By Chris Ferguson

THE BLACK WATCH’S historic home at Balhousie Castle in Perth will be retained as a local headquarters when the merged Royal Regiment of Scotland is formed early next year.

Senior regimental figures feared the regimental HQ and museum would close as a result of the merger, so the announcement by army commanders last night was a surprise.

However sources warned that regimental supporters must remain vigilant to ensure the castle is not run down once the row over the merging of Scotland’s six infantry regiments dies down in the coming years.

Balhousie houses a large collection of pictures, medals, equipment and kit, and pays tribute to the generations of Scots who have laid down their lives for their regiment and country.

Last night the Colonel Commandant of the Scottish Division, Major General Euan Loudon, revealed that, as expected, Edinburgh Castle will become the overall headquarters of the new Royal Regiment of Scotland.

The existing regimental headquarters of the independent regiments will be kept open as home HQs to maintain continuity with traditional recruiting areas.

“The principle will be applied that home HQ will deal with the old and the new RHQ will deal with the new: critically the home HQ will provide the link into the local communities from which the new regiment will continue to derive its strength,” said Major General Loudon.

“As has been made clear on several occasions, the existence of regimental museums will not be affected,” he added.

While the new RHQ will be in Edinburgh, the army has not finalised where the five new battalions will be based.

Each will have a permanent home when the arms plot, which sees units shift location and role every three years or so, ends as part of restructuring. However, an army spokesperson said the location of these bases has not been decided and there is no time-scale for the announcement.

The spokesperson added that battalions will not necessarily be based in their own recruiting areas.

Black Watch sources said there is speculation within the regiment that, when it becomes a battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, its home will be at Catterick in Yorkshire.

It is expected at least one or two battalions will be based in Edinburgh, one in Germany and one in Kent.

The Black Watch is due to be posted to Northern Ireland for 18 months to two years before moving to Fort George, near Inverness, although this may change in the wake of the IRA’s announcement of an end to the armed struggle.

Major General Loudon said formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland will take place no later than March, when all six Scottish regiments will each form a battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

By autumn next year the Royal Scots Battalion and King’s Own Scottish Borderers Battalion will merge to a single battalion.

Major General Loudon added, “The new regiment has secured some of the best roles the infantry can offer, including air assault and armoured infantry, so this is an opportunity to reinvigorate our recruiting efforts whilst still retaining the local family ethos and our military traditions of the Scottish infantry.”

There is a review under way of the current regimental headquarters, which will be renamed home HQs, and what their roles will be after The Royal Regiment of Scotland is formed.

The detailed findings are due towards the end of the year.

Major General Loudon said that now that the Scottish battalions will cease to move location and change role every three to five years, career versatility will be enhanced by a new policy of individual postings.

The uniform for the new regiment, for which there has been a great deal of consultation with the serving community, was designed on the principles of simplicity and style, he said.

“The Council of Scottish Colonels has agreed almost all the details, although it is only when the army dress committee has ratified those decisions that the uniform will be made official and public.

“This is likely to happen in the autumn 2005,” he added.