Yup, kilts were worn in the battle for France by some units. Last recorded use of them on mass is the liverpool scottish on the St nazaire raid from memory. That was 1942.
edit: yup see the guy sitting down at 1.11 here, hes in a kit, most of the liverpool scottish wore them - forbes tartan.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOK0hJxj4TILast individual use was pipers and some officers up until 45.
This picture shows
Tom McCormack, 2930404, 1st (Liverpool Scottish) Bn., Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and 5 Troop, No. 2 Commando, aged 25 years.
It was taken by the Nazis on 29th March 1942, the morning after the raid, while the surviving British Commandos and RN sailors were waiting at La Place de la Vieille Ville to be loaded onto a flatbed truck to be taken to a temporary field hospital set up in a nearby hotel.
This picture and a more humiliating one were widely used as propaganda by the Nazi regime including appearing on the German Forces newspaper.
Tom was part of the party landed from HMS Campbeltown that established a bridgehead on the dock swing bridge to allow the demolition and assault parties targeting the Normandie Dry Dock to withdraw to the intended disembarkation point on The Old Mole. They successfully held this bridgehead for 90 minutes with only small arms against very intense German fire from the U-boat pens across the dock, from heavy machine guns on various roofs and AA towers, and from the naval shipping in the dock itself.
As is obvious from the picture, Tom received a severe wound to the head from a grenade splinter and a wound to his right wrist.
He was transported to the temporary facilities at La Baule and then to a German military hospital at Rennes in what is now the Lycee Jean Marie where he came under the care of a volunteer team of French nurses lead by Dr. Eugene Marquis. Initially he had the companionship there of his less seriously injured comrades who helped to feed him, but he lost this when they were transported to POW camps in Germany leaving him behind alone. He was too seriously wounded to be moved.
He died on 11 April 1942.
Here is his gravestone in Rennes Cemetery. The wreath we have laid has a backing of the Forbes tartan.
Tom was billeted with my grandparents and mother in 1942 and went from them to the St Nazaire Raid.
You are 100% correct - Tom is wearing the Forbes kilt together with a khaki kilt apron. All the commandos on the raid wore their puttees blancoed white as a recognition aid for the urban fighting in the dark, though Tom's here are hardly shining.
You are also correct that 5 (Liverpool Scottish) Troop, No. 2 Commando were the last British Army unit to go into battle in the kilt. There were some individuals wearing the kilt at the Normandy Landings on D-Day and at Arnhem, both later than Operation Chariot. Also there were, IIRC, complete Canadians units in the kilt at Dieppe.
You'll all agree that this is a powerful and moving picture of a brave and kind man laid low and those of us who are connected with Tom find it naturally upsetting.
However the picture is "out there" and there is nothing we can do about that, so instead whenever I come across it, I try to tell Tom's story so his memory may live on.
Here at least you guys have been respectful - I found another picture of Tom and Stuart Chant (who blew up one of the dry dock pumphouses) taken as part of this set being used as an example of tread patterns on commando assault boots.
We prefer to remember Tom in sunnier days ...
Let's none of us forget such brave men as these.