The ''Commando Memorial'' is a

Category A listed Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * Category ( ...

monument in

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

, Scotland, dedicated to the men of the original British Commando Forces raised during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Situated around a mile from Spean Bridge, it overlooks the training areas of the Commando Training Depot established in 1942 at Achnacarry Castle. Unveiled in 1952 by the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

, it is one of Scotland's best-known monuments, both as a war memorial and as a tourist attraction offering views of

Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William. The mount ...

and

Aonach Mòr Aonach Mòr is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. It is located about northeast of Ben Nevis on the south side of Glen Spean, near Fort William, Scotland, Fort William. The mountain has a summit elevation of and is classified as a Munro. T ...

History

In 1949, the sculptor Scott Sutherland won a competition open to all Scottish sculptors for the commission, ''The Commando Memorial''. Sutherland's design won first prize of £200. The base of the bronze statue is inscribed with the date of 1951. The sculpture was cast by H.H. Martyn & Co. The memorial was officially unveiled by the Queen Mother on 27 September 1952. The monument was first designated as a listed structure on 5 October 1971, and was upgraded to a Category A listing on 15 August 1996. On 18 November 1993 a further plaque was added to mark the Freedom of Lochaber being given to the Commando Association. On 27 March 2010 a war memorial path was opened connecting two local war memorials, the Commando Memorial, and the former High Bridge built by

General Wade Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Al ...

, where the first shots were fired in the

Jacobite Rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

in the Highbridge Skirmish.

Description

The monument consists of a cast

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

of three Commandos in characteristic dress complete with cap comforter,

webbing file:Webbing.jpg, red, blue and black nylon webbing as used in auto racing harnesses Webbing is a strong Textile, fabric weaving, woven as a flat strip or tube of varying width and fibres, often used in place of rope. It is a versatile componen ...

and

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

, standing atop a stone plinth looking south towards

. The soldier at the front is thought to depict Commando Jack Lewington who frequently attended Remembrance Services at the monument during his lifetime. One of the other two soldiers is Frank Nicholls (rank unknown) the other is

Regimental Sergeant Major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by a warrant officer (WO) in the British Army, the Royal Marines, and the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations. It is also an actual rank in the Iri ...

Sidney Hewlett. Originally serving with the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

, he was hand picked to be one of the founding NCOs of the commandos, and was also held in high regard and noted several times by Eisenhower. The entire monument is tall. The monument has been variously described as a huge, striking and iconic statue. "United we conquer" is inscribed around the top of the stone plinth, while the original plaque on the stone plinth reads: "In memory of the officers and men of the commandos who died in the Second World War 1939–1945. This country was their training ground."

Location

Spean Bridge is a small village around northeast of Fort William in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

, and the memorial is located approximately northwest of Spean Bridge, at the junction of the

A82 road The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William, Highland, Fort William. It is one of the principal north-south routes in Scotland and is mostly a trunk road managed by Transport Scotland, who view it a ...

and the B8004 road. It is a prominent landmark visible from the A82, and the site itself offers views across the River Spean valley to the peaks of

and

to the south. The location was chosen because it is on the route from Spean Bridge railway station to the former Commando Training Centre at nearby Achnacarry Castle. Arriving prospective Commandos would disembark after a 14-hour journey, load their kit bags onto waiting trucks and then speed-march the to the training centre in full kit with weapon, weighing a total of . Anyone not completing it within 60 minutes was immediately RTU'd ( returned to unit).

Memorial

The monument stands as a memorial to the British Commandos who trained all around the

region which the monument overlooks, while they were based at the Achnacarry Commando Training Centre established in 1942. As such it is used as site for memorial services, including the 60th anniversary of

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, and

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...

ceremonies. A Garden of Remembrance, which was subsequently added to the site, is used by many surviving World War II Commandos as the designated final resting place for their ashes. It has also been used as a place where many families have scattered ashes and erected tributes to loved ones who belonged to contemporary Commando units and who have died in more recent conflicts such as the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

or in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Sculptor

Scott Sutherland (15 May 1910 – 10 October 1984) was a Scottish sculptor born in Wick, Highland and schooled at Gray's School of Art, the

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

and the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in Paris. After touring Europe and winning two out of the five open commissions offered for the 1938 Empire Exhibition, he served in the Army during World War II, working alongside commandos. After the war he took the post of Head of Sculpture at Duncan of Jordanstone College in 1947. Sutherland was elected ARSA (Associate of the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

) in 1950 and FRBS (Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors) in 1961. In 1975 he retired, and died nine years later in hospital in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Gallery

File:The Commando Memorial (12).jpg File:The Commando Memorial (10).jpg File:The Commando Memorial (7).jpg File:The Commando Memorial (3).jpg File:The commando memorial near Spean Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1491984.jpg File:Commando Memorial Spean Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1687249.jpg File:Rainbow Warriors (2) - Commando Memorial, Spean Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 967265.jpg File:Commando Memorial, Spean Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 377069.jpg

References

External links

In pictures: Commando gathering
29 April 2004
Take a Virtual Tour around The Commando Memorial Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Commando Memorial 1952 sculptures World War II memorials in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Highland (council area) Listed monuments and memorials in Scotland Outdoor sculptures in Scotland Bronze sculptures in Scotland Statues in Scotland 1952 establishments in Scotland World War II memorials