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Remembered Today:

WW1 battery at Loch Ewe?


Champsavin

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I hope that this is the correct subforum for my question.

In 3 weeks I will head to Loch Ewe / Scotland. As usual I did some reseach upfront and got some hints for a WW1 fortification at Rubh 'a Choin, a small peninsula north of Aultbea. It was obviously a small battery built in 1914, but I don't have any details. The year 1914 indicates that it was most probably a coastal defence battery and not an AA battery as the one that was erected in the same area in WW2. Does anyone here have any information about this battery? I'm especially interested in the exact location and maybe a plan. Every help would be highly appreciated.

Thank you,

Bernd

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In his "Britain's Sea Soldiers" Gen Blumberg records (Chapter 20 (2) Aultbea):-

"In the early days of the war it was found necessary to establish a small base on the west coast of Sctland for various purposes; Aultbea being selected. HMS ILLUSTRIOUS landed her Royal Marine officer, Captain H Regnart RMLI (retd), with two NCOs, one gunner RMA and eight privates RMLI (reservists), and some 12-pounder guns, to form a small battery to guard the entrance to the loch.

When HMS ILLUSTRIOUS left, a reinforcement of two NCOs and 19 privates from Chatham were sent up and the battery was properly organised. This small party maintained their lonely and monotonous duties throughout the war, gradually improving their organisation and accommodation. The battery was under the control of the Senior Naval Officer as it was required for Naval purposes, and had to be organised quickly as a 'Advanced Base'".

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Thank you for this quote, indeed very interesting. Assuming that those 12-pounder guns might have been QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval guns, there must be traces of their mountings - provided they were not superstructed by the WW2 AA battery.

Evaluating the CANMORE aerial views I noticed the remains of a WW2 light AA position (most probably a "Three Penny Bit") on Rubh a' Choin island which led me to the vague assumption that the WW1 battery could have been on this island, not on the peninsula. This assumption is supported by the rumour that the small bridge between peninsula and island was probably built in WW1.

I'm excited to see what I can find out on site.

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This is a link to the 1927 correction of the Admiralty chart for Loch Ewe (part of the National Library of Scotland collection of map images) - Rubh 'a Choin is on the Aultbea side of the loch, across from the northern tip of the Isle of Ewe: https://maps.nls.uk/view/101959148. I'm afraid I can't identify from the map which of a few marks could be the place.

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Thank you for this link. The only mark that might be relevant is the tactical symbol for a forward observer (a triangle with a dot inside) on Rubh a' Choin island. 

The small black rectangle on the peninsula is already visible on a map dated 1890, therefore most probably a croft or farmhouse.

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On 12/05/2022 at 19:26, Champsavin said:

The only mark that might be relevant is the tactical symbol for a forward observer (a triangle with a dot inside) on Rubh a' Choin island. 

Not relevant to a gun battery, On an Admiralty Chart that symbol marks a triangulation point. There are numerous such points on @seaJane's chart, often marking the highest ground..

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Understood. Thanks for the clarification.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm back from my recent trip to the Highlands with an update to my initial question.

Luckily I had the chance to visit Rubh 'a Choin and look for WW1 relics; this is what I found:

First was a a small holdfast with a bank running around (thanks to mbriscoe for helping me to localize it). It's overgrown with dense vegetation; unfortunately - being on holidays - I had no tool with me that I might have used to clean the place. In the following photo you can hardly recognize the edge of the holdfast; I have therefore marked it in the second photo. The angled concrete part at the right edge of the picture belongs to one of the WW2 AA positions. Constructing this WW2 bunker has surely affected the older holdfast. If I'm right with my assumptions would have to be verified by removing all the vegetation with appropriate tools.

To be continued.

WW1-Bettung_Rubh_a_Choin_lt_Forum.JPG

WW1-Bettung_Rubh_a_Choin_lt_Forum_markiert.jpg

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This is not the only thing that I found. My second discovery is much more exciting. Roughly about 10 meters south of the holdfast I found another one. First I could spot 3 rusted metal bolts. By means of my pocket knife I could finally uncover 6 bolts; the total circle consists of 10 bolts and has a diameter of about 48 cm.

This is of course a gun position, but it is definitely not suitable for a QF 12-Pounder as the pedestal mounting would have been much too small. I'm rather thinking of a QF 3-Pounder Hotchkiss what is supported by the fact that the HMS Illustrious whose guns were used had 12- and 3-Pounders as armament.

The task that I have now is to do archive studies. I started in the museums of Aultbea and Gairloch (they were in fact a great help!) and today I ordered some document copies from The National Archive which I hope will bring me forward.

I'll keep you posted.

WW1-Bettung_Rubh_a_Choin.JPG

WW1-Bettung_Rubh_a_Choin_markiert.jpg

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  • 5 months later...

Update:

A lot of time has passed since my last post, which I spent on literature and archive research. Just in time before Christmas, I was finally able to summarize my findings in my fortress blog.

It’s a the five-part series of reports on Loch Ewe including a teaser:

Teaser (German language): https://fort-de-tavannes.blogspot.com/2022/06/teaser.html

Loch Ewe in WW2, part one (German language): https://fort-de-tavannes.blogspot.com/2022/06/loch-ewe-erster-teil.html

Loch Ewe in WW2, part two: Eastern shore (German language): https://fort-de-tavannes.blogspot.com/2022/06/loch-ewe-zweiter-teil-das-ostufer.html

Loch Ewe in WW2, part three: Western shore and Gruinard Bay (German language): https://fort-de-tavannes.blogspot.com/2022/07/loch-ewe-teil-3-westufer-und-gruinard.html

Loch Ewe in the Great War (English language): https://fort-de-tavannes.blogspot.com/2022/12/loch-ewe-in-great-war.html

Ru Con Battery (English language): https://fort-de-tavannes.blogspot.com/2022/12/ru-con-battery.html

I hope that what I wrote makes sense and is correct and that my English is understandable ...

Comments are welcome.

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