Commando

Submit a new image

Reference WMO/116837

Address:

A82 (Fort William to Inverness)

Spean Bridge

PH34 4EN

Scotland

Open large map

War Memorials Trust case: War Memorials Trust needs to avoid Contributors changing location/description details as we help to protect and conserve this war memorial through our casework. You can still add photographs, update condition and use the tabs below. If you believe any of the information you cannot edit is wrong or information is missing, please make a note of the reference number and include it in your email when you contact us.

Status: On original site
Type: Freestanding
Location: External
Setting: Roadside
Description: Serviceman/woman sculpture
Materials:
  • Metal Bronze
  • Stone Stone (any)
Lettering: Raised
Conflicts:
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
About the memorial: War Memorials Trust has agreed this is a war memorial as it is dedicated to the memory of those lost in WW2 and later conflicts. There are no name inscriptions. The Commando memorial stands at Spean Bridge in the Highlands (near jct with A86 at Spean Bridge). The bronze monument shows three Commandos surveying the area which was their training ground during World War II, on a stone cairn. The memorial commemorates fallen Commandos from that conflict. A memorial garden contains numerous tributes to individual casualties, including those from more recent conflicts. The memorial is very appropriately located, in a barren environment, typical of the surrounding countryside where the Commandos were trained in the Achnacarry area. In March 1949, when Scott Sutherland D.A. (Edin.) RSA won a national competition to design and sculpt the new memorial, rarely have a sculptor and his subject been so perfectly matched, as he had known and worked alongside the Commandos during WW2 and had a great admiration for them. The scale of Sutherland’s design and casting work by H H Martyn & Co. was just right – heroic in proportions – matching its subject. The monument bears the motto ‘United We Conquer’ on the pedestal and Sutherland created a potent image of this concept in the fusion of the three figures (best seen from the rear) into a V-shaped cutting edge formation. The memorial was unveiled by H.M. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 1952, when an estimated 5,000 people attended the ceremony, including: Lord Lovat, uncle to Lt Col A David Stirling DSO of the Scots Guards and founder of SAS, Major Gen. Robert Laycock, former Chief of Combined Operations, and Col. Charles Vaughan, former Commanding Officer at nearby Achnacarry. No sooner had the memorial been unveiled than the greatest possible tributes came pouring in from every corner of the globe. The Commando Memorial, despite its remoteness of setting has become a tourist attraction visited by thousands of people each year from around the world. Amidst some controversy, floodlights were installed at some later time, and whilst increasing the profile of some of the more striking war memorials in Scotland is to be welcomed, their original purpose and what they commemorate can sometimes be in danger of being forgotten. Although the entire vicinity of the Memorial has traditionally been used to scatter ashes, a formal Garden of Remembrance was created in recent years, specifically for this purpose and also to allow small memorials to be placed. In 2000, a formal tri-party agreement of shared objectives for the safeguarding of the memorial and site, was signed by Highland Council, The Commando Association and The Royal Marines.
Report a concern with this memorial
Report a duplicate memorial record
Report an inappropriate record
Submit a condition update
Report this condition update

View more details
Report this condition update

View more details
Report this condition update

View more details

Grants to support the repair and conservation of war memorials are available from the charity War Memorials Trust if it has raised funds. Support is focused on war memorials in Very bad or Poor condition or where there is a serious Concern.

Before applying for a grant you should read the advice available on War Memorials Trust`s website. The What we can and cannot fund helpsheet explains what types of work the charity can fund.

If you believe your project is eligible for a grant you should complete the Pre-application enquiry form. You will need to be registered and logged in to complete this.

The Pre-application enquiry form is a series of questions to see if your project is eligible. If it is, you will need to provide further details and submit current colour photographs of the war memorial in either a png, gif, jpg or jpeg format.

You can save your Pre-application enquiry form as you go along. Once submitted War Memorials Trust will respond.

Please be aware that a summary of your enquiry, without your contact details, will appear on this page once submitted. This ensures others are aware that an enquiry has been made and can read the response to avoid duplicate enquiries. Information provided by you to us will be used for the purpose of managing the grant enquiry, for further details please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy .

pre-application

As a charity, War Memorials Trust relies on voluntary donations and every contribution, no matter how large or small, makes a really big difference to our work. Your donation will help protect and conserve war memorials for future generations so please support War Memorials Trust’s work.

donate here
Submit a new comment
Report this comment
Report this comment
Report this comment

United we conquer / (plaque) 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

No names, but individual tributes are placed within a nearby memorial garden.

Suggest information

A (Scotland)

http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB6842

LB6824

Information Required

Information Required

Claim Custodianship

Information Required

Information Required