The great River Clyde and its estuary played a central part in both the 1914–18 and 1939–45 world wars. The major air base at Prestwick, the centre for commando training at Inveraray, the terminal point for Atlantic convoys at the Tail of the Bank and of course the Gare Loch, the major British military port of the Second World War, were all of vital significance to the Allied cause. On both banks of the river the ships that fed and protected Britain were launched – from the mighty Hood, most famous of all Britain’s warships, to the humble escort and convoy vessels which ferried supplies and men back and forth across the Atlantic. It was also the scene of human tragedy in the form of the Clydebank and Greenock blitzes.