Training: An Exercise in Scotland, December, 1942 (1)

Post-Operation Torch, the Invasion of North Africa, November, 1942

Photos by War Office Official Photographer Walter T. Lockeyear

Original wartime caption: Views of Loch Laggan, Inverness-shire.

Credit - Photographer Walter T. Lockeyear, IWM (1/2 H 26350)

Caption: Same as above. Credit - IWM (2/2 H 26350)

Click here to visit above Imperial War Museum file

Introduction:

Recently I have been checking out the 3,853 photos taken by Walter Thomas Lockeyear, one of many fine official wartime photographers whose collection can be viewed at the Imperial War Museum in the UK. 

Imperial War Museum, London, U.K. Reportedly, home of 11,000,000+

photographs. Photo Credit - GH, June 8, 2026

Lockeyear took photos related to numerous events, under many various headings, e.g., 'Loch Laggan', 'Commandos in Training', and some of those places and events seem connected to activities known to (and possibly even participated in by) the Canadian sailors who volunteered for Combined Operations beginning in late 1941. "I trained with commandos, I trained like a commando, but I wasn't a commando," my father once said (forcefully, somewhat angrily) to his brother and nephew when I was no more than ten years old.

The nephew was insisting that my father was officially a commando. Nope, he wasn't.

About thirty of Lockeyear's photographs will be shared here in this short series (3 parts, from H 26350 to H 26376) chiefly organized under the heading "An Exercise in Scotland", but including a few in the same numerical series, entitled "Loch Laggan" and "The Polish Army in Britain, 1940 - 47". 

Based on what is typed on the reverse of the first photo in the series, i.e., see 2nd photo above (2/2 H 26350, the highlighted sentence), I should be sharing photo H 26345 for the story behind this series. But I've searched for that earliest of photos in the series and only get the image shared below:

Screen shot. GH

So, I will contact the "Image and Film Licensing team" and see if I can get a copy of H 26345 that includes the story. That would be helpful.

Please note that in the bottom left-hand corner of the above photo we can see that H 26345, under the heading 'Physical description', is a 'Photographic negative.' As I've perused the first 2,580 of WWII official photographer W. T. Lockeyear's 3,853 photos, I've come across several other photographs with the same description. Surely it won't cost an arm and a leg to get one of many similar negatives. More exciting details to follow.

The beginning of the lengthy numerical series now follows:

Original wartime caption: Views of Loch Laggan, Inverness-shire.

IWM H 26351 (1/2) Physical description - Photographic negative

Original wartime caption: Views of Loch Laggan, Inverness-shire.

IWM H 26351 (2/2) Physical description - Photographic negative

IWM H 26352 and H 26353 - "This media is not currently available online. Contact the "Image and Film Licensing team" about access." Okay, that makes two more photos I may need to chase down.

Photographs in the series now appear under the heading AN EXERCISE IN SCOTLAND:

IWM (H 26354) (1/2) Original wartime caption: Cameronians moving

across the hills to attack the 'enemy'

IWM (H 26354) (2/2) Original wartime caption: Cameronians moving

across the hills to attack the 'enemy'

*re FOR STORY SEE CAPTION SHEET. I have seen a caption sheet in only one instance, i.e., it accompanied photo albums produced by CAFU, Canadian Army Film Unit. I have shared some of their photographs and accompanying captions in earlier entries on this site. I have not seen caption sheets re photos from Imperial War Museum but they most likely exist... somewhere. (HELP WANTED - if a reader knows how to access IWM caption sheets, please contact me - gordh7700@gmail.com)

The map that follows reveals the location of Loch Laggan, top right corner. It is near Invergarry (mentioned on the reverse side of the above photo: see red arrow) and between Fort Augustus and Fort William (mentioned on the reverse side of the photo below: see red arrows).

