The Germans were now completely cut off at Stalingrad, under siege from the encircling Soviet forces and winter fast approaching. On 27 November the French Navy scuttled its fleet at Toulon rather than let it fall into Allied or German hands. Meanwhile, the Allied offensive in Tunisia continued to advance; and on 25 November the US Government decided to build a nuclear research establishment at Los Alamos, New Mexico.
In Caithness, the long-protracted harvest was finally coming to an end. As the John O’Groat Journal reported, in Reay “It has not often been the case that the first month of winter has been needed to finish the work of harvesting. November, however, has often provided better conditions for the crops than September.”
Killimster School recorded an unusual request in its log book on 27 November: “Easel and Black-board loaned to Army Field Co. at request of Director of Education. A signed receipt for transaction obtained.”
On 24 November Alex Sutherland of Ousdale south of Berriedale Braes wrote to Captain Harper of the Home Guard, having been ordered to attend a parade at Borgue School next week. It’s safe to say he was not happy: “I am quite prepared to attend drill if you send a conveyance, as I am at a distance of six miles each way and the worst roads in the north. I must make enquiries to see if they can compel me to walk, if so Helmsdale is nearer and a better road.”
Finally this week, the John O’Groat Journal proudly printed a letter from Sapper George 
Bremner of Wick to his wife, of a remarkable find in the desert: “I found half-buried in sand, and miles from anywhere, a July copy of the Groat… There was I making my way across the desert, following an old camel track, and the familiar old English type (the John O’Groat Journal heading) fluttering in the breeze. The driver stopped while I picked it up.” George Bremner added that, while he didn’t know anyone in the births, marriages and deaths column, he noticed “that you had ‘Hatter’s Castle’ at the local cinema, and that you had the Gala as usual.’ He finished poignantly, “I read it through very hungrily, and it made me homesick.”
