Armistice Day 2006

Tomorrow is Armistice Day. At the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month, 2 minutes' silence will be observed. The formal ceremony of remembrance will be held this coming Sunday, also at 11 a.m.. Yesterday, I posted the order for the Stornoway ceremony.

The island of Lewis sent 6,000 of its menfolk to fight for King and Country in World War I. They fought in the trenches, out at sea in the Royal Navy or in the Merchant Navy. Hundreds of Lewismen had joined the Royal Naval Reserve, and were called up upon the declaration of war in August 1914. One had left the island, intending to return to wed. The call to arms came, and instead of heading west from Fraserburgh, he had to go south, not to return for more than 4 years.

Of those 6,000, half of the island's menfolk, 1,000 did not return home. Many fell in the trenches, others were torpedoed by U-boats in the Atlantic. In the 1920s, the Lewis War Memorial was erected on a hill, just outside the town of Stornoway. However, a problem with water ingress rendered the 80 ft high structure unsafe, so the plaques, giving the names of the Fallen were placed outside.


There are four parishes in Lewis, but you see the number of plaques needed to give the names of all the Fallen.

The most poignant aspect of World War I came after it ended.
The ship Iolaire had been drafted in to ferry 300 sailors home. It left Kyle of Lochalsh at 7.30pm on 31 December 1918 for Stornoway. The weather deteriorated on passage, and a heavy swell rose up through the Minch. For reasons unknown, the Iolaire left the recommended course for entering Stornoway harbour and ran aground on the Beasts of Holm, a set of reefs. Dozens of sailors jumped overboard and drowned in the heavy seas, or were dashed upon the rocks.


This picture, taken in May 2006, shows what the coast looks like. You have to imagine total darkness and a heavy swell running. The memorial at the top is in memory of the 205 who drowned here on New Year's Morning 1919. They were just 4 km from home. Many washed up on the shores of Lewis, 80 were never recovered. One turned up dead at Grimshader in June 1919, 5 months afterwards.

My Armistice Commemoration will be of the Iolaire victims.