Week 154:10-16 Aug 1942
In the Western Desert General Bernard Montgomery took over as the new commander of the Eighth Army on 13 August. The British and German forces faced each other at El Alamein; both sides were dug in, but while the British were close to their supply bases, Rommel’s Afrika Korps was short of fuel and supplies. In Russia the German Sixth Army was also experiencing supply difficulties, and although the western bank of the River Don was now clear of Soviet troops the army’s advance was delayed.
A number of schools in Caithness had been taken over by the Armed Forces earlier in the war; now the Education Services had decided that the time had come to ask for them back. Castletown School was occupied by the RAF. At a meeting of the county’s Education Committee Provost Brims “pointed out that there were at least six or eight huts unoccupied in Castletown, and that they would provide more accommodation than the schools presently occupied.”
Similarly, the John O’Groat Journal reported that Wick School Management Committee had called for Pulteneytown Academy and Wick South School to be decontrolled by the Military: “These schools have been used for national purposes for the past two years, and pupils have been receiving their education in churches and halls in various parts of the town”; but now that the national situation had changed, “the schools could now be used for their proper purpose.” However the Education Committee had agreed on the policy of dispersal as a safety measure in the event of enemy air raids, and so the children would remain where they were.
A previous letter from a visitor to Wick (“Onlooker”) in the John O’Groat Journal had objected to the alleged practice of spitting in the streets. This brought an angry response this week from someone signing themselves “Dirty Wicker”, pointing out that the local inhabitants were forced “to tolerate all kinds in their midst, whether such strangers be spitters, scoffers, fault-finders, boozers, blasphemers, or would-be wise men. All who come from the south are not saints, Mr Onlooker.”
The Education Committee this week decided to reward some pupils for their attendance: “Marion Rosie, Castletown School, had completed seven years’ unbroken attendance. The Committee resolved that she should receive a watch for five years and a fountain pen and pencil for seven years. It was also reported that Margaret Cameron, Catherine Bain and Jean Sinclair, all pupils of Miller Institution, Thurso, had completed five years, and it was decided to award each a wristlet watch.” [12 Aug Ed Mins Prizes attendance]
Finally this week, the John O’Groat Journal related the story of how a lady in the South of Scotland coped with air raids: “I tak’ the Guid Book from the shelf and read the 23rd Psalm. Then I tak’ a wee drap o’ whisky, then I say a wee prayer. After that I get into bed, pull up the cover right over ma heid, and tell Hitler to go to H---."
Coming soon! Week 154, 17th - 23rd August 1942, will be published on Monday 17th August 2015. To view previous issues please use the menus on the right hand side of the page.
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