The memorial has been, set adjacent to nearby Loch a Chairn Bhain, where trials were carried out, prior to the secret operations. The memorial has been constructed of local stone blocks, standing some 2m high with a square base of approximately 1m.
The inscription and dedications are set on a bronze plaque, which reads:-
This Cairn Was Erected To
Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of
The XIIth Submarine Flotilla
10th April 1993
The Security of These Top Secret Operations Was
Guarded by the Local People of This District Who
Knew So Much and Talked So Little
The Silent Hills Remember the Young Men of
His Majesty's X-Craft Submarines and Human Torpedoes
Who Were Trained In These Wild and Beautiful Waters
At the Going Down of the Sun, We Will Remember Them
R. Anderson Ord Seaman R.N.R. · G.E. Bonnell D.S.C. Lt. R.C.N.V.R. · A.J. Brammer Ldg. Stoker · P.C.A. Brownrigg Lt. R.N.V.R. · D. Carey Lt. R.N. · J.J. Carroll Able Seaman · H.P. Cook Lt. R.N.V.R. · B. Enzer Lt. R.N.V.R. · R. Evans Able Seaman · G.G. Goss Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · L.B. Grogan Sub. Lt. S.A.N.F.,(V.) · K.V.F. Harris Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · A.H. Harte Ord. Seaman · H. Henty-Greer Lt. R.N.V.R. · E.W. Higgins Stoker · G.H. Hollett Stoker · P.J. Hunt Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · F. Kearon Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · J. Kerr 2nd Lt. H.L.I. · D.H. Locke Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · C. Ludbrook E.R.A. · A.D. Malcolm Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · R. Maplebeck Able Seaman · W.J. Marsden Lt. R.A.N.V.R. · B.M. McFarlane Lt. R.A.N. · R. Moritboys E.R.A. · I.J. Nelson Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · I. Pretty Able Seaman · R.W. Pridham Stoker · P.D. Purdy Sub. Lt. R.N.Z.N.V.R. · M. Rickwood Ldg. Seaman · I. Sargent Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · W. Simpson Able Seaman · A. Staples Lt. S.A.N.F.,(V.) · S.F. Stretton-Smith Lt. R.N.V.R. · T.M. Thomas Sub. Lt. R.N.V.R. · B. Trevethian Ldg. Seaman · W.M. Whitley E.R.A. · L.B.C. Whittam Lt. R.N.V.R.
The X-Craft had a four-man crew and carried 2 x 2-ton charges fixed to the outer hull. These were dropped on the sea bed below the target.
Sub Wt 30 tons 52 ft Long Speed 6 k
The Chariot had a two-man crew dressed in diving suits sitting astride the 500 lb detachable warhead was attached to the keel of the target.
Torpedo Wt 21 cwt 22 Dia. Speed 3 k
Unveiled by
Captain Robert I. Bradshaw Royal Navy
Captain SM 10th Submarine Squadron
31st May 1994
X Craft memorial
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The Royal Navy’s 12th Submarine Flotilla had it headquarters, HMS Varbel, located in the 88 rooms of the requisitioned Kyles Hydro Hotel, which overlooked Port Bannatyne. This was the only British base for midget submarine and human torpedo training. The Navy used the protection of the port and the secure waters of Loch Striven to the north for sea trials and training exercises. The exercises mostly included beach reconnaissance training on Port Bannatyne as well as navigation and pilotage.
Two Midget Submarines traveled over to the Normandy Coast between Sword and Juno Beach on the 4th of June, departing from Gosport in Hampshire on the south coast of England. Their task was to direct the incoming landing craft so that they did not steer off course and miss their targets. The crews onboard these submarines found out about the delays of the Landings through secret messages on the BBC News Broadcasts, and they had to remain undetected for another day, meters from the enemy.
The crews on both Submarines had a very tough job, with limited space and only tea and baked beans as means of replenishment. The oxygen supply was also something which they lacked, and in the darkness of the night, they would rise to the surface where the crew was allowed to walk around the deck in silence. However, these men will always be heroes as they played such a fundamental role in ensuring that the Landings were successful.
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Further reading:-
As the German fleet would not come out to fight, somehow they would have to be sunk at their moorings. The position of the German fleet, in the Norwegian Fiords, made them a great danger to the Arctic convoys. The three main German ships there were The Scharnhorst, The Leutzo, and The Tirpitz. The 'X-Craft' was the only means of sinking the German ships that was likely to work. X-Craft were midget submarines, which had a crew of four. The X-Craft were based at Loch Cairnbaun, North West Scotland, and the operation to sink the enemy ships involved them being towed, by a big submarine, to a point 24 hours sailing time from the targets. This was a ten-day tow.
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