The Black Watch first served in Iraq in April 2003

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said that 600 soldiers from the Scottish infantry regiment were being sent back to Iraq.

Mr Hoon described the extra troop deployment as a modest increase, but it comes amidst mounting violence in the south of the country.

The regiment will replace the 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders when their tour ends in July.

The Black Watch first fought in Iraq in April 2003 as part of the 7th Armoured Brigade, which led the Desert Rats' attack on Basra, the country's second city.

On the regiment's return to the UK, commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel James Cowan said it had been left with a shortage of kit by the Ministry of Defence.

Troops had been sent to Iraq without equipment needed to survive a chemical or biological attack, he added.

Black Watch Regimental Sergeant Major Brian Cooper also criticised the shortage of nuclear, biological and chemical protection suits and equipment.

But both men said complaints should be kept in perspective, considering the success of the Iraq campaign and the amount of equipment transported to the Gulf.

Fighting force

The Black Watch suffered one casualty in southern Iraq, when L/Cpl Barry Stephen died saving colleagues during a military attack near Al Zubayr on 24 March.

Reports surfaced in late 2003 that the regiment might be wound up in a re-jig of the armed forces following the withdrawal of 9,000 troops from Northern Ireland in 2005 - but Mr Hoon said a decision had yet to be made.

Based in Germany, it is one of Scotland's six regiments.

The regiment's website describes it as "the premier Scottish infantry regiment in the British Army and one of the most famous fighting forces in the world".

Peacekeeping duties

As well as fighting in numerous wars, it has also carried out peacekeeping duties, in Cyprus in 1966, in Northern Ireland from the 1970s, and Kosovo.

In Iraq, the regiment was also involved in aid distribution and the early stages of reconstruction.

It was established in 1725 to maintain law and order in the Highlands after the first Jacobite Rebellion.

The regiment's name comes from its role to "watch" the Highlands and the very dark tartan of its uniform.