British 1888 Pattern Mk I Lee Metford Bayonet, 3rd Gordon Highlanders (Royal Aberdeenshire Highlanders)

Unfullered spear pointed blade, wood scale grips with two brass rivets and clearance hole. Steel pommel and hilt with short quillon and muzzle ring. Black leather Land Mk I pattern scabbard with steel throat and chape.

The blade is stamped on one side of the ricasso with a crowned ‘V.R.’ over a production date of ‘12 ’90’, meaning December 1890, reissue stamps dated /95, ’96, ’00, ’04 and ’05, and five crown inspection stamps, some with ‘E’ for Enfield, some ‘B’ for Birmingham. On the other side it is stamped with a broad arrow and ‘WD’, meaning War Department property, another crown inspection stamp with ‘E’, and an ‘X’ which indicates that the blade passed a manufacturer’s bending test. Unusually there is a second ‘X’ which looks fresher. The spine of the blade has two further ‘E’ crown inspection marks. The exposed tang has a crown inspection stamp with ‘M’ and ‘6’.

The pommel is stamped with ‘3 GOR’ over ‘215’. This indicates that this was bayonet number 215 used by the 3^rd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders.

The throat piece of the scabbard is stamped at the lip with the letter ‘G’. The scabbard leather is stamped with another broad arrow and ‘WD’, a crown inspection mark with ‘E’ for Enfield, and the manufacture date ’95. The throat and chape pieces have a tiny crown inspection mark beneath the staple on one side, which is legible on the throat piece as ‘E’.

The Aberdeen Militia was first formed in 1798, also known as the 6^th North British Militia. It was one of 10 militia regiments formed in Scotland by the Scottish Militia Act of 1797, which largely replicated the Militia Act of 1757 as passed in England but with the added urgency of threat from Revolutionary France. The first call-up for many of these units was, ironically, to suppress rioting caused by the unpopularity of the Militia Act. From 1803 the regiment was titled the or 55th Aberdeenshire Regiment of Militia.

In 1855 the regiment was re-embodied as the 89^th Royal Aberdeenshire Highlanders Militia, having like most of the Militia fallen into a state of total dormancy, existing only on paper. It was recruited afresh and built back up into a functional unit, assisted by a nationwide wave of enthusiasm for military volunteering in 1859. A new depot complex was constructed for the regiment in Aberdeen in 1863, the King Street Militia Barracks. It kept up healthy recruitment and in 1880 the regiment was expanded in numbers by 300 men.

In 1881 the Childers Reforms amalgamated the 75^th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot together with the 92^nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment, the Royal Aberdeenshire Highlanders Militia and two Volunteer regiments to form the new Gordon Highlanders. The Royal Aberdeenshire Highlanders therefore became 3^rd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders.

Militia units could not be deployed overseas, so during the Boer War of 1899-1902 the battalion stayed in place as a home defense and training unit. However, men from militia and volunteer battalions could volunteer to fight overseas – those who agreed were formed into ‘Volunteer Service Companies’, which travelled to South Africa and reinforced the regulars.

These volunteers saw frontline action alongside the Gordons’ 1^st and 2^nd Battalions, especially the first and largest group which joined the 1^st Battalion at multiple battles, most notably including the Battle of Doornkop in which they mounted a famous bayonet charge with their Lee Metfords. The participation of the Gordons’ Volunteer battalions is well attested but I have been unable to determine whether men of the 3^rd Battalion also served in the Service Companies.

The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, part of the wide-ranging Haldane Reforms to the Army, abolished the old Militia system. Militia battalions were transformed into ‘Special Reserve’ battalions, their role changing from home defense units to recruitment and training units that would supply replacements for the regular battalions of their regiments during a major conflict. The battalion therefore became the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, Gordon Highlanders. It served in this role throughout WW1 training thousands of recruits, primarily stationed in Aberdeen and later moving to coastal defense duties at North Berwick.

After WW1 the 3^rd Battalion was stood down and demobilised in 1919. It remained disembodied, in suspended animation with no actual soldiers, from 1922 until 1953, when it was finally formally disbanded. It had no successor unit. The Gordons as a whole were amalgamated together with the Seaforth Highlanders and Cameron Highlanders in 1994 to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons). This was then merged in 2006 into the modern Royal Regiment of Scotland, becoming its 4^th battalion, ‘4 SCOTS’.

The blade is bright with some small spots of dark patination. Its tip is undamaged and sharp. The scabbard fittings and hilt parts have dark mottled patination, worn brighter on raised edges. The wood grips have some small dents and spots of staining, light abrasion on one side. The steel scabbard pieces are darkly patinated, possibly lacquered. The leather of the scabbard body has only light rubbing wear.