The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service in World War I and World War II, along with many smaller conflicts. In 1961 the regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders to form the Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons), which merged, in 1994, with the Gordon Highlanders to form the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons). This later joined the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to create the present Royal Regiment of Scotland. History Formation The regiment was created in 1881 through the amalgamation of the 72nd (Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and the 78th (Highlanders) (Ross-shire Buffs) Regiment of Foot – which became the 1st and 2nd battalions of the new regiment – and was part of the Childers Reforms of the British Army. It was named after Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth, and his cousin Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, who originally raised respectively the 72nd and 78th regiments. Originally named "Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs)", on 22 November 1881 Queen Victoria approved the regiment's style as "Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's)". The 1st battalion saw action at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir in September 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War. After returning home, the battalion again went abroad in 1896, taking part in the International Occupation of Crete in 1897 and the reconquest of the Sudan, being present at the Battle of Atbara in April and the Battle of Omdurman in September 1898. It then moved to Cairo, and from late 1902 was posted to India, where it was stationed at Nasirabad, Ajmer. In 1881, the 2nd battalion was stationed in India. It saw service on the North West Frontier, taking part in the Hazara Expeditions in the summer 1888 and the spring of 1891, and the Chitral Expedition in spring 1895. Returning home in 1897, the outbreak of the Second Boer War saw the 2nd Battalion travel to South Africa in November 1899, suffering heavy losses at the Battle of Magersfontein in December 1899 and at the Battle of Paardeberg in February 1900. The 3rd, Militia battalion (formerly the Highland Rifle Militia), was embodied in late 1899,