Scots Regiments, the "Ladies from Hell"

[Icox67]

Hi. I have read somewhere of the kilted Highland Regiments being referred to in WW1 as the "Ladies from Hell".

Is this a real or a fictitious label and, if real, does anyone know what battle it originated in? Battle of Loos, possibly?

Thanks,

Iain

[Guest]

Ladies from Hell

Not sure where the phrase originated, but am sure it has been discussed before. Can't find the thread though.

Mike

[Guest]

The earliest reference I can find in PapersPast is 26/12/1914 Click

Mike

[Jack Sheldon]

Oh dear, here we go again. I am utterly convinced that this expression was invented by some imaginative journalist. It is right up there with men being allegedly 'chained to machine guns'. After many years of scouring the German sources, I have never come across anything remotely like it. At Mons when the first dead highlanders were seen on the battlefield, the sight made the German soldiers laugh - and that is recorded.

I doubt if they laughed very much later on when they learned more of their fighting prowess, but the only specific reference to them I have ever found related to 14 July 1916 when they were described as, 'absolutely first class human material'. Ladies from Hell? I don't think so. Tell it to the Angels of Mons.

Jack

[PFF]

related link http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=193396&hl=%2Bladies+%2Bfrom+%2Bhell