Lord Lovat at Newhaven after returning from the Dieppe Raid, August 1942.

Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, DSO, MC (9 July 1911 - 16 March 1995) was the 25th Chief of the Clan Fraser and a prominent British Commando during the Second World War. He was known as "Shimi" Lovat to his friends. Newhaven is the name of several places in the United Kingdom: Newhaven, East Sussex Newhaven, Derbyshire Newhaven, Edinburgh Newhaven is also the name of a racehorse who won the 1896 Melbourne Cup. ... Dieppes chert beach and cliff immediately following the raid on 19 August 1942. ... Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ... Military Cross The Military Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army, and formerly also to officers of the armies of other Commonwealth countries, for distinguished and meritorious services in battle. ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Clan Fraser (Gaelic - Friseal, French Frasier) is a Scottish clan of Gaulish origin. ... The British Commandos were first formed by the Army in June 1940 during World War II as a well-armed but unregimented raider force employing unconventional and irregular tactics to assault, disrupt and reconnoitre the enemy in mainland Europe and Scandinavia. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Early life

The Lord Lovat and Rosie, on their wedding day.

Simon Fraser was born at Beaufort Castle, Inverness, the son of the 14th Lord Lovat, who styled himself 16th Lord Lovat, and Laura Fraser. After being educated at Ampleforth College and Oxford University, where he joined the University's Cavalry Squadron, Fraser was commissioned into the Scots Guards in 1932. The following year, Fraser succeeded his father to become the 15th Lord Lovat (styling himself 17th Lord Lovat) and 25th Chief of the Clan Fraser. He married Rosamond Broughton in 1938, with whom he would have six children. Inverness (Inbhir Nis in Scottish Gaelic) is the only city in the Scottish Highlands. ... Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire is the largest private Catholic boarding school in the UK, and it is sometimes referred to as the Catholic Eton, a moniker also attached at different times to Beaumont (no longer open) and Stonyhurst College (both Jesuit schools) and which was Cardinal Newmans aim... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... The Scots Guards is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division, and have a long and proud history stretching back hundreds of years. ... Lord Lovat is a title in the Peerage of Scotland dating to 1458. ...

World War II

Prior to the Second World War, in June 1939, Lord Lovat resigned his commission in the Scots Guards. In August, as war approached, Lord Lovat was mobilised as a captain in the Lovat Scouts. The following year he volunteered to join one of the new commando units being formed by the British Army, and was eventually attached to No. 4 Commando. On 3 March 1941, Nos 3 and 4 Commando launched a raid on the German-occupied Lofoten Islands. The raid was successful; the commandos destroyed a significant number of fish-oil factories, petrol dumps and 11 ships. They also seized encryption equipment and codebooks. In additional to the destruction of materials, the commandos captured 216 German troops, and 315 Norwegians chose to accompany the commandos back to Britain. Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... The Lovat Scouts was a yeomanry regiment of the Territorial Army, now a platoon of the 51st Highland Regiment. ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Henningsvær, a fishing village in Lofoten during fishing season (April, 2001). ... Fish oil is oil derived from the tissues of oily fish. ... In cryptography, encryption is the process of obscuring information to make it unreadable without special knowledge. ... Categories: Cryptography stubs | Cryptography ...

As a temporary-major, Lord Lovat commanded 100 men of No. 4 Commando and a 50-man detachment from the Canadian Carleton and York Regiment in a raid on the French coastal village of Hardelot in April. Lord Lovat became an acting lieutenant-colonel in 1942 and was appointed the commanding officer of No. 4 Commando, leading them in the abortive Dieppe Raid on 19 August. His commando provided the only success of that raid when they attacked and destroyed a battery of six 150mm guns. The raid as a whole was a disastrous failure, over 4,000 casualties were sustained, predominantly Canadian. This article is about the year. ... Dieppes chert beach and cliff immediately following the raid on 19 August 1942. ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Sword Beach. Lord Lovat, on the right of the column, wades through the water. The figure in the foreground is Piper Bill Millin.

Lord Lovat eventually became a Brigadier and became the commander of the newly formed 1 Special Service Brigade in 1944. Lord Lovat's brigade was landed at Sword Beach during the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. Lord Lovat reputedly waded ashore donning a white jumper under his battledress, with "Lovat" inscribed into the collar, while armed with an old Winchester rifle. Lord Lovat instructed his personal piper, Bill Millin, to pipe the commandos ashore, in defiance of specific orders not to allow such an action in battle. The scene of him arriving to relieve Pegasus Bridge was immortalised in the movie The Longest Day. Brigadier is a rank which is used in different ways by different countries. ... British infantry waiting to move off Queen White Beach, SWORD Area, while under enemy fire, on the morning of 6 June. ... Combatants Allied Powers Nazi Germany Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (Heeresgruppe B) Strength 326,000 (by June 11) Unknown Casualties 53,700 dead, 18,000 missing 155,000 wounded 200,000... June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Winchester rifle refers to an early family of repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company that was used widely in the United States during the latter half of the 19th century. ... Pegasus Bridge before its replacement Pegasus was the name given to a bridge over the Caen canal, near the town of Ouistreham. ... DVD cover The Longest Day is a 180-minute 1962 war film, based on the 1959 book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about D-Day, the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. ...

