British infantry units attacked “Two Up” i.e. two elements leading with a third in reserve; this applied at most levels of organisation. For “Epsom” the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division went forward with the 44th (Lowland) Infantry Brigade and the 46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade leading and the 227th (Highland) Infantry Brigade (Dad’s mob) in reserve. The 44th (Lowland) Infantry Brigade comprised the 8th Battalion Royal Scots, the 6th Battalion The Royal Scots Fusiliers and the 6th Battalion The King’s Own Scottish Borderers; I don’t know which was the reserve unit, but obviously “Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard” (The First of Foot, The Right of the Line) were one of the leading pair. The 46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade were the 2nd Battalion The Glasgow Highlanders, the 7th Battalion The Seaforth Highlanders (I think these were the reserve) and the 9th Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). Following on were the 227th (Highland) Infantry Brigade: the 2nd Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the 2nd Battalion The Gordon Highlanders and the 10th Battalion The Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment). They went into action in the late afternoon of the first day supporting the two leading Brigades, I think the Argylls may have been their reserve as it was the spearhead of the next morning’s attack.
I hope that’s some help, at least I’m on-topic this time…
Regards,
M
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Sorry for the massive delay in responding buddy. I have my book stash in the basement next to my hobby bench for easy access. My computer is 2 floors above and so even though I have the required info about the Epsom participants available and know precisely where to find it, I cannot retrieve it when at my brain box area.
So, I am kinda embarrassed that you went to all that trouble to look up and write that excellent info for me when I already had it available. I tend to retain the overall concepts of an op but rapidly forget a lot of the details, most likely the consequence of advanced age! LoL But to be fair the British Army (or Commonwealth in general) can be difficult to remember because of the myriad unit designations… I have learned a lot in the past year since beginning this trek though and that is because of folks like yourself and others on this forum willing to selflessly get me up to speed. I am still by no means an expert but I am certainly way more knowledgeable than I was at the start!
Once you learn a bit about the Commonwealth Brigade system and Regimental arraignments it starts to make a whole lot more sense. My Army here toyed with that concept back in the 80s but it never quite “clicked” and we went back to the tried and true numbered Regt. system for instance in my old unit the 82nd Abn. The 3 line Regts went pure again with the 3 Bns in each of the 504,505 and 325 having the same Regt number. IE 1/2/3 of the 504Regt,etc etc.
Long story short I am going with the 6/RSF for the scenes concerning St Manvieu as they really caught hell that first day, struggling through the defensive fire coming from Carpiquet and then taking the whole day to clear out the remnants of the I/26 SS PzGrenRegt in the village. Many a hearth was deprived forever of someone that fateful day.
J
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Hi Jerry,
Brilliant sense of urgency you’ve imparted to the stretcher bearing team, I especially like the little bits of detail that lifts your figures beyond the norm, e.g. the bottom of the boots, 
.
Would it be possible to see an image from the other direction, i.e. running towards the camera as opposed to away, 
?
Cheers, 
,
G
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OK, ask and ye shall receive mate!
Thanks for the kind words as well.
J
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Hi Jerry,
Thank you for the additional image, a truly dynamic duo, whichever direction they’re viewed from, .
Cheers, ,
G
Thanks,
I had thought at one point I was finished with them and then realized I had forgotten the Field Dressing bags. So, out came the putty and lead foil.
J
Sweet, the way you put on the helmets… Modern helmets are a paint in the behind when you are running, so the older ones must have been even more so… I love your eye for detail!
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No problem, I had the info handy. Your situation is far better organised than mine, which is complete chaos for reasons I won’t embarrass myself by expanding upon. I know Dad had the official history of the 15th Scottish (a huge tome) and I’ve even an idea where it might be but because of the clutter I can’t get to it…
I can top that; the other day I was asked for my car registration and realised I couldn’t remember it, I’ve only had the damn thing for three years! The real grief of my dotage is now my hands shake like jelly in an earthquake which tends to limit my participation in the hobby to a form of voyeurism…
All to true, of all the casualties sustained by the 15th Scottish during the France and Germany campaign, about one-quarter occurred during “Epsom”.
You’ve probably seen this already, but i will venture to add this link:
Regards,
M
Always beautiful figure work from you JR , and just from me to you , regardless of unit , reg. , batt. , I guessed these were British , Commonwealth , English , Scottish , Welsh , Irish figure builds right from the start .
I am sooooo lost when it comes to nailing those rivets , … or in the case of uniforms , … stitches .
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As ever, enjoying your work Jerry! Just to muddy the waters a bit, I think the oldest regiment is actually the Honourable Artillery Company, but they are Territorial Army, not regulars. They can trace their history back to the medieval London Trained Bands. At the Lord Mayors’ show they have a company who parade in the dress of the English Civil War of the 1640s. The oldest uniformed British corps is the Yeomen of the Guard formed by Henry VII. You can’t serve as a Yeoman unless you have reached at least senior NCO rank in the British armed forces. When the original British Line Regiments were raised it was even more confusing, because they were named after their Colonels, which is where we get the Buffs and the Green Howards from - their Colonels were both Howard, so their facings were used to distinguish them! The Coldstream Guards were originally Moncks Regiment - General Monck helped to engineer the Restoration of 1660. I think the Royal Scots were raised in 1636, they were previously Scottish mercenaries in the service of France! After this phase, we did try using numbers, as in 1st Foot etc, up until the Cardwell Reforms of 1881. Despite these reforms, the old regiments clung on to their numbers jealously, as they signified their seniority. The Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, my local regiment, still referred to their two regular battalions as the 43rd and 52nd (Foot) even during World War Two until amalgamation into the Royal Greenjackets (now the Rifles).
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Jerry, as always I find the pose of your figures just as convincing as the details.
Those stretcher bearers not only look like they are legging it under fire, they also actually like like they are carrying something. It takes a lot to achieve this in such a convincing manner.
So bravo! (again)
What they’ve said, and how good is this forum – and this thread - that while sticking bits of plastic etc together & painting 'em we get the benefit of such serious research too? I can’t think of many other active parallels, bravo JR & other contributors 
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Really excellent work Jerry; and even more impressive is the history of the British, Scottish and Welsh regiments that go back way before our country existed- amazing. I can understand why they want to keep their historical regiments alive. It is confusing sometimes, at least to me.
As for having memory problems lol, (I’ll be 54 Jan. 1st) mine are too frequent to go into!
Brilliant film! No,I had never seen it,only a few stills from it. Thanks for that link!
J
Thanks buddy! I think all on here have their individual tweeks they do.
J
It is a challenge for any history buff for sure. But also fascinating. We here have always stuck with numbered Regiments. We only had a brief frame where they Brigaded sperate Bns from different Regts into Brigades. Like the 2/12 and the 1/8 would be in the same Brigade. I think the legs may still do that but the 82nd Abn now has the straight Regiments like my old one. The 504PIR has the 1, and 3rd Bns in the same Brigade. Like the original Regimental structures in our Nations beginnings. Even our Volunteer Regiments in the Civil War had the pure company letters but all in the same Regiment.
J
Thank you Sir for noticing the details. It makes me think the effort was not wasted!
J
