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World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders



   2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders were part of 152nd Brigade, 51st Highland Division they saw action the Battle of France and were captured at Saint Valery-en-Caux. The Battalion was reconstituted and went on to see action in the Western Desert, Sicily and North Western Europe.

   location map

2nd of October 1939 Special Order of the Day by Lt-Col I.C.Barclay, M.B.E.

10th of October 1939 List of Officers

21st of October 1939 Orders

22nd of October 1939 2577 Move Order No 2

28th of October 1939 Operational Order  location map

22nd of November 1939 Operation Instructions  location map

28th of November 1939 Warning Order  location map

1st of December 1939 Move Order No. 1  location map

1st of December 1939 Move Order

2nd of December 1939 Operation Order No. 2  location map

2nd of December 1939 Appendices A and B Operation Order No 2  location map

14th of January 1940 Orders

11th of March 1940 Orders

11th of March 1940 Message Form

11th of March 1940 Message Form

1st of April 1940 Recce

3rd Apr 1940 Visit

4th Apr 1940 Visit

4th of April 1940 Conference

5th of April 1940 Conference

6th of April 1940 Inspection

7th of April 1940 Football Match

8th April 1940 Exercise

8th of April 1940 Nominal Roll of Officers on Strength

9th Apr 1940 Reorganisation  location map

9th April 1940 Conference

10th April 1940 Training Exercise

11th Apr 1940 Stand Fast

11th of April 1940 Orders

12th of April 1940 Posting

13th Apr 1940 Orders  location map

15th of April 1940 Nominal Roll of Officers on Strength

16th of April 1940 Recce

19th Apr 1940 On the Move

19th of April 1940 Recce

20th of April 1940 Relief Exercise

20th of April 1940 Field Return of Officers

20th of April 1940 Field Return of Other Ranks

21st of April 1940 Relief Exercise

22nd of April 1940 Nominal Roll of Officers on Strength

23rd of April 1940 Movements

24th of April 1940 Move

25th of April 1940 Arrival

27th of April 1940 Arrival

1st May 1940 Reliefs

3rd May 1940 Move Cancelled  location map

4th May 1940 Preparations  location map

6th May 1940 On the Move  location map

7th May 1940 Concentration  location map

8th May 1940 Training  location map

9th May 1940 Training  location map

10th May 1940 Orders  location map

11th May 1940 Orders  location map

12th May 1940 Divisional HQ Moves

13th May 1940 Recce  location map

14th May 1940 Orders  location map

15th May 1940 Orders

16th May 1940 On the Move  location map

17th May 1940 In Action  location map

18th May 1940 On the Move  location map

19th May 1940 On the Move  location map

20th May 1940 Withdrawal

20th May 1940 Air Raids  location map

20th May 1940 Orders  location map

21st May 1940 Hard Fighting  location map

21st May 1940 Orders

21st May 1940 Orders

21st May 1940 Intelligence

22nd May 1940 Threat

22nd May 1940 Under Pressure

23rd May 1940 In Reserve

23rd May 1940 Surrounded

24th May 1940 Orders

24th May 1940 On the Move

25th May 1940 On the Move

25th May 1940 Congestion

25th May 1940 Conference

25th May 1940 Defence

26th May 1940 Moves

26th May 1940 Bombing  location map

27th May 1940 On the Move

27th May 1940 Air Attacks

27th May 1940 Heavy Shelling

28th May 1940 On the Move

28th May 1940 Air Attacks  location map

28th May 1940 Rear Guard

29th May 1940 Withdrawal

29th May 1940 Rear Guard

30th May 1940 Withdrawal  location map

30th May 1940 Withdrawal

9th Jun 1940 In Defence

10th Jun 1940 On the March

11th Jun 1940 Surrounded

11th Jun 1940 In Action

11th Jun 1940 Under Fire

11th Jun 1940 Orders

11th Jun 1940 Enemy Advance

12th Jun 1940 Situation Hopeless

12th Jun 1940 Ultimatum

21st May 1942 On the Move

22nd May 1942 Competition

23rd May 1942 Competition

1st Jun 1942 Royal Visit

5th Jun 1942 Training

27th of August 1942 Daily Routine Orders by Major J.H. Walford No. 10.

29th of August 1942 5th Seaforth Highlanders Daily Routine Orders by Major J.H. Walford No. 12.

