Spean Bridge

[Spannerman]

I managed to get to Spean Bridge on Thursday morning en route to Fort William from Skye. A wonderful memorial with a newish garden of remembrance which was full of flowers on a very wet and grey day.

My coach driver ex Coldstream Guards narrated the reason for its siting here, as previously stated the original commandos trained here to work behind enemy lines in 1942 and the Royals chose this spot in remembrance of all of their fallen comrades. A very poignant setting as the sombre weather matched the sombre occasion.

At Kylescu Bridge I also visited the memorial to those very special midget submarine heroes who again made the supreme sacrifice, plus a visit to Kirkwall St Magnus Cathedral to view the bell of the Royal Oak so tragically lost to a German Submarine with over 800 lives. A small museum overlooks Scapa Flow if anyone gets the chance to visit the area, plus an added bonus is the wonderful Italian chapel built by POW's on the Southern Islands of the Orkneys made out of a Nissen Hut.

The Scots certainly know how to look after their fallen of all wars and all credit to those who maintain these sites, a job well done.

[barryc]

Was up at the memorial back in May, together with an oppo of some 38 years standing (marines together in Pompey) and will be back again this coming weekend for the Remembrance Parade, Saturday night p**s up and dits evening at the Alexandra Hotel in Fort William. As with the last D-day do, this must be close to being one of the last Remembrance Parades at Spean Bridge that will have original Achnacarry graduates attending, just felt I would like to show respect before it is too late.

Barry

[flo]

spannerman, i agree with you about visiting the italian chapel. I was on an exercise in Orkney in 1986 and visited the chapel then, it is absolutely breathtaking, especially when you realise that the paintings are done from berry juices. Also visited St Magnus in Kirkwall for a church service, but have to admit to falling asleep in the back pew as i was so knackered. Oh it was hard work being a wren in those days........

[barryc]

Flew back down from a very wet and miserable Jockland this morning, Yesterday was bl**dy awful weather wise. The 1100hrs do at Fort William was a wet affair but plenty of green hats on grey-haired heads plus a contingent from FPGRM and a mixed bag of green hatted percies from Log Regt (I think). The parade was honoured by a flight of three RAF Tornadoes, straight down the line of the High Street as the parade approached the war memorial. If the morning was wet the 1500hrs parade at the Spean Bridge memorial was drenching, but the old and bold still marched up the hill from the church part way along from Spean Bridge itself.

The Saturday night do in the Alexandra was a boozy affair and the 155mm artillery notification of the start and finish of the following mporning's two minutes silence, was not good for a fair few of the heads around. Don't know what caused the headaches, must be the water up there. The evenings enteratainment of Isla St Clair and a Glenn Miller type big band was great , followed by a private performance of stand-up hilarious stories from one of Sneaky's old brethren, mainly stories of a number of DW races, attempted and/or completed. Our table was in stitches. And so to bed:...

Barry

[Mike]

Barryc... The Sneaky....wouldn't have been a Mick Green form Nottingham...would it.....If it was...he was a squaddie of mine, Jock Monahan and Jim Lewis along with some 23 others...The man has a memory like an elephant, he can remember single days from training..... 41 bloody years ago
Aye
Mike

[barryc]

Mike, sorry for the long delay in replying, I have been away from my pooter for some time (not at Her Majesty's pleasure, just away) Yes, you guessed him, what a character, talked ten to the doz and really can tell a tale. I still come away shaking my head after meeting some of my Corps brethren, aren't they just great and how the hell do so many nutters gravitate to the Corps. Or which comes first the nutters or the Corps, perhaps we are all now nutters to a greater or lesser degree?

Barry