Map: A screen shot of a Google map. Glasgow in lower right corner

As far as I know, when Canadian sailors (including my father) volunteered for Combined Operations in late 1941 and subsequently began training (re landing crafts) in southern England in early- to mid-1942 (e.g., near Southampton [@HMS Tormentor] and Hayling Island [HMS Northney I-IV]) and northwest Scotland (near Irvine [Camp Auchengate] and Inveraray [@HMS Quebec]), they were sent to some other locations as well, for particular types of training. My father mentions Loch Long on a couple of occasions - but not Loch Laggan. 

My father admittedly did not write a perfect memoir of his WWII experiences (he says so himself) because so many events took place - with different dates, in scattered locations - involving the first 100 members (and about 850 - 900 subsequent volunteers) of RCNVR to join Combined Operations that not one veteran could get it all correct. Only very few even tried.

That being said, I think photographer W. T. Lockyear's experiences and photographs relate closely to many activities Canadians in Combined Ops were involved in and would have been able to recount had they been prompted years after WWII had ended. 

Please click here to view information about training at HMS Quebec, No. 1 Combined Ops Training Camp.

A lovely street with a lovely view in Inveraray, Scotland. Photo - G.H.

Please click here to view information about various training camps and locations.

Lockeyear's pictorial account of his own travels continues:

 

The next photograph in the series now appears at IWM under the heading THE POLISH ARMY IN BRITAIN, 1940-47*:

IWM (H 26355) (1/2) Troops firing at an "enemy" Westland Lysander

aircraft attacking them from a low level on the road. Photograph taken

between Fort Augustus and Fort William

IWM (H 26355) (2/2) An exercise designed to give troops training in

mountain warfare took place in Scottish Highlands and was witnessed by

General Bernard Paget, the GOC of GHQ Home Forces, General Andrew

Thorne and General Neil Methuen Ritchie. Troops of the 1st Polish Corps

took part acting as the "enemy"

*Note the heading on the reverse side of the photo above, i.e., AN EXERCISE IN SCOTLAND

Astute readers will notice that W. T. Lockeyear's photos were taken on or near December 18, 1942. Some of the earliest Canadians to volunteer for Combined Operations would have been on leave (perhaps in London, visiting relatives of their own family back in Canada, or getting ready for Christmas by buying a gift or two) after their participation in Operation TORCH - the invasion of North Africa beginning in November, about six weeks earlier. My father was one of those Canadians.

Please click here to read one story he tells re that time, Christmas 1942, London, England:

Article: "Stout Heart Required in War-Time England"  It is a lengthy post and the Christmas story is the second half. A favourite pub is mentioned in the first half of the post, recorded here at "1,000 Men" in February, 2016. In the summer of 2026 I visited it with my two sons. Together we also visited the apartment where the Christmas story took place.

Photographs in the series now appear under the heading AN EXERCISE IN SCOTLAND:

IWM (H 26356) (1/2) Cameronians advancing in the hills

IWM (H 26356) (2/2) Towards Fort William.

The next photograph in the series appears under the heading THE POLISH ARMY IN BRITAIN, 1940-47:

IWM (H 26357) (1/2) Covenanter tank of the 1st Polish Armoured Division,

silhouetted against storm clouds, moving forward to meet the "British invader"

IWM (H 26357) (2/2) Photograph probably taken between Fort Augustus

and Fort William

AN EXERCISE IN SCOTLAND:

IWM (H 26358) (1/2) Troops of a Commando Depot, took part also.

Photograph shows Commandos setting out at dusk to raid 'enemy'

positions during the night

IWM (H 26358) (2/2) Commandos from Anchacarry Depot

IWM (H 26359) (1/2) Commandos setting out at dusk to raid

'enemy' positions during the night

IWM (H 26360) (1/2) Major General N. M. Ritchie, CBE., DSO., MC.,

moves round the 'battle' area on the pillion seat of a motor cycle.

IWM (H 26360) (2/2) Maj.-Gen. Ritchie commanding 52 DIV.

