The first photo is a view of the hilltop south of Rona Light. A flag is flown from the little building whenever they are doing submarine or torpedo testing in the deep waters off Rona. The flag is to alert boaters that they need to steer clear of the area.
When I first climbed the hill I found hundreds of shell casings scattered over every nook and cranny not covered by heather. Commandos had landed in the bay below, and then scrambled up to this high ground. Once here they unleashed a Bren gun, a 22 pound machine gun capable of being fired by one man (see third photo). It was part of a training exercise, one that also included a six mile sortie across Rona, an island with some of the most difficult terrain in the Hebrides. I did not bring a Bren Gun, just a can of beer, which I enjoyed along with the view out over the Minch (second photo).
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Cool gun. When was the commado exercise? WWII or more recent? I don't know if they still use the Bren. It looks heavy.
ReplyDeleteI do not know when it was. The shell casings were in good shape, and several are in a curio nook in Escape Cottage. So it was certainly post WWII.
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