51st Highland Division piece in upcoming BBC Landward programme
7th November 2011
The BBC Landward programme is planning to run a piece on the 51st Highland Division in this weeks show. The show includes a contribution from our website historian, Brig. Charles Grant, and looks at the story of the 51st Highland Division and the contribution its soldiers made in the two World Wars.
The programme will go out on BBC Two (in Scotland only - although anyone can watch it for a week after it's aired via the BBC iplayer) on Friday, 11th November at 8pm. To find out more, visit the BBC Landward website.
You may also be interested in watching a short piece on the Lovat Scouts which went out last Friday and is still available on the BBC iplayer until the end of the week - go to the BBC iplayer
2nd Battalion Highland ACF Battlefield study
October 2011
In October 2011 Brig. C Grant accompanied Colonel Dave Chapman MBE, Commandant of 2nb Bn Highlanders Army Cadet Force, and a party of just over 50 cadets and adult instructors to France for a battlefield study. Organised by Col Chapman who had, in the previous year, helped organise a similar tour for Aberdeen University Officer Training Corps, the aim was “to study the actions of the 51st Highland Division between 04 and 13 June 1940 in order to identify the enduring lessons from defense and withdrawal operations again a better understanding of the realities of war.” The tour included following the withdrawal of the Division and the actions at the River Somme, the River Bresle and finally around St.Valéry en Caux.
The exercise was extremely enjoyable and provided a wide range of lessons. For many, it improved an understanding of what their parents and grandparents had experienced. The time at St.Valéry en Caux concluded with a commemorative service in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at St.Valéry where wreaths were laid on behalf of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the 2nd Battalion the Highlanders ACF.
On the return journey they took the opportunity to visit part of the World War One Somme battlefield including a visit of the 51st Highland Division monument at Beaumont Hamel.
The exercise was extremely successful, the administration was first-class and most importantly everyone left knowing their links to the 51st Highland Division and with a real understanding of the individual and collective sacrifices made by those who served in the Division.
New websit content coming soon
October 2011
We're please to say that we have been gaining a great selection of photographs and journal extracts from members of the public and we hope to publish some of that content in early 2012.
We should also have a brand new chapter from our site historian, Brig. Charles Grant, to add to the History section which will detail the 51st Highland Division in the First World War.
Watch this space for more news...
Newly redesigned website is here
April 2011
Extra info under each photograph
Every photograph on the site now has supporting information included on the page (which you can view by clicking on the 'i' icon below each photo). We have also recoded the site to allow visitors to 'launch' larger versions of each photograph by clicking the image or by clicking on the icon of the magnifying glass below the photo. If a high resolution image is available we'll include a link to it within the 'supporting information'.
Clear site sections, chapters and personal account links
We've also tried to more clearly highlight sections of the history that have more information for you to click through to by display '[Chapter]' or '[Account]' indicators next to links into other sections of the site.
Easier Navigation
Finally, we've made it easier for those of you who are interested in reading through the history of the 51st Highland Division in a chronological thread by including dates in page titles and menu links and by adding 'previous' and 'next' links at the bottom of the page which also list their corresponding page titles.
New 'Content Tags'
We've gone to great lengths to make the information held within the various sections of our site more accessible to visitors. We're currently in the process of painstakingly re-indexing ALL of the content, including the Divisional History pages, Personal Accounts, Extracts and Photographs, to allow us to more easily link related content via a new 'Content Tag' system.
This should now allow visitors to simply and easily follow threads of content relating to keywords that particularly interest them, such as viewing all content relating to the 'Seaforth Highlanders' or 'North Africa' for example.
Re-indexing everything in the site is taking some time. If a tag you view appears a little sparse, please bare with us - we hope to have all content correctly 'tagged' within the next few days so do check back next week.
We hope you like the new site and enjoy finding out more about the history of the 51st Highland Division.
P.S. Don't forget to follow our Twitter feed for fresh updates on new site content or info on any upcoming Radio or TV broadcasts we think you might find interesting... Follow us at: twitter.com/51HD
Archive Site News
Pre-April 2011
We plan to incorporate the old site news into this news section shortly... in the meantime, you might like to view our twitter feed which also carries links to key updates - twitter.com/51HD