Week 128 – 9-15 February 1942
When the cruise liner SS Normandie caught fire in New York harbour on 9 February, Axis sabotage was suspected; in fact, it was an accident. The Royal Navy was humiliated on 11-13 February when German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen escaped along the English Channel from Brest to their home ports. And the week ended with two important Japanese victories: the capture of Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies; and then, in one of the most devastating losses in British military history, the surrender of Singapore. Many civilians were killed by the Japanese as they desperately tried to escape the city.
In Caithness, the John O’Groat Journal reported the impact of the recent snowstorms on the county. “Features of a second snowstorm which cut off Caithness from the south for a second time within ten days were the stranding of a goods train at Scotscalder and the isolation of the Town and County Home, Latheron, where a special effort had to be made to get food provisions which had run short.”
Winter illnesses were sweeping through the county. A letter from the Director of Education on 14 February to a Miss Ewan ends, “I hope that this heavy weather is not affecting your health adversely. This county seems to be suffering from a wave of gastric ‘flu of particularly obnoxious quality.”
The young were particularly vulnerable at this time of year. A deceptively plain entry in the Latheron Brickigoe School log book for 13 February reads: “Jack Dunbar, who was ill since the Christmas vacation, died last Saturday. The roll is now 6.” A check on the Scotlands People website reveals that he died of acute leukaemia; he was just five years old.
Thurso Burgh debated the question of mail and train services to the county, and the disruption caused by the war. Wick Chamber of Commerce had written to ask for support in lodging a complaint. But the members disagreed, as reported in the John O’Groat Journal. Bailie Lindsay said, “You must remember … there’s a war on. You would only be harassing people who are already doing their utmost. I don’t think there is an unnecessary delay in the train services.” Mr Barry agreed: “They are harassed beyond words, so leave them alone.” As the minute records, “On a vote Bailie Lindsay’s amendment that no action be taken was carried.”
Finally this week, the John O’Groat Journal reported “an unusual lighting offence, the first of its kind in the North of Scotland probably.” Donald Johnstone, a farm servant from Ackergill, had been leading two horses along the road without a light (the blackout regulations specified that no light should be thrown upwards, or onto the ground); as a result, “a military motor wagon [had] collided with one of the horses, which was seriously injured.” Because it was a first offence, and as Johnstone was an employee, the fine was limited to £1.”
Coming soon! Week 129, 16 - 22nd February 1942, will be published on Monday 16th February 2015. To view previous issues please use the menus on the right hand side of the page.
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