The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum

20/05/2026

King's College London recently released a podcast in which they interviewed Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Irwin of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards about HERRICK 14 (Jamie was then a Captain). It is a fascinating and at times emotional interview that covers the many challenges the Regiment faced in Afghanistan including the tactics, morale, combat and the tragic death of Craftsman Andrew Found.

🎙️ Podcast – Episode 2

In the second episode of the War Studies War Stories miniseries, King’s alumni Rupert Lane and Nick Denning (War Studies, 2002–2005) speak with Jamie Irwin (War Studies, 2000–2003), who served with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in on HERRICK 14, having previously deployed to on TELIC 12.

The episode explores the high-intensity counter-insurgency campaign in in 2011 through the eyes of an armoured commander, delving into combat operations, tactics, morale and the realities of operating in a hostile environment alongside a civilian population under extreme pressure.

🎧Listen now: https://bit.ly/4vXhpN7

▶️Watch the interview: https://bit.ly/4dg6Ay9

21/04/2026

Yesterday our curator was at the wonderful National Army Museum Conference to present to the other regimental museums about the projects and activities we have done over the last few years. It was an excellent opportunity to get our name out there!

It was also a chance to hear about the other brilliant work that is going on in the sector with talks including The Tank Museum on their exhibition about armoured warfare in Ukraine and The Fusiliers film project that commemorated the 80th anniversary of Salerno.

27/03/2026

Looking to visit the Museum with children? Or perhaps you would just rather have the Regiment's history told through different eyes? Well, with the help of Connor, our fantastic student placement from the University of Glasgow, we have adapted the brilliant Leuchars Primary School animation from 2024. It is now a trail through the Museum where visitors can scan QR codes and learn about chapters of the Regiment's history through the words of the pupils.

15/02/2026

On the 15th February 1900 the 6th Dragoon Guards (The Carabiniers) and the 2nd Dragoons (The Royal Scots Greys) took part in the Relief of Kimberley. Kimberley had been under siege by the Boers since October 1899. On the 10th February Major-General John French was told his cavalry division was to free Kimberley at all costs. Brigadier General Porter of the Carabiniers was to lead the 1st Cavalry Brigade on their march to Kimberley – with the Greys also being part of his Brigade.

In our collection we have a number of Queen’s South Africa medals with the Relief of Kimberley clasp as well as archival letters and diaries from Scots Greys officers and a Carabinier scrapbook with photographs from the campaign. Through this material it gives us an insight into the difficult conditions experienced by men and horses.

On the 15th they set off at 8am and soon all three Brigades were under fire from the Boers. They then began to heavily shell the Horse Artillery Batteries trying to support the Brigades. Lieutenant Harrison described ‘…General French and staff appear to reconnoitre position. Boer guns promptly place a shell ten yards short of them, they move at a walk behind small Kopje second Boer shell bursts just on ridge of Kopje. French and staff appear again still as a walk and this time the Boer shell goes over their heads. It was beautiful to watch as the Boer practice was splendid really and French’s coolness beyond everything.’

After months under siege the town welcomed the soldiers who entered Kimberley, ‘General French and his staff went into Kimberley and had a great reception and dined with Cecil Rhodes who entertained them royally in spite of the paucity of provisions after a 4 months siege.’

But not all soldiers had the good fortune to get this treatment as Major Hippisley describes, ‘The Convoy with all our food and forage and pack animals had been left behind at the Modder when we left there in the morning… we had to lie down with only our cloaks and for food we had to content ourselves with a dry biscuit or two and such tinned meat as we had left in our haversacks washed down with some very nasty tasting water from an old disused well.’

After the trek to Kimberley they had hoped and expected to have a rest but on the 16th Hippisley writes, ‘We had orders overnight to stand to our horses at 4am and await orders but we none of us believed after our hard weeks work that we should really be required to do anything today more especially as our horses had got nothing to eat… however at 4.20 French and his staff appeared mounted at the end of our lines and an A.D.C. came over to enquire for the Colonel who was still asleep. The A.D.C. told the Colonel that the General did not wish to hurry us so the Colonel replied that he intended sending the horses out to graze later on, imagining like the rest of us that the General was going to give us all a day of rest. Imagine our feelings therefore as we lay around but half awake when the A.D.C. said "You quite misunderstand me the General means your regiment will not have to turn out for another quarter of an hour".’

The Greys joined up with the rest of Porter’s Brigade and along with the 3rd Brigade sought to clear out any Boers in the neighbourhood and try to capture the 6" gun with which the Boers had used to fire 100 pound shells into Kimberley. The Brigade was ambushed by Boers in scrub at Dronfield. B and C Squadrons of the Greys dismounted and fire into the scrub while the rest of the Brigade sought cover. Hippisley said, ‘The men in the firing line had nearly exhausted their supply of ammunition and tho' there was an ammunition cart near the led horses it was practically impossible to take any up to the firing line. Bunbury and Fordyce in the firing line were both badly wounded besides several of the men killed and wounded. I at once gave the order to retire first sending back the ammunition cart and maxim gun with orders to get back to the crest of a hill some 200 yards in rear, the maxim to endeavour to cover the retreat.’ On returning to Kimberley the Brigade was then able to rest until the 21st.

