Paul E Belliveau

Percy Guthrie and The MacLean Kilties Paul E Belliveau

In June 1915, while lying in No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital in France recovering from multiple wounds received at the Battle of Festubert, Major Percy Guthrie heard the pipes and drums of a Scottish battalion as it passed on its way to the front and the idea of forming a kilted battalion in his home province of New Brunswick was conceived. This is the story of the political, military, and financial trials and tribulations Percy Guthrie had to overcome to form his all volunteer Highland Battalion in Fredericton, New Brunswick, which became affectionately known as the "MacLean Kilties". The book details Guthrie's innovative and imaginative clarion "call to arms" to all those with Scottish roots throughout Canada and in the American New England States. The story unfolds with the Kilties' transition from an untrained military unit in Fredericton to a highly skilled military battalion in Camp Seaford, England.