Messages posted by: Jack Bakker

Dear Sandra,

In 1995, Niall Thomson, a former instructor at Achnacarry and a memeber of No. 3 Commando, told me this about the selecting of the "models" for the Commando Memorial.
When Scott Sutherland, who made the sculpture, was visiting a Commando unit looking for the right men to stand as a model, various Commandos were picked at random by the RSM. Some didn't make the grade (not handsome enough ? :D), others did. On page 200 of the book "It had to be tough" by James Dunning, it states that the central figure is Sgt Lewington of No. 4 Commando. So perhaps the unit that was visited by Scott Sutherland was No. 4?
In the Commando Ehibtion at the Spean Bridge Hotel, there are photos of the making of the sculpture. Perhaps Margaret Short of the Hotel could help you to the names of the other two "men in bronze".
Regards,

Jack

Dear forum friends!

Below you will find the mail I have sent to http://www.nts.org.uk/Conserve/buildings_home.php (the link Pete gave in his post), regarding the state Lochailort is in. I have for a good part made use of my post here on the forum. Perhaps that an avalance of mails from forum members could help in preserving the house?

"Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Jack Bakker and I am a retired captain of the Dutch Commandos. Last week I have been to Scotland to make arrangements for a program for the Dutch Commandos. During the week I had the opportunity to visit Lochailort and more precisely Inverailort, the house where in 1940 the very first Commandos were trained, and the house which later became the special training centre for Special Operations Ecutive (SOE). I was welcomed by a very nice elderly lady called Barbara who has worked for the family who owned the house. The first thing I noticed was the deplorable state the house is in. The house is now in the possession of a nephew of the family Barbara worked for. I was invited in and I must say the inside of the house was a shock to see! There is a very serious problem of dry rot and the smell of humidity is overwhelming. As we went to the attic she told me to stay close to the wall otherwise I might face the risk of falling through the floor! There were carpets drying out on the landing above the hall. Asked why there isn't something done about the terrible state the house is in, Barbara told me that a few years ago the house was grade 3 concerning renovation. It has been graded down so there won't be any money available to do something about the state it is in. When I was there the weather was very warm so every door and window was open, but that doesn?t help a lot. In the colder times of the year there is insufficient heating to warm the whole house. Only the most important rooms are heated than. Barbara said that it will only be a matter of time when the whole of the house will be too rotten do something about it. It's a question of time before the whole lot will fall in.

I am bringing this to your attention because I honestly believe that it is a disgrace to see a house with so much history fall apart. In this house quite a few very famous British special forces units have their roots. Units such as the SAS. The founder of that unit, David Sterling, was one of the instructors at the Special Training Center Lochailort. If you would like to know more about the house and its history, I strongly recommend you the book Commando Country by Stuart Allen. In the first chapter he very well describes the history of the house and its surroundings. Perhaps reading that chapter will enhance my message to you. My question is: what can be done about the decay of the house Inverailort? Can't it be restored and preserved for generations to come? Could it be made a museum of SOE for instance? I would like to hear your opinion on this.
Kind regards, Jack Bakker"

I will let you know their answer!

Pete,

Thanks for the link. I will have a good look at it to find out what their criteria are and send them a mail.

Pete,

Thank you very much for your good work!

When any members of the forum are in the area, it would perhaps be an idea to pay a visit to the house to see the state it is in and meet the very nice lady. She told us that some time ago some Norwegian commandos were visiting the house as well.

In a way I can understand the money problem there is for renovating the house, but isn't there some organisation or part of the MOD that could give a helping hand?

I received this information concerning Piper Bill Millin from the Dawlish Museum:

Bill Millin is to have a statue erected in his honour, close to the spot where 65 years ago he played the bagpipes as Allied Troops launched their assault to free Nazi occupied Europe. The 18th hole on the Golf Course at Port en Bessin will be named after him and the plaque there reads ?This golf course is on the soil where the allies disembarked in Normandy on 6 June 1944 with great sacrifice. On the 50th Anniversary of the disembarkment the names of 18 illustrious people were given to the 18 holes of the ?Mer-Bocage? course in homage to those who took part for the liberation?. It then lists the names of each hole, among them Churchill, Eisenhower, de Gaulle, Montgomery, etc.

