Spean Bridge Commando Memorial, Bronze Base

THE COMMANDO MEMORIAL

1939 -1945

SPEAN BRIDGE

The Commando Memorial is located at Spean Bridge, the closest village to Achnacarry, the basic training centre for a great many wartime Commandos. The spectacular monument stands on an elevated site facing towards the Western end of Scotland’s Great Glen and overlooking the River Spean and Ben Nevis.

The design, submitted by Mr Scott Sutherland, an Art Teacher in the College of Art, Dundee, was selected in October 1949 by the Memorial Committee. From selection, it took a further two years to prepare the master sculpture in clay and plaster before the final casting in bronze. The Finished monument depicts three, 9ft. 4in. high, World War Two Commandos standing shoulder to shoulder. The Bronzes are mounted onto a granite base measuring an additional 8ft. giving an overall height of over 17ft.

The memorial is dedicated to the 1,700 Commandos who died in the 1939-45 war. It was formally unveiled on the 27th September 1952 by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother to a large crowd of ex-Commandos, their families and onlookers. Following the unveiling Lord Lovat, the wartime Commando leader, made an emotional address remembering the dead, and paying tribute to the sacrifice they made for their Country. Following Lovat’s address, the ceremony concluded with the playing of the lament, ‘The Flowers o’ the Forest’ by a lone piper, standing at the base of the memorial.

A bronze tablet mounted on the front face of the granite base states :

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