The Kandahar Reel or The Duke of Rothesa's Kandahar Reel

RSCDS members will be famiIiar with the story of how The Reel of the 51st Division was devised during the Second World War. In 2009 the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, were serving in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Two officers, Capt. Andy Colquhoun and his cousin, Lt. Rob Colquhoun, decided to compose a reel that

reflected their tour. Ideas were scribbled in notebooks during operations and when back in Kandahar the reel was put together over a couple of late evenings in their tents. Coincidentally Major Ali Hempenstall, a grandson of one of the men who devised The Reel of the 51st, was also serving within the Battalion during the summer.

The Kandahar Reel reflects the incredible teamwork required to run and support military operations. The first half of the reel sees the team building towards the focus of the dance – a series of four person teapots (right hands across). These represent both the double rotor Chinook helicopters that brought soldiers in and out of each operation and the single rotor Black Hawks that so often extracted their casualties during the operation. The reel was first danced as a demonstration set during a ball at the Black Watch Officers Mess in December 2009 to mark the Battalion’s homecoming. It was then danced for the Duke of Rothesay when he visited the Battalion to hand out Afghanistan campaign medals in January 2010. The devisers hope that this energetic reel will be danced widely in recognition of the efforts of the Black Watch during summer 2009, in support of those soldiers who returned with life changing injuries and in memory of those soldiers who did not return. The RSCDS is currently in discussions with the devisers regarding publication of the dance.

The Kandahar Reel performed for the first time in the Black Watch Officers' Mess.