THE POLISH ARMY IN BRITAIN, 1940-47:

IWM (H 26361) (1/2) "Enemy" Ordnance QF 2-pounder anti-tank gun

taking up a position overlooking the road on the shore of Loch Laggan

IWM (H 26361) (2/2) An exercise designed to give troops training in

mountain warfare. Troops of the 1st Polish Corps took part acting

as the "enemy"

AN EXERCISE IN SCOTLAND:

IWM (H 26362) (1/2) A Bren gunner of the Royal Scots Fusiliers covers

a road on the banks of a Loch

IWM (H 26362) (2/2) 4/5th Royal Scots Fusiliers at Loch Laggan**

*re 'For story see caption sheet'. Nearly all photos in the series was accompanied by that line. I will keep my eye open for information regarding an IWM caption sheet. If it is like the Canadian Army Film Unit (CAFU) sheet, it will be very large and will reveal 100s of captions not available to the casual viewer. 

**We started this part of the series with views of Loch Laggan by photographer W. T. Lockeyear. Subsequently we learned the Polish Army was a participant in a wartime exercise along with a Scottish Regiment. So a series photographed by one official cameraman, with the resulting photos organized under three headings makes some sense, or is at least less confusing now than it was when I first encountered it. 

Questions or comments can be addressed to Gord at gordh7700@gmail.com

More photographs related to "An Exercise in Scotland" will soon follow.

Please click here to view Training: A Landing Exercise, May 1942

Unattributed Photos GH

Training: A Landing Exercise, May 1942

Photos Dated May, 1942, Possibly Related to the Practice

Exercises in Preparation for the Dieppe Raid

IWM (H 20020) (1/2) Original wartime caption: Troops embarking into assault

landing craft Lockeyear, Walter Thomas (link to 1 - 30 of 3853 photos)

Associated themes - British Army in Britain 1939-1945

Introduction:

Well may one ask, "Where were the following photographs taken?" And I would be the first to admit that I don't have the answer. But I do have a guess, a (somewhat) educated guess. 

The date on the back of the photographs shared below suggests the training took place approximately 1 - 2 months after Operation Chariot (the raid at St. Nazaire, France, late March, 1942) and 2 - 3 months (approx.) before Operation Jubilee, the Dieppe Raid, August 19, 1942. (A raid on Dieppe called Operation Rutter was cancelled in early July, 1942).

Related photo:

Original caption: Final exercise prior to assault landing at Dieppe.

Photo: Library and Archives Canada 4341223

(For more information re Operation Chariot, "a British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France" (Wikipedia), please click here.)

(And please click on the link provided here for more information about an excellent book re the raid at St. Nazaire)

A lot of training aboard landing crafts took place in Scotland, e.g., at Inveraray and Irvine (no. 4, no. 13 and 14, below), as well as at numerous locations in England. 

Map and training establishments as found in Combined Operations,

by Londoner Clayton Marks

Because of some clues in the background of the photographs shared below, e.g., well built-up port, sand dunes, I think the photos were taken on England's south coast, e.g., near Southampton or on the Isle of Wight. However, I am open to suggestions, email me at gordh7700@gmail.com

A short set of photographs by Walter Thomas Lockeyear under the heading A Landing Exercise follow:

IWM (H 20020) (2/2) Associated Themes - British Army 1939-1945

IWM (H 20021) (1/2) Troops embarking into assault landing craft

Readers - Q: Where along the coast of England would one find such a build up of buildings?

IWM (H 20021) (2/2) Troops embarking into assault landing craft. (No new

information is shown on the reverse side. This is true for several others below)

IWM (H 20022) Military police, complete even to road signs,

waiting their turn to embark. (No new details on the reverse)

IWM (H 20023) (1/2) Officers watching landing operations

IWM (H 20023) (2/2) Officers watching landing operations

IWM (H 20024) Troops landing from assault landing craft. On reaching shore

they rush to their pre-arranged positions, to overcome enemy strong points.

Only a few seconds pass between the similar photos that follow:

IWM (H 20025) Troops landing from assault landing craft. On reaching shore

they rush to their pre-arranged positions, to overcome enemy strong points.

IWM (H 20026) Troops landing from assault landing craft. On reaching shore

they rush to their pre-arranged positions, to overcome enemy strong points.