30th of September 1942 Movement Order No. 3.  location map

3rd of October 1942 152nd Infantry Brigade Admn Order No. 1  location map

7th of October 1942 Relief Order Appendix B G/7/?/1

18th of October 1942 Movement Timetable  location map

20th of October 1942 152nd Brigade Operational Order  location map

21st of October 1942 Operation Order No.1  location map

22nd of October 1942 Notes on 152 Brigade O.O. No 1. dated 20 Oct 42

23rd Oct 1942 Guns in Action

23rd Oct 1942 In Action

24th Oct 1942 Advance

24th Oct 1942 In Action

24th of October 1942 Battle continues  location map

26th of October 1942 In battle

27th of October 1942 152nd Brigade Operation Order  location map

28th Oct 1942 Barrage  location map

29th of October 1942 In battle  location map

1st of November 1942 Operational Order No. 2  location map

1st of November 1942 In the battle of El Alamein

1st of November 1942 Orders  location map

1st of November 1942 Orders  location map

1st of November 1942 Orders  location map

2nd of November 1942 In Action  location map

3rd of November 1942 In Action  location map

4th Nov 1942 In Action

4th Nov 1942 Out of Action

10th of November 1942 Salvage

25th of November 1942 Warning Order  location map

25th of November 1942 Daily Orders by Lieut-Colonel J.E. Stirling No. 5

26th of November 1942 Daily Orders by Lieut. Colonel J.E. Stirling No. 5

27th of November 1942 152 Bde Operation Order No. 1  location map

2nd of December 1942 152 Brigade Operation Instruction No 1  location map

4th of December 1942 Patrol Detail  location map

4th of December 1942 Patrol Programme 4/5 Dec - Appendix 8  location map

16th Jan 1943 Advance

5th Feb 1943 Inspection

6th Mar 1943 In Action  location map

16th Mar 1943 In Action  location map

31st Mar 1943 Quiet

1st Apr 1943 Quiet

3rd Apr 1943 Reliefs

6th Apr 1943 Attack Made

6th Apr 1943 In Action  location map

19th Apr 1943 In Action  location map

5th May 1943 In Action  location map

9th Jul 1943 In Action

29th Jul 1943 In Action  location map

2nd Sep 1943 Planning

17th Jan 1944 Exercise

18th Jan 1944 Exercise

19th Jan 1944 Exercise

1st of April 1944 Training

2nd of April 1944 Move  location map

3rd of April 1944 Training and inspection  location map

4th of April 1944 Training

5th of April 1944 Training  location map

6th of April 1944 Training  location map

7th of April 1944 Training  location map

8th of April 1944 Training and Inspection  location map

9th of April 1944 Church service  location map

10th of April 1944 Training and standing orders  location map

10th of April 1944 Standing Orders for operations - No. 2

11th of April 1944 Training  location map

12th of April 1944 Exchange and training  location map

13th of April 1944 Training  location map

14th of April 1944 Training and tattoo  location map

15th of April 1944 Training  location map

16th of April 1944 Church service  location map

17th of April 1944 River crossing training  location map

18th of April 1944 Training and transfers  location map

18th of April 1944 Standing Orders for Operation - No. 4.   location map

19th of April 1944 Training and visit  location map

20th of April 1944 Training and transfers  location map

20th of April 1944 Standing Orders for Operations No. 6  location map

20th of April 1944 Appendix "A" to 2 Seaforth Standing Orders for Operations No.6  location map

20th of April 1944 Appendix "B" to 2 Seaforth Standing Orders for Operations No.6.  location map

20th of April 1944 Appendix "C" to 2 Seaforth Standing Orders for Operations No.6  location map

21st of April 1944 Training  location map

22nd of April 1944 Training and inspection  location map

22nd of April 1944 Orders for Operations - No. 2 App "C"  location map

22nd of April 1944 Orders  location map

23rd of April 1944 On the move  location map

24th of April 1944 Exercise  location map

25th of April 1944 Exercise  location map

26th of April 1944 Exercise  location map

26th of April 1944 App "F" EX "Snaffle" Movement Order No 2.  location map

27th of April 1944 Exercise completes  location map

28th of April 1944 Training  location map

29th of April 1944 Training and inspection  location map

29th of April 1944 Field Return of Other ranks  location map

29th of April 1944 Part D Nominal Roll of Officers on Strength  location map

30th of April 1944 Church service and lecture

30th of April 1944 Ex "Fabius V" Adm. Instruction No. 1  location map

14th Jun 1944 Defence  location map

10th Jul 1944 In Action  location map

18th July 1944 In Action

7th Aug 1944 In Action

26th August 1944 Drafts

27th August 1944 Transport

8th Oct 1944 In Action  location map

18th Oct 1944 Bombardment  location map

23rd Oct 1944 In Action  location map

23rd Oct 1944 Attack Made  location map

24th Oct 1944 Artillery Support  location map

25th Oct 1944 Advance

28th Oct 1944 In Action

30th Oct 1944 Railway Bridge Blown  location map

3rd May 1945 Orders


If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.



