyone

The unit I portray for living history is the Canadian counterpart, the Royal Highlanders of Canada (today the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada)

Guys can you do one on the obscure story of the 40th Army Band? Their troopship was torpedoed and they lost their instruments and so went ashore and fought as a separate infantry platoon in the Philippines, every member receiving a combination of purple hearts and bronze and silver stars.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS!!!

My late Grandfather's photo hangs in my hall. Taken in Northern France in 1916, he looks so young, but must have witnessed things to cover several lifetimes. In 1926 he and my Grandmother emigrated to the USA where he had secured employment in Akron Ohio at the Goodyear factory oddly enough to play football [soccer] for their team as that was the route the USA had gone down in establishing the sport. By 1930 with the depression in full swing they returned to Scotland along with a 2 year old daughter [my Mother].

“War is where the young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other.” Niko Bellic

Simple History can you make a video about canadian regiments of british army in WW1 or 2? This one about scottish was very interesting. Ps: is the narrator the same person who spoke in intros of the old videogame "Civil war: secret missions"? Sounds very similar

another reason for the kilt covers was that the sporran was specifically targeted by sniper fire and well that general area is very jeweled

Hearing this story makes me feel a connection to my ancestors. Scotland the Brave!!

For King and country 🇬🇧🇬🇧

My grandfather served as a young lieutenant in the 8th regiment. He joined the regiment just before the battle of Longueval and led a company in the attack of the 18th. He was knocked over by shellfire and, in a daze, thought to himself, 'I'll be OK if I sit up and blow my whistle'. He sat up, blew his officers' whistle, and was promptly shot a few more times. He lay in no-mans-land for many days until the lines advanced, he was found barely alive and transported to a field hospital. It was entirely due the dedication of a Canadian nurse that he survived the ordeal. He returned to active service at the B/W training establishment and served a further 35 years in the TA after the war.

Born in England, raised in the US, my grandmother was from Belfast, and another was Edinburgh...my Irish and English family always said the Scots were the most nuts and hardest of the lot. We're from the Gordan Clan btw.

Brave soldiers that fought for king and country. These guys were the hardest soldiers ever and what a loss of life. Good men died for a stupid war

They got their name because they were involved in the disarming of the Highlands, enforcing land confiscation, clearances of the inhabitants, dress code (lay people could no longer wear their tartan), punishment for playing pipe music and speaking Gaidhlig. Besides that period of history they were pretty awesome IMO. Great Video! 👍

Little off-topic, three scottish soldiers from Southerland Highlander a and Argyll escaped from nazis pretending to be russian by speaking only gealic

As an ex 1st BN soldier of the Black Watch, this is a great video to see. And most of it was correct, well done!

Can you do the Royal Ulster Rifles at the Somme

For such short people and small population us Scots have always punched way above our weight when it comes to soldiering and being warriors. The Germans were known to be terrified by the Scots calling them devils in skirts and would try their best not to be taken prisoner by them.