The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons), officially abbreviated "QO HLDRS," was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. It was in existence from 1961 to 1994. History 1961–1970 The regiment was formed on 7 February 1961 at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh, with the amalgamation of 1st Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders and 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders to form the 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Highlanders. This was a part of the defence reforms originally announced in the 1957 Defence White Paper, which saw a reduction in the size of the British Army to reflect the end of National Service. The battalion was sent to Singapore in April 1961 from where it was deployed to Brunei in December 1962 in order to help suppress the Brunei Revolt at an early stage of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. This included a successful air assault on the rebel–held Shell oilfields at Seria, with the airfield quickly recaptured and 48 hostages released. Returning to Singapore in February 1962, the battalion went back to Borneo three months later for a further operational tour, mainly consisting of long patrols and manning outlying garrisons on the border with Indonesia. On return to Scotland in January 1964, the battalion was based at Milton Bridge Camp, a former facility for German Prisoners of War, located south east of Glencorse Barracks. In June 1964 the battalion moved to Mercer Barracks at Osnabrück Garrison, part of British Army of the Rhine, remaining there until August 1966 when it moved to Wavell Barracks in Berlin. The battalion returned to Redford Barracks in September 1968 from where units were deployed to Sharjah on the Persian Gulf in May 1969, while in July 1970 it undertook ceremonial duties at that year's Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. 1971–1982 In April 1971 the battalion returned to Osnabrück Garrison, from where they were deployed for a total of three separate four–month operational tours at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland: November 1971 – March 1972 (East Belfast); July – October 1972: (Dungannon) and December 1973 – April 1974 (West Belfast). In June 1976 the battalion returned to Scotland, this time to Ritchie Camp, West Lothian, from where parts of the battalion were deployed to Belize, Gibraltar and twice to Northern Ireland, April – August 1978 (North Armagh) and July – December 1979 (South Armagh). During this tour, the battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel David Blair,