Those known to have served with

2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders

during the Second World War 1939-1945.

  • Anderson George William. Pte.
  • Atkins Sidney. Pte.
  • Austin William. Pte. (d.11th Jun 1940)
  • Barr Eric Forrester. WO2.
  • Blair William. Lt. (d.24th October 1942)
  • Carter George William Stephen. Pte. (d.25th Mar 1945)
  • Cowan John. Capt
  • Crawford Allan Warren. L/Sgt.
  • Cundick Ernest George. L/Cpl. (d.10th January 1945)
  • Devine James. Pte.
  • Duffy Charles G.. L/Cpl. (d.9th Feb 1945)
  • Ferguson George Bartleman. Cpl. (d.8th June 1940)
  • Ferguson John. Cpl. (d.3rd Oct 1944)
  • Ferrar Alexander. Sgt.
  • Ferrar Alexander.
  • Grant James John. Pte. (d.15 June 1940)
  • Hall Edward Lawrence. Pte.
  • Hamlin Harry William. Pte. (d.23rd March 1945)
  • Hardiment John Dennis. Capt.
  • Harrold Nathaniel. (d.17th June 1940)
  • Hart Edward. Pte.
  • Hastie Alexander Fyfe. Sgt. (d.22nd July 1943)
  • Hawksley Eric. Pte.
  • Hinton Fredrick Edward. Pte.
  • Holtby Robert Leslie. Lt.
  • Jardine Dougas Bell. Pte
  • Johnston James Douglas. Pte.
  • Jones Arthur William. Pte. (d.10th Feb 1945)
  • Livingstone John. Pte. (d.31st January 1943)
  • Macmillan George. Pte.
  • Mathieson Donald Benjamin. Pte.
  • McCorkindale James. Pte.
  • McGsachie MM Henry John Leacock. Sgt
  • McLean John. L/Cpl. (d.28th Mar 1945)
  • Millard Edward William. Pte.
  • Mullen Joseph Hughes. Pte. (d.12th Jun 1940)
  • Nicol Robert Hector. Sgt.
  • Paterson Alfred. Pte.
  • Pinnell Alfred Jack. Pte. (d.10th Aug 1944)
  • Pye George. L/Sgt. (d.23rd Sep 1943)
  • Ramshaw George. Pte. (d.14th July 1943)
  • Robertson Ian. Sgt. (d.8th Apr 1943)
  • Russell Thomas Dobbins. L/Cpl
  • Simpson James Alexander. Pte. (d.4th Jun 1940)
  • Spiers Alexander. L/Cpl.
  • Stewart Alexander. Cpl (d.23rd June 1944)
  • Sutherland Willliam. L/Cpl.
  • Walton George Geordie. Pte.
  • Watson Henry Barker. Pte.
  • Wilson Colin Lewis. Pte.
  • Young Thomas. Pte.

The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

Records of 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders from other sources.



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Want to know more about 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders?


There are:1531 items tagged 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders available in our Library

  These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War.


Pte. Colin Lewis "Jock" Wilson 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders

In 1933, at age 18, Colin Wilson (1915-1983), a farmhand, enlisted at Fort George. He met Rita Saunders whilst on manoeuvres in Ashdown Forest before WW11 and they wed in May 1945, 2 weeks after his return from captivity. He had been captured at St. Valery-en-Caux and sent to Stalag XX-B, where he was put to work on local farms.

When POW camp order broke down in 1945, he left driving a horse and cart for the fleeing farm owner, Ma Fleur. At some point, he went on foot, hitched rides etc. with one or two other soldiers and eventually reached Odessa, where after a fortnight's wait he got a lift on a Danish troop ship back to the UK in April/May. As he was on deck he acquired a good tan. He was very thin, and could speak but not write German.

