Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders History – Northern Ireland

1st Battalion

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

Belfast

12th Nov 1973 - 24th Feb 1974

All photographs are the property of RHQ Argylls and may not be reproduced or copied without permission from RHQ Argylls.

On the 12th November 1973 at 1300 hrs, the battalion took over responsibility for Police Division C, from the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards. This was the battalion’s first tour in Belfast and was part of 39th Infantry Brigade which was commanded by Brigadier A. C. S. Boswell, OBE for most of the tour. The population of the area (over 18 years of age) was approximately 52,000 of which 40,000 were Protestant and 12,000 Roman Catholic. The Protestant areas consist of the Shankill, Bone, Clifftonville, Old Park, Ballysillan, Glencairn and the Woodvale. The Catholic areas were the Ardoyne, Bone and Ligoniel. The battalion deployment was Tac Headquarters in the RUC Station at Tennent Street. A Company based in Flax Street Mill and Ardoyne Bus Depot and responsible for the Ardoyne, B Company based in Finniston School, responsible for the Bone, Cliftonville and Old Park, D Company based in the Ligoniel Mill were responsible for Ligoniel and Ballysillan. SP Company based in Flax Street Mill were responsible for the Shankill, Glencairn and Woodvale. The Echelon was also based at Flax Street Mill. The opposition consisted of the IRA on the Catholic side and the UVF/UFF on the Protestant side. The type of incidents that the battalion had to deal with included shootings, Bombs, Bomb Hoaxes, Blast Bombs, Armed Robberies, Marches, Funerals, Hijackings, Stolen Cars, Demonstrations and Protests, Fires, Traffic Accidents and Missing Persons.

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The methods of operation varied from area to area and from situation to situation, and a constant presence was maintained in all areas by use of patrols both foot and mobile, Vehicle Check Points and OPs. Frequent searches of houses derelicts and waste ground, Headchecks and Personality Checks were carried out. Successes included the arrest of two wanted men and finds of a variety of weapons and ammunition. The battalion had no casualties during the tour and reckoned that it may have hit two or three gunmen. Over 30 men and women were arrested and either detained or charged with serious criminal or terrorist charges. There was one period of rather more excitement after an incident in the Shankill Road which resulted in over 300 rounds being fired at the battalion throughout our area, including TAC HQ but no casualties were suffered by us.

Visitors in Northern Ireland have included the New Secretary of State, Mr Pym, the General Officer Commanding, Lieutenant General Sir Frank King, the Commander Land Forces, Major General P J H Leng. On the 27th December the Brigade Commander put on his other hat and paid the battalion a visit as Colonel of the Regiment, he was also able to include in the visit Mrs Boswell and the boys.

The battalion was relieved by 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment at the end of February 1973.

At 7 o'clock on Monday, 25th February, the Landing Ship Logistic Sir Galahad docked at Prince's Dock No. 28 in Glasgow. It carried on board 440 officers and men of the battalion. The other 240 members of the Main Body had travelled the previous evening on the Larne-Stranraer Ferry. On the dockside at Glasgow the Pipes and Drums played Long Reveille as the Jocks disembarked at the end of the battalion’s third tour in Northern Ireland and returned to Kirknewton. The previous evening before the Sir Galahad had sailed from Belfast the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Queens Own Highlanders, who were also serving in Belfast, had played for an hour on the quay—a gesture which was much appreciated by the battalion.

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