Major Hugh Cairns
5th Battalion, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders

Members of the Battalion at this time will remember Colonel Cairns sitting out under an apple tree in an orchard in Battalion H.Q.’s area behind the “‘Triangle,’ quite impervious to the sniping self-propelled gun, which dropped many shells into this area at unpredictable moments, with generally unpleasant results: his gallantry and example at Ste Honorine will not easily be forgotten.

(Historical Records of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders 1932-1948, 103)

Born on 27 Jan 1911 Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, Hugh William Cairns was a grandson of Lord Chancellor Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns (1819—1885). Cairns was commissioned in the Cameron the Highlanders and served in India before the outbreak of the Second World War. He joined the 5th Battalion in May 1944 and led C Company on landing in France a month later.

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