text: A Scottish castle commandeered by Winston Churchill to help prepare troops for the D-Day landings has gone on sale for £1.75million. The 19th century Castle Toward, near Dunoon, was used to ready soldiers for landing at a beach and was commissioned as HMS Brontosaurus in 1942. Overlooking the Clyde estuary and with easy access to the sloping shoreline, the castle was deemed an ideal training ground for thousands of British troops. Soldiers practised beach landings - complete with bombs, smokescreens and strafing fighters - jumping from landing craft and clambering up the beach in preparation for the events of June 6, 1944, in Normandy. For sale: Castle Toward, near Dunoon, which played a crucial but little-known role in defeating the Nazis, has gone on the market for £1.75m . Training ground: Overlooking the Clyde estuary and with easy access to the sloping shoreline, the castle was used as a training base for D-Day . Danger: The training at the grounds was very realistic and incredibly demanding - many servicemen were killing during exercises . Allied soldiers would spend a week of intensive training at the castle, which included swimming in full kit and daily exercises on the surrounding hills. Brontosaurus was visited by both Churchill and Supreme Allied Commander Lord Mountbatten during this time. The training was so realistic and demanding that many servicemen were killed in accidents. The castle's rich military history is still clear to see. One room is named after Churchill and the foundations of the huts built to accommodate visiting troops still stand in parts of the grounds. Preparations: The grounds of the 19th century castle on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll and Bute was used to ready troops for D-Day . Deep waters: Swimming training saw the forces jump off the pier and they then had to wade to shore in full military gear . Army base: Troops were stationed at the castle, where they trained off the coast of Scotland, in preparation for the D-Day landings of 1944 . Camp: With easy access to the sloping shoreline, Castle Toward was a perfect place to train troops in amphibious warfare . Historic: The D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, led to the liberation of France from Nazi control, and contributed to an Allied victory in the war . Timings: The Normandy landings were originally scheduled to take place in May - then postponed until June and put off again at the last minute for 24 hours due to bad weather . Across the UK, troops took part in various military exercises in preparation for D-Day. In late 1943 the war cabinet had agreed to the building of an assault training centre on the south Devon coast, and 3,000 civilians in six villages were ordered to leave their homes. The first large training exercises - on the south Devon coast at Slapton Sands – revealed communications problems, lack of mission comprehension, poor crisis management abilities and a general sense of chaos. On April 28, 1944, 749 US soldiers and sailors died after three ships involved in a training exercise were ambushed by German torpedo. Exercise Tiger was one of the biggest full-scale rehearsals before D-day, involving all 23,000 US soldiers who were planning to land on the Normandy beach codenamed Utah. Slapton Sands had been chosen because of its similarity to the French beach. Apart from the Devon and Scotland coastline, training also took place at Camp Gordon Johnston near Carrabelle, Florida. Mr Jepson, of the Combined Operations Association, said the troops stationed at the castle were planning for a return to mainland Europe. He said it was essential the different branches of the forces - army, navy and air - learned to work together for the return to France. He said: 'They had to start from scratch and start planning for the return to France. They started the combined service centres where they planned the actual landings. 'Of course they had very little to start off with. They developed various crafts and weapons.' Speaking about the conditions for the troops at Brontosaurus, he explained: 'They were under a lot of pressure. Sadly there were a lot of accidents and a lot of people were killed. 'With the ramp down they would jump into what they thought was shallow water and some drowned.' 'Swimming training would see them jump off the pier and swim to shore in full kit.' He said the RAF would at times fly over the Scottish beaches dropping bombs and smoke screens. 'It had to be as realistic as possible,' he said. 'It must have been an amazing site with the landing crafts, ships and tanks coming and going.' Talking about Castle Toward he said: 'It was ideal where it was. It's a beautiful building and historically important.' Castle Toward was built in 1820 by Kirkman Finlay, a former Lord Provost of Glasgow, as his family's country house. Following its use by the Allied Forces, the estate was bought by the Corporation of Glasgow in 1946 and was used as an educational facility. Its ownership passed to Argyll and Bute Council in 1996 after local government reorganisation and the authority has been trying to sell the estate for the past few years. It has only been put on the open market after plans for a community buyout were rejected by the council after it only offered £850,000. The castle includes 25 bedrooms, six reception rooms and extensive grounds with stunning views over the Cowal peninsula near Dunoon. On the market: The castle, which is being sold by estate agents, Baird Lumsden, contains 12 shower rooms and an observation tower . Historic: The castle offers stunning views over the Cowal peninsula near Dunoon and is set within 125 acres of land . Picturesque: The property enjoys fine views over the Clydeestuary towards the Isles of Bute, Arran and Cumbrae .
target: 19th century Castle Toward, near Dunoon, was used to ready soldiers for the D-Day landings in World War Two .
  Overlooking Clyde estuary and with easy access to the sloping shoreline, it was deemed an ideal training ground .
  The castle was commandeered by Winston Churchill and was commissioned as HMS Brontosaurus in 1942 .
  The training that took place was so realistic and demanding many servicemen were killed in accidents .