In Russia, Soviet counterattacks were slowing the advance of the German Sixth Army, which was still 60 miles from Stalingrad. In the Caucasus, German forces seized the oilfields at Maikop only to find they had been destroyed by the retreating Russians. On 7 August US Marines landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Meanwhile Churchill had decided to replace General Auchinleck in the Western desert with a more attack-minded commander and had appointed Lieutenant General William “Strafer” Gott; unfortunately Gott was killed on 7 August when his plane was shot down over Egypt.
The rather confusing timekeeping of the war continued this week as the John O’Groat Journal reported that Double Summer Time was coming to an end on Saturday night, “when all clocks and watches should be put back one hour, thus reverting to British Summer Time, which probably be maintained throughout the winter.”
To the disgust of Wick Harbour Trust the issue of foreign vessels being allowed to land fish at Wick was still no nearer being resolved. On 3 August, “The meeting expressed great dis-satisfaction at the Admiralty attitude which represented no real concession at all, as the foreign vessels were at liberty at all times to purchase ice, and were apparently only to be allowed to sell fish on the rare occasion when there was danger of the fish going bad.” As for the role played by the sitting MP in the discussions, “Dis-satisfaction was also expressed at Sir archibald Sinclair’s ineffective intervention.”
The county had recently held a fundraising campaign to adopt a warship, to be named after Major Jock Campbell of Thurso. The Burgh of Thurso recorded in the minutes that a letter had been received from the Admiralty, “expressing appreciation at the result of the Warship Week effort and intimating that the ship’s company of H.M.S. Campbell would present a replica of the ship’s badge to the County and to the two Burghs, and asking if the Town Council would in return wish to present a commemorative plaque to the ship.” The plaque now sits in Wick Town Hall. [See http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/item/item_writtenword.jsp?item_id=85156 for image of the plaque]
The Caithness Police files contain the following tragic incident report dated 3 August: “At 10.55 hrs a locally based aircraft of Bomber Type crashed in a field beyond Bignold Hospital, Wick… Six members of crew believed killed. Please inform Maintenance Unit from your office.”
Finally this week the John O’Groat Journal reported that two Thurso men had appeared in Wick Sheriff Court “on a charge of braking into the St Clair Hotel, Thurso, with intent to steal.” The charge against one of the men was dropped, while the other, Donald Swanson, came up with a novel defence: “Mr Moore [his solicitor] said that Swanson had entered the hotel in an illegal manner for the purpose of getting to the bar for a drink. It was a foolish escapade.” The Sheriff accepted the man’s story, but still fined him £5.
