Lieutenant-Colonel A.W.H.J. Montgomery-Cuninghame
11th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers

As the name ‘Big Monty’ might imply, Lt.-Col. Montgomery-Cuninghame was an awesome figure. Well over six feet tall and built like a giant, he was a forceful and thrusting leader of the Battalion … Of course, some of the methods he had formulated to attain the present discipline and dedication to the job in hand, had not always met with the instant approval of the rank and file.

(Kenneth West, An’ It’s Called a Tam-o’-shanter)

Born on 28 October 1905 in Chelsea, Middlesex, England, Alexander William Henry James Montgomery-Cuninghame was heir to Baronet of Corsehill. His father Sir Thomas (1877—1945), earned the Distinguished Service Order in the Boer War and his grandfather Sir William James (1834—1897), received the Victoria Cross in the Crimean War. Following the family’s military tradition, the younger Montgomery-Cuninghame took a commission in the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

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