And where did the landing craft training possibly take the British soldiers and crews of the Landing Craft Assault (LCAs)? I am assuming, because of the date on the photographs (May, 1942, about four months after 100 - 200 Canadian sailors had volunteered for Combined Operations and had been transported to Scotland, then onward to HMS Northney (on Hayling Island) and HMS Quebec (on Loch Fyne just south of Inveraray for training aboard LCAs and LCMs)) that a few Canadians were sprinkled among the crews in the above photographs, soon to be involved in the upcoming Dieppe Raid, then onward to Operation TORCH (invasion of North Africa, November, 1942), then onto Operation HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily in July, 1943, then next to Operation BAYTOWN at the toe of Italy's boot in September, 1943.

British troops landed on Sicily's eastern coast south of Syracusa beginning July 19, 1943, and four Canadian Flotillas of Landing Craft (55th, 61st, 80th and 81st) served in that region during and well after D-Day Sicily. E.g., the 55th and 61st landed British troops at HOW Beach (north of Avola near Gallina) and GEORGE Beach (a few miles south of Syracusa at Fontane Bianche) before returning to N. Africa after a few days. The 80th and 81st served at GEORGE and HOW respectively, unloading all manner of materials of war from troop and supply ships onto landing crafts into the first week of August. The 80th Flotilla (including my father, LS Doug Harrison) remained in the Mediterranean for three months, and returned to the U.K. in late October, eight weeks after D-Day Italy (beginning on Sept. 3, 1943 with Operation BAYTOWN at e.g., Reggio di Calabria). 

Original photograph of Canadians in Combined Ops, members of the

81st Flotilla of LCMs, establishing a beachhead on July 10, 1943 at HOW

Beach, north of Avola and near Gallina, Sicily (Operation HUSKY). Photo

by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC. At National Army Museum, UK

Please click here to view more photographs by Major Sale, re Canadians in Combined Operations.

Photos by Lt. Lockeyear now continue:

IWM (H 20027) Troops, climbing the cliffs after landing from assault landing craft.

IWM (H 20028) Troops, climbing the cliffs after landing from assault landing craft.

IWM (H 20029) Troops carrying mortar shells after landing on an"enemy" beach

I did check to see the next photograph, i.e., H 20030 as catalogued in the extensive collection (reportedly 11,000,000-plus) at IWM, i.e., Imperial War museum. Would there be more photos of 'troops carrying mortar shells' or - one could only hope! - a close up of the sailors manning the assault landing crafts. "Any Canadians in Combined Ops in the crowd?" I ask myself.

Not this time:

IWM (H 20030) (1/2) The C-in-C working at his desk on his special train.

It will be noticed that he has a telephone with which he can carry on communi- 

cations during stops. Credit to Lt. L. A. Puttnam, official WWII Photographer

IWM (H 20030) (2/2)

If interested, please click here for more information re Puttnam, Leonard Arthur

More photographs by Walter Thomas Lockeyear to follow.

Please click here to view Photographs: Combined Operations Training, November 1942 (2)

Unattributed Photos GH

Photographs: Combined Operations Training, November 1942 (2)

The Black Watch (and a Few Canadian Sailors in Comb. Ops)

Learning the Ropes re Landing Crafts, in Scotland, 1942

IWM (H 25386) Black Watch landing after "touching down.”

6th Ben. Black Watch (at HMS Quebec, Scotland) Nov. 1942

Introduction:

It has been reported that thousands upon thousands of British, Commonwealth, Polish, etc., soldiers underwent training aboard landing crafts at the No. 1 Training Camp for Combined Operations situated about 1 or 2 miles south of Inveraray, Scotland, on the western shores of Loch Fyne. 

Inveraray, located in NW Scotland, is well out of range of most German aircraft so was safe from bombings. And the lochs and terrain in the area were perfect for putting all kinds of craft (and the crews to man them) through their paces. 

The first two drafts of members from the RCNVR who volunteered for Combined Operations in December, 1941 (about 100 sailors, including my father Gordon 'Douglas' Harrison, Norwich, Ontario) passed through Inveraray in the spring - summer of 1942. So, when the photos shared below were originally taken - November 17, 1942 - many of those earliest of Canadian recruits would have been serving upon British (or possibly U.S.) landing crafts (sprinkled among the crews) on the shores of North Africa as part of Operation TORCH which began in early November, 1942.

