Commando Country

The Scottish highlands played a pivotal role in the secret development of special service training during the Second World War. The remote and rough terrain came into its own as a training and testing ground for new types of fighting. "Commando Country" looks at the variety of special training establishments set up (mostly highland shooting lodges), and at how use was made of the landscape and coastline and of specialist civilian skills such as stalking and mountaineering. It stresses how these new methods of warfare, tested in Scotland, spread internationally into the present day elite status of 'special forces' world-wide.The story involves many famous names from a variety of backgrounds such as actors David Niven and Alec Guinness, mountaineer John Hunt, and polar explorer Martin Lindsay, as well as famous military figures such as David Stirling, founder of the SAS and Special Operations Executive agent Violet Szabo. Conveying the atmosphere of remote highland locations, the book makes strong use of photographs and personal testimony collected from those involved, bringing a unique Scottish perspective to a popular subject.

ISBN	1905267142	Pages	256
ISBN13	9781905267149 (What's this?)	Volumes	1
Publisher	NMSE - Publishing Ltd	Weight (grammes)	427
Imprint	NMSE - Publishing Ltd	Published in	Edinburgh
Format	Paperback	Height (mm)	230
Publication date	28 Mar 2008	Width (mm)	155
DEWEY	355.7094115	Spine width (mm)	20
DEWEY edition	DC22	Academic level	General

	Introduction: Men bred in the Rough Bounds: The British Army in the Highlands	11
Pt. 1	The Big House: Special Training Centre Lochailort	20
Pt. 2	The March of the Cameron Men: Commando Training	83
Pt. 3	The Road to the Isles: Special Operations Executive	156
Pt. 4	The Men from the Boys: Highland Fieldcraft	228

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Stuart Allan

NMSE - Publishing Ltd