One of the most eminent and influential Cameron Highlanders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Spencer Ewart was born in 1861 and educated at Marlborough and Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders in 1881 and this regiment above all others remained at the centre of his affections for the rest of his life.

He served with the Camerons in Eqypt in 1882 and fought at the battle of Tel- el- Kebir. Thereafter his battle experience included the Nile Expedition of 1884-85, the Sudan Frontier Field Force 1885-86, Sudan 1898 and South Africa 1899-1902. While serving with the Camerons it was Ewart who began the Regimental Journal, The 79th News. This was one of the earliest regimental journals of its kind and it was published in an unbroken run until the regiment was amalgamated in 1961.

After 1902 Spencer Ewart began a distinguished career at the War Office which culminated in 1910 with his appointment as Adjutant General. In the various appointments which he held at the War Office he was influential in implementing all of the major reforms of the period from the birth of the Territorial Force to planning, training, selection and equipment reviews following the South African War and a major reappraisal of the system of Battle honours. As a result of this latter work the “Cypher of Queen Victoria within the Garter” was added to the honours of the Camerons.

Ewart was also involved in the founding of the British Secret Service, the formation of the Piobaireachd Society, which was destined to train all Army Pipe Majors for 50 years, and the compilation and writing of the Historical Records of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, volumes which set new standards for regimental histories.

Ewart’s career and influence was abruptly curtailed in March 1914 when he resigned as Adjutant General as a result of “the Curragh Incident” when British officers stationed at the Curragh camp near Dublin made it clear that they would choose not to march against Ulstermen in the north.

Thereafter Spencer Ewart was appointed as General Officer Commanding in Chief, Scottish Command and, in spite his brilliant brain and his battle, staff and planning experience, he spent a heartbreaking war at home. He was never invited to visit the Western Front or see his beloved Cameron Highlanders in the front line.

Spencer Ewart died in 1930 at his home Craigcleugh, near Langholm.