056:54.880 N

004:59.427 W

Achnacarry

Harry began the day with a swim; Loch Oich is the highest loch on the Caledonian Canal, not as cold as the others as it is relatively shallow but it was still cold!  

After a swing bridge and meandering through beautiful woodlands, we did our first downward loch, very strange to be going down.

We anchored in a beautiful bay off Achnacarry Estate, launched the dinghy and puttered ashore. It was a mile or so through the grounds until we spotted a flag fluttering above a huge flagpole, positioned high up on the battlements of the magnificent stately home of Clan Cameron, dating back to the 1600’s.

Achnacharry House in 1942-1946 was HQ to the Commando Basic Training Centre where Bol’s father Harry Minchin was stationed in 1943 when he was 21. He was trained there for his role ahead of the D-Day landings. The House is private but a building in the grounds now houses an excellent museum focussing on both the Clan Cameron history, and the WWII activities of the Commandos.

Men were trained, amongst many things, in the use of explosive weapons, unarmed combat, climbing and abseiling, survival, with emphasis on fitness including speed marches, and mental determination. It sounded a brutal experience for all concerned, many failed the test, some died during their training, and the pinnacle of their time there was to climb Ben Nevis, 18 miles away, and march back with huge packs on their backs.

A few stories have been passed down from Harry, three that have resonated with Bol over the years were mentioned in the museum;

Harry used to fish with 2inch mortars by firing them upstream of the shallows in the River running alongside the Estate, picking up the stunned fish further down.  In one of the glass cabinets were remains of 2inch mortar shells that had been found years later in the muddy banks.

Harry also told the story of the roof catching fire when they built a fire in the main hall of the house to keep warm. The official story was they were warming socks, they were in fact having a 5th November bonfire as it was so terribly cold. It did substantial damage to the house despite the efforts to put it out with a bucket line of soldiers bringing water up from the river ~ by the time the buckets reached the fire, only a cup full of water in the bottom of the buckets remained! 

We also established that we had coincidentally landed at the spot where ‘opposed landings’ had taken place with live ammunition being fired overhead of those paddling in.

We finished with a walk to the River amongst beautiful ancient beech trees. The story goes that in 1746 when Donald Cameron of Lochiel lived here he was mid-way planting a row of beech trees when Bonnie Prince Charlie summoned him to battle. The tree planting was not completed and the trees just grew where they had been left. 280 years later they have grown into magnificent heights but in a wobbly line. It was this wobbly line of beech trees that was used to create the tricky ‘Tarzan Course’ a spider’s web of ropes to cat-crawl along with the torso flat on a single strand of rope.

The whole visit has been remarkable, we are so pleased to have been able to visit and see where Harry spent such a life-changing experience.