Kilt Pin Regs

**sav** · 23rd August 05, 09:22 PM

This pic is from my archives, circa the outbreak of WWI:

Interesting pic, note the absence of sporrans.

**Doc Hudson** · 23rd August 05, 10:24 PM

And note that the kilt pins are closer to the belt line than the hemline.

**Andrew Breecher** · 23rd August 05, 11:41 PM

On a side note, those boys look awfully young to be part of a Scottish regiment. I know the Boy Scouts in Britain were used in WWI in a support rôle, but are these boys enlisted?

Andrew.

**sav** · 24th August 05, 05:21 AM

Andrew,
Not only are they enlisted, but you'll notice they are NCO's. The boy on the right is a corporal, and although his rank is hidden in the shadows, the boy on the left is a lance-corporal.

**macwilkin** · 24th August 05, 05:49 AM

Originally Posted by sav

Andrew,
Not only are they enlisted, but you'll notice they are NCO's. The boy on the right is a corporal, and although his rank is hidden in the shadows, the boy on the left is a lance-corporal.

And the corporal is proficient in musketry, as the crossed rifles badge on his left sleeve shows! :mrgreen:

I can't say I've ever seen kilt pins worn that high before, though.

Cheers,

Todd

**Archangel** · 24th August 05, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by Andrew Breecher

On a side note, those boys look awfully young to be part of a Scottish regiment. I know the Boy Scouts in Britain were used in WWI in a support rôle, but are these boys enlisted?

Andrew.

I'd have to read the texts again but if memory serves...at the onset of WW1 the British encouraged teenagers to join up. The understanding was that they would not be in combat, even in Europe, err, the continent, err, over there (even I do that island fortress thing sometimes).
It was part of the jingoistic war promotion at the time and they would get the training and do some of the support roles in a more comfortable setting than the grownups. When they were old enough, they would be more than ready.
(I don't know enough US military, would that be like the ROTC?)
That plan all went kaplooey (an academic history term) when the Allies met the enemy and suffered horrendous losses. As a result, the combat age was lowered and these young men went to war.
(pretty sure I'm referencing MacDonald's 1914.)

Not sure on this but suspect Boy Scout role was WW2.

**Andrew Breecher** · 24th August 05, 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by Archangel

Not sure on this but suspect Boy Scout role was WW2.

I did a little searching, and found a few things about the English Boy Scouts and WWI, but the only thing I could find about WWII was for Polish Boy Scouts. I just remember being in the English Boy Scouts and hearing about how the Scouts were in WWI, but after realising how many casualties they had suffered, they weren't used in the same capacity in WWII.

Andrew.

**jfellrath** · 25th August 05, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by Archangel

It was part of the jingoistic war promotion at the time and they would get the training and do some of the support roles in a more comfortable setting than the grownups. When they were old enough, they would be more than ready.
(I don't know enough US military, would that be like the ROTC?)

Not really. ROTC, or Reserve Officer Training Corps, is the military's program for sending officers to college campuses to train students in the military in the hopes that they will join the military as officers after graduation.

I know that Army ROTC Cadets have to contract with the Army after their second year of training in most cases. I'm not sure what NROTC and AFROTC do.

The biggest differences, it seems, are 1) these aren't teenagers in ROTC, they're young adults; 2) they become officers, not enlisted folks doing support roles; and 3) the ROTC Cadets aren't actually IN the Army proper until they graduate - instead they're considered reservists in training.

**macwilkin** · 25th August 05, 07:37 AM

The British equivalent of the ROTC is the OTC -- I have some information on the OTC at home that I'll have to dig out. There are high school versions of ROTC, J(Junior)ROTC, and then of course, "auxillary" organizations like the Civil Air Patrol and the Sea Cadets.

Lord Baden-Powell intended the Boy Scouts to be "para-military" (and I realize this term has negative connotations in the 21st century US) and teach young boys aspects of military life, as well as a moral code. B-P based much of scouting on his own experiences in the South African (Boer) War. There were also the Boys Brigades, a competitor to the Scouts.

Cheers,

Todd