A12647 American troops manning their landing craft assault from a doorway

in the side of the liner REINA DEL PACIFICO. Two of the landing craft

are numbered LCA 428 and LCA 447. (Hudson, F A (Lt))

(Doug Harrison, second left, about to grab a rope)

A12671 Troops and ammunition for light guns being brought ashore from

a landing craft assault (ramped) (LCA 428) on Arzeu beach, Algeria, N. Africa,

whilst another LCA (LCA 287) approaches the beach. Lt. F.A. Hudson

(Doug Harrison, RCNVR/Comb. Ops, center, welcomes U.S. troops!)

Please click here to read more about Doug's adventures while training in Scotland.

The hired transport Ettrick, at Inveraray: Photo credit - link to combined ops.com]

Please click here for more adventures related to 'early days of training' for Combined Operations.

Badge re HMS Quebec, No.1 Comb. Ops. Training Centre

Art Warrick, RCNVR/Comb.Ops., first draft at HMS Quebec, 1942

More photographs now follow taken by Walter Thomas Lockeyear, War Office Official Photographer, from his very lengthy collection of 3853 photos:

(Editor's note - When I first saw the photo below, a few years ago, I immediately thought that the sailor hanging onto the top of the right side of the LCA (landing craft, assault) was my father. "He's built like my dad, and he wears his hat on the back of his head - like dad." Then I noticed the date on the picture, i.e., Nov. 17, 1942. "Dad participated in TORCH, was in the Med. as of Nov. 8, said he was there 9 - 10 days, almost starved to death except for stealing some grapefruit juice from the Yanks, he said. Can't be him!")

IWM (H 25391) (1/4) Men of 6th Battalion, the Black Watch crouch down

in a landing craft as it approaches the shore, during combined operations

training in Scotland, 17 November 1942.

IWM (H 25391) (3/4) Same caption as above but with poorer quality photograph.

("Unfortunately, the better quality photos are not always available," says GH)

IWM (H 25391) (4/4) Slightly different caption appears on the back of the

photograph. 'Combined Operations Training' (in Scotland), 17 Nov. 1942

IWM (H 25392) 6th Black Watch running ashore on touching down.

IWM (H 25393) (1/2) Original wartime caption: 6th Black Watch negotiating

beach wire defences. Creator War Office official photographers (Photographer)

Lockeyear, Walter Thomas (Undefined) Production date 1942-11-17

IWM (H 25393) (2/2) Original wartime caption: 6th Black Watch

negotiating beach wire defences.

IWM (H 25394) Besides infantry troops, gunners are trained to land guns.

Photograph shows Bofors guns of a Light A.A. Battery landing from a

Tank Landing craft. 91st Light A.A. Battery.

IWM (H 25395) (1/2) A 40mm Bofors gun of 91st Light Anti-Aircraft

Regiment is hauled into a landing craft during combined operations

training in Scotland, 17 November 1942.

IWM (H 25395) (2/2) A modified caption appears on the back of the photograph.

IWM (H 25396) Silhouetted against the first morning light, 25-pounder Field

guns of 77th Field Regiment, R.A. landing from a Tank Landing craft (LCT).

IWM (H 25397) After landing, the 25-pdr. Battery goes into action.

IWM (H 25398) Man-handling 6-pdr. anti-tank guns from a

tank landing craft on to the beach.

Some photos in this series from H25383 - H25398 are filed under the heading “The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939 - 45”

More timely photographs by Lt. Walter Thomas Lockeyear will soon follow, a handful from May, 1942, then a lengthy set taken in December, 1942, just a few weeks after the above set were taken.

I think after filing the photos from mid-November, 1942, Walter got a shave and a haircut (cost only two bits!) and went right back to work.

Please click here to view Photographs: Combined Operations Training, November 1942 (1)

Unattributed Photos GH