The British and American forces that had landed in southern Italy now began to advance up the country. The Italian Acqui division on the Greek island of Cephallonia finally surrendered to the Germans on 21 September, and over 4,500 soldiers were subsequently executed. Also this week the Soviet army recaptured the town of Smolensk; and on 22 September an attack by British midget submarines on the German battleship Tirpitz at anchor in Altenfjord in Norway left her crippled.
In Caithness, as the John O’Groat Journal reported for Westerdale, “Harvesting operations are in full swing in the surrounding neighbourhood and there is every sign of a bountiful crop. More loads of peat than usual have passed this way from the hills during the season to various parts of the county, thus, we hope, helping to save coal for more essential purposes.”
Bower Parish School tersely recorded the autumnal weather in the school log book on 20 September: “Weather wet and stormy; 16 pupils absent”.
The pupils of Pulteneytown Academy had an unusual visitor on 24 September: “A talk on Manchuria and its people was given to the Senior classes and Juns. Ia & IIa by Mr Littlewood, recently repatriated from Japan.” As there were very few repatriations of British citizens interned by the Japanese Mr Littlewood may have been one of the lucky ones.
Finally this week, there was an unusual intervention at another talk, given by the author Eileen Bigland at Wick Town Hall. The talk was on the subject of the “USSR and Its People”. Mrs Bigland’s mother was a Russian, and as the John O’Groat Journal reported, she had met Stalin and Chiang Kai-Shek, and was the only European to have travelled the whole of the Burma Road “alone in a Chinese convoy.”
One member of her audience was, however, unimpressed. As the Director of Education wrote to a correspondent on 20 September, the talk had been very well received. But a Russian lady who was present called Mrs Bigland an imposter, and accused her of working for the newspaper that published the official views of the Soviet government: “This little lady met her after the lecture and wished to speak some Russian to her but Mrs Bigland said she felt too tired. “Too tired! Too tired to speak Russian as she had done on the staff of Isvestia!””
Coming soon! Week 213, 27th September – 3rd October 1943, will be published on Monday 26th September 2016. To view previous issues please use the menus on the right hand side of the page.
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