The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division.

By the end of 1941 all KOSB battalions except 1st 2nd and 9th were in Scotland.
From summer 1942 4th and 5th KOSB trained as mountain troops and later as airborne infantry. But it was 7th battalion who trained principally for the airborne role.

With the allied invasion of Europe in 1944, 1st battalion KOSB was there at the forefront, returning to France on D-Day, 6th June, landing at ‘Queen’ Beach. They fought through Normandy and around Caen until the town capitulated, and then advanced north through Belgium and Holland to the Rhine and Bremen.

The 4th and 5th battalions found themselves in the Low Countries in the autumn of 1944, taking part on the strongly contested assault landings on Walcheren Island, at the mouth of the Scheldt. They then fought through into Germany taking a notable part in operation Blackcock and also taking part in the capture of Bremen.

The 6th battalion landed on the Normandy beaches on the 15th June 1944, and took part in the battles around Caen and the River Odon. Fighting through France, Belgium and Holland, and crossing the Siegfried Line, they advanced across the Rhine into Germany.

7th KOSB became glider-borne troops with the 1st Airborne Division, and in September 1944 they were flown into the landing zone west of the village of Wolfheze, near Arnhem. At Johannahoeve Farm and later at The White House, the battalion along with other airborne troops found itself surrounded by an enemy force superior in numbers and equipped with tanks. They fought gallantly but never really had a chance. When the order to retreat was given on 25th September, what had gone in as a 740 strong Battalion had been reduced to 4 Officers and 72 men. The KOSB’s losses at Arnhem, 90% killed and taken prisoner, were the third highest of any battalion engaged.