He had a cheap set of cutlery which he had found on his journey which he used daily ever after, even when the fork handle had broken off. He brought back a mess tin in which Mother would make cakes. He would never drink soup or coffee after his POW experience. He was a quiet, gentle man possibly suffering from PTSD as he was somewhat monosyllabic once wed, leading Mother to issue him with, if you don't talk and buck your ideas up, we're finished. They remained married until his death from lung cancer in 1983. He did not speak of his experiences. He was a dairy herdsman, working with pedigree herds of Jersey and Guernsey cows during which for a period of 7 years he did not take any days off for illness. He had 14 siblings and one child of his own. He lived in England and hence was called Jock.

Ann Whitwell



Pte. Thomas Young 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders

Thomas Young, 11th (Scottish) Commando

Thomas Young, 7th Seaforth Highlanders, 1939

Thomas Young, Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), 1942

Tom Young, (my father) joined the Seaforth Highlanders on 11th of August 1939 and was initially posted to 7th Battalion. In July/August 1940, he volunteered for the No.11 (Scottish) Commando and on 7th of September 1940 was accepted and went for further training on the Isle of Arran, before sailing to Egypt via Cape Town. He served with this Commando unit until August 1941, being involved in the Battle of Litani River, Lebanon in June 1941.

When the 11th Commando was disbanded, he volunteered for and was accepted into the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) on 3rd of September 1941. He served with the LRDG until 19th of January 1943, mostly behind enemy lines.

He was then posted back to the 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders, in Libya and Tunisia and was involved in the Sicily landings, being wounded in the battle for Sferro Hills. He then returned to the UK and was involved in Operation Overlord, being evacuated back to the UK and treated in a Glasgow Hospital.

Tom's medals include the Africa Star with 8th Army clasp, the Italy Star, and the France/Germany Star.

Bob Young



Cpl Alexander Stewart 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (d.23rd June 1944)

Alexander was the youngest brother in my dad's family.




Pte. James Alexander "Tufty" Simpson 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.4th Jun 1940)

James Simpson was born in 1914 in Elgin, Morayshire. He was the eldest of three boys to Alexander and Elsie Simpson. James enlisted into the 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders aged 14yrs at Fort George and was a drummer boy. James re-enlisted in 1938 for a further 12 years and returned home immediately before the outbreak of war. James was still serving in the 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders at that time.

On 18th of January 1940 the Battalion was at Aldershot and was inspected by King George V1. On the 26th of January the 4th Battalion sailed for France and was moved into position in the Maginot Line in the Saar Valley, France. The German advance in May 1940 bypassed the Maginot Line and the 51st Highland Division fell back to a new position on the Somme at Abbeville. It was stationed in front of the Ouvrage Hackenberg fortress of the Maginot Line and had thus escaped being encircled with the rest of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk. It was then pulled back to a new line roughly along the River Somme, where it was attached to the French Tenth Army. For some time, it was forced to hold a line four times longer than that which would normally be expected of a division. The Division was attacked very heavily over 4th to 6thof June and it was on 4th June that James was reported missing in action believed killed during the attack on bridgeheads opposite Abbeville on the Somme.

James is remembered on the Elgin War Memorial

Eric Simpson



L/Sgt. George Pye 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.23rd Sep 1943)

George Pye was my Grandfather's brother, who originated from Blyth, Northumberland. I understand that George was a Lance Serjeant in the Seaforth Highlanders and was killed in action on the island of Sicily on 23rd of September 1943. He is buried at Catania Cemetery in Sicily.

John Pye



Pte. George William Stephen Carter 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.25th Mar 1945)

George Carter was shot and killed by a sniper.

Peter Hillier



Pte. William Austin 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.11th Jun 1940)

William Austin joined up to be with his brother John, but was killed in action in France. He is named on Dunkirk Memorial, son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Austin, of Glasgow.

Alan Austin



Pte. James Douglas Johnston 2nd Btn Seaforth Highlanders

James Johnston served with the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders.




Pte. Alfred Paterson 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders

Unfortunately, father, Alfred Paterson never spoke a lot about his time in the PoW camp. He had a tin with photos which could have been taken there but he destroyed them shortly before he died aged 97. We think he escaped 2 or 3 times and ended up in other camps which we are trying to trace.

Alfred Alan Paterson



Pte. Arthur William Jones 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.10th Feb 1945)

Arthur Jones died the day my mum was born, I am trying to find more information.

Christine Mitchell









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