Messages posted by: MBrockway

JMB wrote:

Have you ever seen the gun positions just North of Crerran Bridge, along the line of the old railway. Very like the ones in Glencoe.

Just had a look at your flickr album of these - I had never noticed them ... and I first went along that road around 1967 when it still went under the railway bridge and E to the head of the loch! And like me, you probably still remember the Ballachulish Ferry

.

Easy to miss though when you're focussed on all those bends though.

Another logic pinch point for any enemy trying to pass along the coast road

Thanks for the heads-up

Mark

Be aware Canmore is shutting down imminently

See here: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/retiral-of-hes-web-services/

Theoretically on 24th June and HES are claiming old Canmore links will be redirected to their Trove equivalents, but there will no doubt be teething troubles!

JMB wrote:Yes there is a convention on the old OS maps to distinguish between roofed and unroofed structures.

I was trying to find the key to the symbols but not found it.

Not fully comprehensive by modern standards, but try this:
https://maps.nls.uk/view/128076894

Cheers,
Mark

Good drone footage of the Squirrel's Drey hut from the same series produced by the Glencoe Heritage Trust:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=908592365847342

I've not been close to this spot for a good thirty years and it seems the hut is no longer maintained, but is still weathertight.

So far I've not found anything about the origins and construction of the hut, beyond its association with the Edinburgh Squirrels Mountaineering Club. This was a splinter club from Edinburgh's Junior Mountaineering Club of Scotland (JMCS) that broke off in the mid-sixties.

With that date in mind and the proximity of the other stone 'compound' and WW2 gun emplacements nearby, I agree with you that the Squirrels may well have made use of an existing structure related to the WW2 'stop line' in the glen.

These are more likely to be Home Guard than commando, but we do know there was definitely commando training happening in The Lost Valley - see this topic: https://forum.commandoveterans.org/cdoForum/posts/list/4901.page#top

The enormous boulder discussed there is 2km from the Squirrel's Drey as the crow flies.

I enjoyed your excellent flickr photostream of all those structures. I assume you also posted material on Canmore, but I haven't yet adjusted to the new arrangements and located where the Canmore data can now be found. I'm still getting to grips with Trove!

Keep up the good work!

Mark

Some more on the history of the Jacksonville hut, this time from the very entertaining Mountain Days and Bothy Nights (1987) by Dave Brown and Ian Mitchell.

I found this great drone footage overflying the hut:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=476247972927938

The original drystane walls of the sheepfold are well seen.

There is a structure shown on the OS Six Inch map published in 1900 - see Map extract below. Its centre is not hatched, so I think this is a walled enclosure, not a building. The house and barn at nearby Altnafeadh are shown hatched while its associated animal pens etc are not.

The map extract is reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland under the terms of licence CC-BY (NLS). The map is here:
https://maps.nls.uk/view/75482324#zoom=6.2&lat=4473&lon=7419&layers=BT

Apologies in advance if the attached files are presented out of sequence - I haven't mastered that yet!

Mark

Martin,
IIRC Jacksonville was not built by the Creag Dhu Mountaineering Club until c.1950 according to Hamish MacInnes (see below) and was based on an old sheep fank. This was originally roofed very primitively with a tarpaulin, but was gradually extended and improved into the current structure.

Location is OS Grid Ref NN 2347 5527.

It's possible WW2 commandos also made use of the same sheep pen in a similar way, but I've not found any evidence of this.

Mark

Remembering today those of 45 Commando who took part in the Battle of Two Sisters on East Falkland on the night of 11/12 June 1982 and in the fighting patrols to recce the Argentinian positions in the days before.

Remembering all those who fell and in particular Andy UREN and Gordon MACPHERSON.

Not forgotten.

When you go home, Tell them of Us, and say
For Your tomorrows, These Gave Their Today.

Eighty three years now and still remembered.

Mark

Thanks Pete - the funeral was actually in Ayr, so 2 Cdo was very much in my mind as I moved around the town.

The cousin who has passed was born in 1940, but in Ardrishaig. However her grandparents and lots of other relations (including my own grandparents and mother) were in the Ayr area, so it is certainly possible she saw Tom, Bill and Syd as an infant. Perhaps even Joe and Ken!

Remembering once again the Charioteers of 1942 - a few days late due to a death in my own family.

This past year I have discovered that Bill Hughes, one of the three 2 Cdo, 5 Troop commandos my grandparents billeted, made two escape attempts while a POW - see attached.

Mark

A sad loss to the Commando community.

My thoughts are with her family.

Mark

Remembering today those of 45 Commando who took part in the Battle of Two Sisters on East Falkland on the night of 11/12 June 1982 and in the fighting patrols to recce the Argentinian positions in the days before.

Remembering those who fell ...

Killed in action on Friday 11 June 1982 as part of a returning patrol from 45 Commando when they were mistaken by British forces for the enemy. This was just before the main 45 Cdo assault on Two Sisters, Falkland Islands.
Cpl. Peter Ronald FITTON, P033189P, 45 Cdo., Royal Marines
Sgt. Robert Arthur LEEMING, P025875E, 45 Cdo., Royal Marines
Cpl. Andrew Bryan UREN, P035194P, 45 Cdo., Royal Marines

Died at the Battle of Two sisters on the night of 11/12 June 1982 during 45 Cdo's operations against enemy forces dug in on the mountain ridge known as Two Sisters.
Mne. Gordon Cameron MACPHERSON, P041923R, 45 Cdo., Royal Marines
Mne. Michael John NOWAK, P036098F, 45 Cdo., Royal Marines
Mne. Keith PHILLIPS, P039185R, 45 Cdo., Royal Marines
Cpl. Ian Frank SPENCER, P032324V, 45 Cdo., Royal Marines
Sapper Christopher JONES, 24484389, 59 Ind. Commando Sqn., Royal Engineers, attached to 45 Commando RM

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

Another year has gone by and eighty two since Tom's passing.

We remember him still.

Mark

Another year passed.

Not forgotten.

Eighty one years now since Tom's passing, fifteen painful days after receiving a terrible head wound during Operation Chariot, St Nazaire.

We remember him still.

A brave man who fought to the end. An inspiration to the people of Rennes and who continues to move all who find his story.

Not forgotten.