I am in mail contact with Liz of the Dawlish Museum about the book of Piper Bill Millin. I will spare you all the details but I can just say that the book I ordered and which has been signed by Piper Bill has gone missing in the mail! NOT beacuse Liz has made a mistake, but purely because of the mail system. We are working on tracing it from both sides.

Anyway, Liz sent me a mail saying that, and I quote:

Piper Bill really enjoyed his visit to Normandy where they are going to build a statue to him and they have named the 18th hole on the golf course after him (he is in famous company, the other holes are named after Churchill, Eisenhower, de Gaulle, Montgomery etc.) Unquote.

I thought I'd let you know this wonderfull news!

Jack

Thank you for your message!

I knew that Niall went into the fishing industry after the war, but not where. Bill Harvey told me that Niall had two daugthers, one of which is May. I didn't know that the other daughter is called June.

Bill met Alex Ferguson, the former owner of the Spean Bridge Hotel, last week and Mr. Ferguson managed to get the address and phonenumber of May. I gave her a call this evening and had a conversation. I will send her the photos I have of Niall in a letter and she will respond to that. One of the things she said about Niall was: we still miss him!

Bill,

Thanks a lot!! This really is very good news. I knew he had one daugther, but not that he had two. The jigsaw is coming together. Wonderfull!

Jack

Bill,

Thank you for the telephone numbers! Is May the person of whom I think and hope she will be? Looking forward to your mail. Thanks a lot!

Jack

On May the 2nd I posted a message asking for information about Niall Thomson. Following is an update on how things went from that moment. Thanks for that good idea Geoff!

First of all I got a message from Pete with the suggestion to send a mail to the Registration Office of Tain, the town where Niall lived. I have sent the mail, but I haven't got a reply yet. Not your fault Pete!

Bill Harvey sent me two addresses, one of which could be the address of Mr. Alex Ferguson, the owner of the Spean Bridge Hotel back in 1995, the year I met Niall. To be honest, I haven't tried them yet as things went very fast at a certain moment, because I was sent a message by Jennifer (Jennie) Barlow. Sorry Bill, but I promise I will send a letter to the addresses you supplied!

Jennie Barlow lives in London and meets Stan Scott (Scotty) on a regular basis. Jennie has put my messages through to Scotty who was in No. 3 Commando and in the same troop as Niall was in. I sent Jennie a lot of questions which were kindly answered by Scotty. His answers gave me more information on Niall than that I could have hoped for to get somewhere else! In his book "Fighting with the Commandos" he talks about Niall as well. I suggest you all buy the book as it a very good read!! From the photo gallery I printed Scotties picture and put it on the first page of the book. His look on the picture in a way orders you to start reading and don't you dare to stop!

At the same time I received a message from the son-in-law of Scotty, Terry Swoffer, and he offered his help as well. He gave Scotty my messages and the photos of Niall which I sent. Telephone numbers and addresses have been exchanged and it looks like I am going to London sometime this year to have a "link up" with Scotty and Jennie.

All this happened after I became a member of this forum. Yes, you are all very right: I should have done that much earlier, but there you are.

Thanks to everyone who assisted me in my search, which is still going on. My special thanks go to Scotty for kindly answering my questions. I am sure that we will meet!

My extra special thanks to Jennie Barlow for all the work she has done for me so far and still is doing! Sorry gents, I have a weakness for women!

If and when there are more developments, I will let you know!

If you go to http://www.soldatenvanoranje.nl/foto_album/foto_album.htm you will find pictures of Commandos of No.2 Dutch Troop wearing that headgear whilst in India.

Nice link Pete!

Would the footage of the actual landings and actions on D Day come from the DVD from the Imperial War Museum called Royal Marines in action, as spoke about in an other topic on this forum? It would be nice if there is a video/DVD which that footage. I think those are unique images!

Scotty,

There seems to be a problem with your email address as the server keeps returning the mails I sent you as undeliverable and it says that the address is unvalid (?) Could you please email me so that I can send my questions that way?

Thanks!

Jack

quote=Pete
Ps. Geoff has just advised me he will be sending Bill a card from all of us in the CVA

Very good initiative! Well done!

Well done Pete!