Scots Guards

The 1st Battalion, as part of its brigade, joined the [[6th Armoured Division (South Africa)|6th South African Armoured Division]] in May 1944. The regiment took part in many fierce engagements throughout 1944, including those against the [[Gothic Line]], a formidable defensive line.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=4401|title=6th South African Armoured Division|access-date=27 April 2014}}</ref>

The 1st Battalion, as part of its brigade, joined the [[6th Armoured Division (South Africa)|6th South African Armoured Division]] in May 1944. The regiment took part in many fierce engagements throughout 1944, including those against the [[Gothic Line]], a formidable defensive line.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=4401|title=6th South African Armoured Division|access-date=27 April 2014}}</ref>

=== The Batang Kali Massacre (1948) ===

{{Main|Batang Kali massacre}}

In 1948, the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards were deployed to [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]] (now [[Malaysia]]) to crush a socialist and pro-independence uprising during a conflict known as the [[Malayan Emergency]]. The uprising was led by communist guerrillas of the [[Malayan National Liberation Army]] (MNLA), many of which had been previously trained and funded by the British military to fight against Japan during WWII. During their time in Malaya the Scots Guards rounded up the population of a villiage near the Batang Kali river, began psychologically torturing civilians by staging mock executions,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Batang Kali massacre a lesson for British Army’s murderers, and all others… the truth will out in end|language=en-GB|work=belfasttelegraph|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/batang-kali-massacre-a-lesson-for-british-armys-murderers-and-all-others-the-truth-will-out-in-end-34246937.html|access-date=2021-03-08|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref name=”:1″>{{Cite news|last=Boycott|first=Owen|date=21 April 2015|title=Malaya inquiry to hear from survivors of Batang Kali shootings by British troops|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/apr/21/malaya-inquiry-batang-kali-massacre-supreme-court|access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref> before executing 24 innocent unarmed civilians,<ref name=”auto1″>{{Cite news|last=Shirbon|first=Estelle|date=2012-09-04|title=Britain held responsible for 1948 mass killing in Malaya|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-malaysia-killings-idUSBRE8830VG20120904|access-date=2021-03-08}}</ref> and burning their village down.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-04-18|title=Batang Kali killings: Britain in the dock over 1948 massacre in|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/batang-kali-killings-britain-dock-over-1948-massacre-malaysia-10187309.html|access-date=2021-03-08|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref><ref name=”auto1″ /> Many of their corpses were found to have been mutilated by the Scots Guards.<ref name=”auto”>{{Cite web|date=2012-05-05|title=Revealed: how Britain tried to legitimise Batang Kali massacre|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/06/britain-batang-kali-massacre-malaysia|access-date=2021-03-08|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The massacre, which became known as the [[Batang Kali massacre]], has often been described by historians as “Britain’s My Lai” and compared to the [[Mỹ Lai massacre]] committed by the United States military in Vietnam.<ref name=”:2″>{{Cite news|last=Townsend|first=Mark|date=6 May 2012|title=Revealed: how Britain tried to legitimise Batang Kali massacre|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/06/britain-batang-kali-massacre-malaysia|access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-11|title=Britain’s My Lai? Remembering the Batang Kali massacre in Malaysia|url=https://southeastasiaglobe.com/remembering-the-batang-kali-massacre/|access-date=2021-03-08|website=Southeast Asia Globe|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=”auto” />

Many of the surviving relatives of the innocent civilians executed by the Scots Guards were forced to live their livies in poverty, one became a child bride at the age of 16 in order to survive, some were forced to live in decrepit house for shelter, and others were split up as orphans and were never able to rediscover their siblings.<ref name=”:0″>{{Cite web|last=Vengadesan|first=Martin|last2=Chia Ying|first2=Lim|date=8 May 2012|title=Agony of massacre victims’ descendants|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/features/2012/05/08/agony-of-massacre-victims-descendants/|url-status=live|access-date=27 September 2021|website=The Star}}</ref> A week after the massacre some of the families returned to the villiage to find that the Scots Guards had burnt down their homes, and that the corpses had been left to rot. One of the last surviving witnesses to the massacre was Wong Then Loy, who was 8 years old when he and his father collected and buried the bodies of the victims.<ref name=”:0″ /> Many of the bodies had also been mutilated.<ref name=”:2″ /> No weapons were ever found at the site of the massacre, and the former leader of the MNLA guerrillas came forward to testify that none of his soldiers were ever involved with the villagers.<ref name=”:2″ />

One of the Scots Guards soldiers who took part in the massacre came forward after the news broke of the [[Mỹ Lai massacre]], and commented that “Once we started firing we seemed to go mad.”<ref name=”:2″ /> Four Scots Guards soldiers came forward to ”The People” magazine and gave eyewitness accounts of the massacre.<ref name=”:3″>{{Cite news|last=Bowcott|first=Owen|date=2015|title=Relatives lose fight for inquiry into 1948 Batang Kali ‘massacre’|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/nov/25/relatives-lose-fight-for-inquiry-into-1948-batang-kali-massacre|access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref> Some of the Scots Guards testified that they had been ordered by superiors to lie about the massacre.<ref name=”:3″ /> A total of 6 Scots Guards confessed to committing the Batang Kali Massacre and their testimonies were corroborated by forensic evidence, though intervention by the British government attempted to halt any investigations into the matter.<ref name=”:1″ />

=== Since 1948 ===

=== Since 1948 ===