In total 4 men were killed and another 6 wounded after the attack of the 16th they included Lieutenant Bunbury who died from his wounds and Lieutenant Fordyce who recovered. In a letter Harrison simply says, ‘The less said about the next days fight the better, French admits himself it was a mistake.’

The Carabiniers would remain in South Africa until 1902 before moving to India then returning to South Africa in 1908. It was 1910 before they were once again back in Britain. For the Scots Greys they remained in South Africa until 1904 when they sailed back to England.

02/02/2026

So January saw us make a few more changes to the Museum. Our archivist has developed a new interactive for the Gallery centered around Operation TELIC . In it he has used the voices of five soldiers to help our visitors understand the challenges the Regiment faced from Trooper to Commanding Officer and also their reflections on TELIC. This sits alongside the case we installed last year which also has a new addition – the SA80 L22A2 that we received last year.

Our other major change is the small alcove we call Gallery 3. This had become a dark, unused space that featured no objects and was being wasted in our small Museum. We have now installed a case with objects linking the Regiment to Edinburgh and the Castle. Among the items on display is a silver mounted trooper that was presented to Captain Currie by the officers on the occasion of his marriage. This has been modelled on The Royal Scots Greys Memorial on Princes Street. We also have a commemorative shell casing that had been fired when the Regiment supported 97 Battery (Lawson’s Company) in conducting the gun salute at the Castle to mark the 2nd anniversary of the accession of HM King Charles III. Among the pictures you can see a before and after of the space – we hope you’ll agree it’s a huge improvement!

Finally, we have also reinstalled the music system throughout the Museum so that Pipers and Drums can be heard in our galleries and at the entrance. Hopefully this will attract even more visitors to see us.

19/01/2026

Congratulations to RSM Grieve on this appointment! Also a big thank you to RSM Lang for the support and encouragement he has given the Museum during his tenure. We wish you all the best.

16/01/2026

07/01/2026

On 1st January 1915 the Military Cross was established as a new decoration for bravery to be awarded to officers below the rank of Captain and Warrant Officers. Among the first 98 awards was one to Lieutenant George Pigot-Moodie who became the first Royal Scots Grey to receive the Military Cross.

He was born in South Africa in 1888 to Scottish parents and commissioned into The Greys in 1908. At the outbreak of the First World War he was the Regiment’s machine-gun officer, commanding twenty-nine other ranks armed with three Maxim machine-guns. On 22 August, less than a week after arriving in France, Lieutenant Pigot-Moodie demonstrated the effectiveness of well concealed machine-guns:

'Pte. D***s (Greys) met a patrol of 17 men. Hiding in a wood, the men were allowed to pass. Suddenly Lieut. Pigot-Moodie opened on them with his machine guns at a range of about a mile, and with the first burst hit every man.'

For his services in the early engagements of the war Pigot-Moodie was Mentioned in Dispatches and he would receive a further two Mention in Dispatches over the course of the war as well as his Military Cross.

By September 1916 he was temporary Major and commanding a Machine-Gun School within the newly-formed Machine-Gun Corp. At the end of the year he was promoted temporary Lieutenant-Colonel in the Machine-Gun Corps (Infantry).

With the Armistice declared in 1918, Pigot-Moodie left the disbanding Machine-Gun Corps, relinquished his temporary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and returned to The Greys, reverting to the rank of Captain.

It was 14 years before he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and put in command of The Royal Scots Greys. In mid-1934 he led a 470 mile recruitment march through Scotland with 21 officers, 250 men and 200 grey horses.

Pigot-Moodie relinquished command in 1936 and was promoted to Colonel joining before moving to the Retired List in August 1938. During the Second World War he again served, initially on the staff of Southern Command and later as Brigadier he was Director of Pioneers and Labour Corps for the Middle East.

In the 1950s he returned to southern Africa and died in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on 14 June 1959.

25/12/2025

Veterans, Serving & Families... Join SCOTS DG Connect this Christmas!

Connect with friends, join groups, plus all the latest news & events.

As Christmas approaches, it is the perfect time to connect on SCOTS DG Connect, the digital hub for our Regimental Family. For our veterans, serving personnel & families, download and register now and share with your friends from the Regiment.

https://www.militaryapp.org/login/app-support?regiment=scotsdg

23/12/2025

Its been an incredibly busy and fun 2025. We have completed a redisplay of Gallery 4 to tell the modern regimental history; given talks to charities, unveiled a blue plaque to Ensign Ewart; supported visits from cadets, new recruits and potential officers; and catalogued the amazing new items donated to our collection by the public. Next year promises to bring more of the same - we already have some exciting new additions to the Museum lined up for January.

On that note all of us from The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum and Shop would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. From our archive is the regimental Christmas card of The Royal Scots Greys, 1945 signed by the Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Duggie Stewart.

The Museum will remain open to visitors over the Christmas period, excluding the dates of the 24th-26th December and the 1st and 2nd January, where it will be closed.

The office will be closed from 24th December to the 5th January.