Spean Bridge

Spean Bridge

by

Steve Ketzer, Jr.

(Having just returned from Ecuador—great country; great people—where we visited Quito, Cuenca, Loja, and Vilcabamba, here’s an article about Scotland. The story was published in the tourism section of Florida’s Citrus County Chronicle sometime in 2013.)

Following Bill Powell and Ron Hudnell’s lead, my wife Vicki and I went to Scotland last summer.  We went to take a break from the heat in Florida. Inverness wasn’t our goal while touring Scotland, but was not to be missed, as we were in the area, and now hail from Citrus Country in Florida, which holds the town of Inverness.  Also, the original Inverness in Scotland  is close to the “Scotch Highway”, i.e., a loop of highways were fine Scotch is distilled, including Glenfiddich and Glenlivet.  Consequently, we were certain Carl Lehmann would have approved the trip.  Granted a royal charter in the 12th Century, Inverness was officially established, but there is evidence it was a settlement since at least the 6^th Century, beginning with a people known as Picts. The current population is around 58,000.  Inverness itself is a picturesque city in the Northern Highlands on the banks of Moray Firth that gives way to the North Sea.  To the southwest of the city flows the River Ness, and some ten miles upriver, Loch Ness. Truthfully, though, we spent most of our time in Inverness trapped on the many traffic circles, some of which held two or maybe three lanes (who knows?), wheels within wheels spinning quickly; it was madness, as far as we were concerned.  Travelling by train, a much safer mode of transportation, we also spent time in Glasgow, Ayr and Edinburgh where we caught the last few days of  Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest fringe festival (arts festival) and the first, having kicked off in 1947. But we spent the bulk of our time in the little town of Spean Bridge, ensconced beneath oak trees in a moss covered cabin on the banks of the River Spean.

For most Americans, Spean Bridge and its environs hold little significance, but for an elite group of our warriors, it’s a regular holy land. The village is located in the Western Highlands some sixty miles west of Inverness in the Great Glenn, and a short drive to Ft. William and the UK’s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis. The population of Spean Bridge, including the nearby hamlet of Achnacarry with its private castle, is around 1,500.  The area is thick with trees, small pastures divided by ancient stone fences, lakes (lochs), rivers and streams.  Spean Bridge although flush with history, is famous for two things:  Clan Cameron and Commandos.

Clan Cameron have their roots in the middle ages, but they’re probably best known for  supporting the Royalists and Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) who instigated the Jacobite uprising.  Their battle cry was, “Sons of hounds, come hither and get flesh!”  A reference to their propensity to feed the flesh of their enemy to the dogs.  Achnacarry and its private castle is the seat of Clan Cameron, and a brief walk away is the Clan Cameron museum, no larger than a cottage.  The Commando connection is a bit more recent.  During WWII, British Commandos took over Achnacarry and the area became their training ground.  Located on the fast flowing River Arkaig between Lochs Arkaig and Lochy, with forests, fields and Ben Nevis nearby for climbing, it was an excellent training venue for Commandos, Loch Lochy being used to practice opposed amphibious landings.  

Enter a select group of Americans.  In 1942, the 1^st Ranger Battalion, i.e., Darby’s Rangers, was activated in Carrickfergus, North Ireland.  The men volunteered from other American outfits, including the 1^st Armored and 34^th Infantry Divisions who had gathered around Belfast.  To steal a phrase, many were called, but few were chosen. The weeding out process was brutal.  Eventually 500 men were selected, a small battalion, and sent to Achnacarry to be either broken or turned into Commandos by their British cousins.  While some stateside G.I.s were being trained using imaginary weapons, the Commandos used live fire: bullets, grenades and explosives.  According to author and Ranger Historian, Robert Black, Bren gun fire came so close, it shattered wooden paddles in the hands of Rangers as they made amphibious landings from Loch Lochy.  Sometimes fire came too close, as when Ranger Donald Torbett failed to keep his tail down in the boat and got shot in the buttocks (his nickname thereafter was “Butt”).  In addition to amphibious landings, the training included climbing, rappelling, speed marching, hand-to-hand combat, night fighting, use of German weapons, toggle bridge and rope sliding across the River Arkaig, the latter exercise called, “The Death Slide”, and indeed one Ranger drowned in the attempt. The Rangers were housed in ten man tents, lived in the mud, dined on mutton and cold fish, and if they wanted a bath, they were invited to bathe in the icy river.  The American upstarts not only survived, they excelled, exceeded expectations, and were awarded the Commando “Green Beret” on graduation, which is where that history began.

During the course of the war, five other Ranger battalions were formed, and although not trained at Achnacarry, lessons learned there were applied.  The 1^st spearheaded the Allied invasion of North Africa at Algeria, and along with the 3^rd and 4^th Battalions, the invasions of  Sicily and Italy, while the 2^nd and 5^th landed at Normandy, the 2^nd being the famous “Boys of Point Du Hoc.”  The 6^th Rangers fought in the Philippines and are famous for liberating POWs during the Cabanatuan Raid: “The Great Raid.”  Merrill’s Marauders fought in Burma and are considered Rangers of the first regard. A provisional Ranger Battalion, the 29^th (called the 29^th because they were drawn from the 29^th Infantry Division), was formed in England and was the only battalion other than the 1^st to train at Achnacarry.  Members of the 29^th Rangers went on raids with British Commandos, but disbanded after 11 months and were sent back to their original units to teach other soldiers Ranger tactics.  From those original 500 men, the 1^st Rangers who trained at Achnacarry and the Spean Bridge area, grew the modern day Rangers, who continued to “Lead the Way” in Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, Somalia, and have been fighting non-stop since 9/11. Headquartered at Ft. Benning, Georgia, the 75^th Ranger Regiment continues to produce the greatest warriors in the world.

 

Between Spean Bridge and Achnacarry, there is a monument dedicated to the Commandos who trained there, and to future Commandos who died in service to the crown.  The site is scattered with flowers and mementos left in remembrance of the fallen.  After visiting the monument, my wife and I did the five mile “Commando Trail” out of Achnacarry, a speed march used by Commandos and Rangers as a morning warm up. We did so good we decided to climb Ben Nevis, and while we summited in good time, especially for old folks, our legs gave out on the descent.  We thought we’d never get off that mountain; it took us three hours to go up, and six to get down.  Apparently, walking Rails-to-Trails in Florida wasn’t adequate preparation. But we did it, so as the Rangers would say, “Hooah!”

*Note: Steve Ketzer, Jr. is a USAF Vietnam Veteran who served at Phan Rang, Vietnam, 1970-71; his brother, Jerry, who served in Vietnam at the same time, was career Army and retired at the rank of Lt. Colonel; their father, who was wounded in Tunisia and, between escapes, spent over two years as a German POW, was one of Darby’s original 500 Rangers.

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