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IV2 7TD - Ardersier

Fort George, to the north east of Inverness is arguably the mightiest artillery fortification in Britain.

The fort was originally built in the 1750s and 1760's in the aftermath of the Jacobite risings, as much as anything as a symbol of the power of the British Crown. But 200 years later at the time of the First World War, it had taken on an altogether different role. At the outbreak of the war Fort George was the regimental depot of the Seaforth Highlanders and the 2nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were also based there.

"At the outbreak of the war, the Fort would have been a hive of activity," says Kevin Munro, author of Scotland's First World War. "By early August the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were bound south and by mid August they were in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force."

By October, substantial numbers of new army recruits are arriving," Kevin continues. "They had to be physically fit as part of the training. One account of life here in the fort states that men were expected to run a full circuit of the ramparts in under five minutes. When you consider that the world record for running the mile at that time was something like four minutes twenty seconds, that really is demanding a lot!"

"Fort George is very much a symbol of the presence of the British Army in the Highlands," says Kevin. "People come here to sign up, to collect their kit, to train - and they would come back here when they were injured. So this place is very much a connection between the Highlands of Scotland and the battlefields of Europe."

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