Lovat's forces swiftly pressed on, Lovat himself advancing with parts of his Brigade from Sword Beach to Pegasus Bridge, which had been defiantly defended by men of the 6th Airborne Division who had landed in the early hours. Lord Lovat's commandos arrived almost exactly on time, late by about two minutes (for which Lord Lovat apologised to Major John Howard, Ox and Bucks). The commandos crossed Pegasus Bridge to the sound of Bill Millin's bagpipes, however marching them across rather than having small groups scuttle across to avoid sniper fire led to the death of twelve men, most of which were shot in the head through their berets .(after that people crossing wore their helmets). He went on to established defensive positions around Ranville, East of the River Orne. The bridges were relieved later in the day by elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division. Pegasus Bridge before its replacement Pegasus was the name given to a bridge over the Caen canal, near the town of Ouistreham. ... The British 6th Airborne Division was an airborne unit of the British Army during World War II. It is best known for its participation in the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944. ... John Howard was an english major who led the occupation of the Pegasus over the river Orne. ... The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army. ... A bagpipe performer in Amsterdam. ... Ranville, pronunciation: rohn-VEEL or ROHN-veel is a commune of the département of Calvados, in the Basse-Normandie région, in France. ... Orne is a département in the northwest of France named after the Orne River. ... The British 3rd Infantry Division was part of the ill-fated British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk early in World War II. It was the first British division to land at Sword beach on D-Day. ...

During an attack on the village of Bréville on 12 June, Lord Lovat was seriously wounded whilst observing an artillery bombardment by the 51st Highland Division. A stray shell fell short of its target and landed amongst the officers, killing Lieutenant-Colonel A. P. Johnston, commanding officer of the 12th Parachute Battalion, and seriously wounding Brigadier Hugh Kindersley of the 6th Airlanding Brigade. June 12 is the 163rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (164th in leap years), with 202 days remaining. ... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... The British 51st (Highland) Division was a Territorial Army division that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War. ... A shell is a projectile, which, as opposed to a bullet, is not solid but contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large projectiles without a filling which are properly termed shot. ... The Parachute Regiment is the Airborne Infantry element of the British Army. ...

Later life

Lord Lovat made a full recovery from the severe wounds he had received in France but was unable to return to the army. Winston Churchill requested that he become Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in the House of Lords; however, Lord Lovat declined the offer and in 1945 joined the Government as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He later became Minister for Economic Warfare, resigning upon Winston Churchill's post-war election defeat. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and author, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... Her Majestys Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was created in the United Kingdoms governmental reorganization of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departments became the Home and Foreign Offices. ...

Lord Lovat's involvement in politics continued throughout his life, in the House of Lords and the Inverness County Council. He devoted much of his time to the family estates. Lord Lovat experienced a great deal of turmoil in his final years; he suffered financial ruin and two of his sons predeceased him in accidents within months of each other. A year before his death, in 1994, the family's traditional residence, Beaufort Castle, was sold. This article is about the British House of Lords. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated like the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... Beaufort Castle can refer to several places: Beaufort Castle, Scotland, near Beauly a castle at Beaufort, Luxembourg Beaufort (Crusader castle) in Lebanon Beaufort Castle, France, near Anjou See also Beaufort disambiguation page This is a disambiguation page — a list of articles associated with the same title. ...

Piper Bill Millin, Lord Lovat's personal piper who had piped the Commandos ashore on D-Day, performed at Lord Lovat's funeral.

The Lovat Scouts, a regiment formed in 1900 by his father during the Second Boer War, garrisoned the Faroe Islands and also saw service in Italy during the Second World War. The regiment has since been reduced to the Lovat Scouts Platoon, part of C (Highlanders) Company, 51st Highland Regiment of the Territorial Army. The Lovat Scouts was a yeomanry regiment of the Territorial Army, now a platoon of the 51st Highland Regiment. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... Combatants British Empire Orange Free State, South African Republic Commanders Frederick Roberts later Lord Kitchener Christiaan Rudolf de Wet and Paul Kruger Casualties Military dead:22,000 Civilian dead:N/A Total dead:22,000 Military dead:6,500 Civilian dead:24,000 Total dead:30,500 The Second Boer... The 51st Highland Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Territorial Army or reserve force. ... In the United Kingdom the Territorial Army is a part of the British Army composed of reserve units, or part-time soldiers. ...

References

External links last verified on 13 December, 2005 December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

• Officers of the British Army 1939-1945
• Ornebridgdehead.com - Lord Lovat
• The London Gazette (pdf format