Cap Badge - The Queens Own Cameron Highlanders (79th Regiment of Foot), circa 1874. - 1881 Other Ranks glengarry badge Description: White metal cap badge depicting St Andrew on ground with his saltire cross at the centre of a wreath of thistles, the top arms of which join the top arms of the cross. There is no "Camerons)" scroll. The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1793. In 1961 it was merged with the Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany’s) to form the Queen’s Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons). The regiment’s lineage is now continued by The Highlanders, 4th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The 79th become 'The 79th Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders' 1873 On their return to Great Britain in 1871, the 79th were stationed for two years at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight, and provided the Guards of Honour and ceremonial duties whenever Queen Victoria was in residence at Osborne nearby. It was this period which led to the Queen's special affection for the 79th. She presented the fifth Stand of Colours to the 79th at Parkhurst on 17 April 1873, and in July ordered that the regiment should be designated 'The 79th Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders'. On becoming a Royal regiment, the facings of the 79th were changed from Green to Blue, and the regiment was given as its badge the 'Thistle ensigned with the Imperial Crown.' The badge remains part of the badge of the Queen's Own Highlanders today. The 42nd and 79th Depot at Perth 1873-1881 Under the Localisation Scheme of 1873, and until the Army Reforms of 1881, the 79th were linked with the 42nd Royal Highlanders (The Black Watch). The joint depot of No. 57 Sub District was established at Perth, and the two regiments were allocated a recruiting area of Kincardine and Forfarshire. Under this arrangement it was the home battalion's duty to keep the overseas battalion up to strength with drafts. The system was put to the test when the linked 42nd were sent at short notice to join General Wolseley on the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in December 1873 as part of the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, also known as the "First Ashanti Expedition" which lasted from 1873 to 1874. The 79th was required to supply a draft of 100 volunteers to bring them up to strength for the Ashanti Campaign. The 79th in Great Britain 1871-1873 After two years at Parkhurst, the 79th moved to Aldershot in 1873. During the summer manoeuvres of 1873, they were brigaded with the 42nd, 78th and 93rd, and it was a friendly reunion for the few remaining veterans of the Indian Mutiny who were still serving. In 1875 the 79th moved to Edinburgh Castle, in 1876 to Fort George, and in 1878 to Glasgow. The regiment provided the Royal Guard at Ballater from 1876 - 1878. In 1879 the 79th sailed for Gibraltar where they relieved the linked regiment, the 42nd Royal Highlanders. The Army Reforms 1881 Under the Army Reforms of 1881, the 79th was the only single battalion infantry regiment to escape amalgamation. The old regimental numbers were officially discontinued and so the 79th became 'The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. The Camerons were given the territorial area of Inverness-shire and Nairn. When it had been started in 1876 it had been intended for the combined Depot of the 71st and 78th Highlanders. Now it was to become the Depot of The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. However Cameron Barracks, as it is now called, was not completed until 1886 and so, until then, the Camerons Regimental Depot was accommodated at Fort George with the Seaforth Depot.