Lord Lovat: The Highland aristocrat who led the invasion of Sword Beach on D-Day

He was described by Churchill in a letter to Stalin as “the mildest-mannered man that ever scuttled ship or cut a throat”.

Lord Lovat, who led commandos onto Sword Beach on June 6 1944 and then onwards to Pegasus Bridge, is also remembered as a Highlander, a countryman, a man of presence and a figure of fearlessness both on D-Day – and all days.

The aristocrat, solider and later politician was appointed Brigadier of the 1st Special Services Brigade ahead of Operation Overlord which brought together four Commandos of the British Army and Royal Marines under one leader for the first time.

Lord Lovat pictured in 1942. He went on to play a key role in D-Day and commanded the 1st Special Services Brigade that invaded Sword Beach on June 6, 1944. PIC: Spender (Lt), War Office official photographer/Imperial War Museum.

Ahead of the shock assault, Lord Lovat, who was born at Beaufort Castle, the Lovat Fraser ancestral home near Beauly, recalled a “disastrous invasion rehearsal” in the Moray Firth.

By the morning of D-Day, battle experience and training “had produced a military machine as perfect as any which history can show,” Lovat wrote in his memoir, March Past.

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He described the veteran fighters before departure from Southampton as “bearing the look of eagles” and “proud, deepchested and superbly fit”. Some were hung with portable flame-throwers, rubber dinghies, scaling ladders and anti-tank missiles ahead of boarding.

Lord Lovat, described by his family as a "countryman at heart" at home near Beauly in later life with his two lurchers. PIC: Fraser family.

Lord Lovat’s address to his men on the night before departure across the Channel took two minutes and was recalled as bearing no nonsense or false patriotism.

Lord Lovat, who was known as Shimi, wrote: “It was simple enough, the message plain.

"They knew their ability from past experience; they could expect a physical encounter in which they had no equal; the greater the opportunity, the greater our chances of success.

Lieutenant-Colonel Simon Fraser, the 15th Lord Lovat, following his investiture in 1942. He received the Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross from George VI. (Photo by M. McNeill/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

"They knew their job and I knew they would not fail. Put it this way: ‘The bigger the challenge, the better we play’.

"History would tell that there were giants in those days: we were going to prove it tomorrow.”

As the channel crossing got underway, 9,000 aircraft appeared above, from Spitfires to Mustangs, the sky appearing too small to hold them all, Lovat wrote. His own men, some appearing green given the rough crossing, were asked by their commander to take breakfast – cocoa and tinned sardines - to lighten packs. Lord Lovat wrote he could still smell those sardines.

As France approached, smoke filled the sky in an “unappealing” scene. Infantry soldiers sent ahead to disable the last of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall were badly injured by shelling and artillery with 4 Commando then losing around 40 men. Boats blazed in the water.

A telegram from Winston Churchill to Lord Lovat following his injury in June 1944 - 'all good wishes on your march to recovery'. PIC: Fraser family.

Troops, including Lord Lovat, waded the last 100 yards to shore with his personal piper, Commander Bill Millin, instructed to play against ‘English’ War Office instructions. Bodies in tinned hats bobbed in the water and wounded men clung to anything they could.

Lord Lovat later recalled carrying a bible onto Pegasus bridge as 4 Commando brought reinforcements to the paratroopers who successfully took the key route the night before.

In less than a week’s time, Lord Lovat was read his last rites by a French priest after being injured by a stray shell from an artillery bombardment by the 51st Highland Division.

In early 1945, Churchill sent him to Moscow as his envoy to pay his respect to Stalin and the Presidium. Lord Lovat then joined Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and served on Inverness County Council for more than 40 years. He also travelled the world as a judge of shorthorn cattle.