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Over the Winter we have been fortunate to have harnessed the energy of a dedicated band of volunteers who have cleaned the Museum from top to bottom and completely remodelled Room 6.  Come and see it for yourself!

Over the past few weeks we have been working hard to open our Commando Exhibition for which we have received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and the Scottish Community Fund.  This exhibition has been developed in collaboration with the Commando Veterans Association and will be open by the end of March.

With inspirational vision and guidance from Glasgow-based Stuco Design and huge individual voluntary effort, our Commando Exhibition is now open.   We are very grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and the Scottish Community Fund for supporting this exhibition.  Throughout the development of this project we have worked in close collaboration with the Commando Veterans Association and we look forward to continuing this in the future.

Never has the museum been so full! On Saturday 10th November some 250 Commandos and their families packed the Museum to see the opening of the new Commando display which has replaced the Model T Ford exhibition which has moved off to the Nevis Centre.The ribbon was cut by Stan Scott, Chairman of the Commando Veterans Association, who led the way into Room 1 closely followed by WWII Veterans and their families.With the help of the Commando Veterans Association we have put together a display to tell the story of Commando Training in Lochaber in WW2. The very name Commando was invented here at Achnacarry where 25,000 men went through the toughest military training of WWII. They became skilled in shooting, the use of explosives, unarmed combat and silent killing and took part in landing assaults on nearby Loch Lochy where live ammunition was used. They came from Britain, the occupied countries, the USA and Canada and left for daring raids on mainland Europe, the Mediterranean and the Far East. On display we tell the story of how the lawless city of Shanghai led to the design of the Fairburn Sykes Commando knife. We have on display much Commando kit – from a first pattern F-S knife and a Thomson machine gun to Blanco and a Commando string vest!Other related events over the Remembrance Weekend included interviews of Commandos by pupils from Lochaber High School and the free distribution of a limited edition reprint of “The Achnacarry Green Beret Gazette”, a weekly news leaflet produced in Achnacarry in November 1944. .We tell of the diversity of Commandos – from Raymond Hervo, a French cobbler by trade who came back to live in Fort William, Norman Banks’s silk handkerchief – revealing a map of Norway which was sewn into his trousers to assist any escape necessary after the raid on the Lofoten Islands , and the story of Bill Harvey, the Commando who didn’t come back – he was killed in 1944 in a raid on Holland.We have footage from a 1946 film on training at Achnacarry and of the unveiling of the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge. The display is open until we close before Christmas and, if our funding applications are successful, we will be constructing a full professional exhibition on Commando Training for Spring 2013. We thank all those visitors who have left us their contact details to help support our ambitions. Please email Colleen, our manager at colleen@westhighlandmuseum.org.uk if you too would like to be kept informed of our progress.

We will close for the Winter at 4 pm on Saturday 22nd December.  Although closed to the public, staff and volunteers alike will be working hard to clean and develop the Museum for 2013.Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you during 2013.

Almost exactly seventy years ago, the Commandos came to Lochaber.  They left very deep roots and a visible legacy in one of our internationally best-known icons, the Memorial above Spean Bridge and its poignant Garden of Remembrance.We are both proud and pleased that our Commando friends are still with us in Lochaber, at least in spirit and it is because of this that we have been working with them in creating the very early stages of a display that we aim to build through time.We will launch this display on Saturday 10th November at 1030, at which time we look forward to welcoming our guests to this very important occasion.

At their meeting on the 23rd August 2012 the Trustees of the West Highland Museum made a decision to keep their painting “Letters from the Lochside” by Henry Tanworth Wells in Arisaig House.This will be subject to:a)     the painting being kept safe on the premises  and the owners of Arisaig House maintaining secure insurance arrangements that cover damage to, or loss of, the painting with the Museum being the beneficiary ;b)     a satisfactory agreement being made with the owners of Arisaig House to allow reasonable access for members of the public to view the painting; and that,c)      if there is a change of ownership of the House or either a) or b) above is compromised, the Trustees will review the placement of the painting.

We are celebrating the award of 4-Star Accreditation by VisitScotland.  This covers areas such as the welcome you will receive, cleanliness, interpretation and presentation, all things of which we were already proud. Endorsement by a national scheme is gratifying but we do hope that you will visit to experience this for yourself!

We were very proud when local girl, Lorna Linfield from Banavie was selected to carry the Torch through Fort William.  She has very kindly loaned it to us, to allow as many people as possible to see it.We much appreciate her generous thought and wish her well in future.

As well as a range of excellent books,  we now have West Highland Museum tee shirts with a picture of the Museum and our logo at £15 each.  Big Ridge Chocolates who are based in Spean Bridge have produced a selection of hand-made chocolates, again with our logo.