The Germans’ attack on the centre of Stalingrad had lost momentum in the vicious hand-to-hand fighting in the rubble, though they had come tantalisingly close to driving the Soviets back across the River Volga. Now on 27 September Paulus launched a new offensive aimed at the north of the city. Also this week, with German and British forces facing each other across the lines at El Alamein, Rommel returned to Germany for medical treatment; and on Guadalcanal in the Pacific Japanese forces were driven back in the Third Battle of the Matanikau River.
The hopes for a dry end to the harvest were dashed this week as heavy rains came to Caithness. The log book for Stemster School in Bower on Monday 21 September says, “Only 6 pupils present today, owing to extremely heavy showers of rain; pupils from long distances could not possibly come.”
Bilbster School near Wick experienced similar problems: “Monday was a day of heavy rain & as the river was in flood none of the Winless children were able to be present.” (Ironically, on Tuesday the Director of Education visited the school “re water supply which continues unsatisfactory”.)
But, rain or no, the harvest still had to be gathered in. On 25 September the head teacher of Dunnet Crossroads School noted wistfully, “The same pupils are still absent through illness. Three boys in the Senior room who have hitherto had perfect attendance have been helping with the harvest this week.”
The Secretary of State for Scotland, the Right Hon. Thomas Johnston, paid a visit to Caithness this week and attended a special meeting of Thurso Burgh Council. Bailie Sinclair on behalf of the Harbour Trust expressed “the desire that efforts should be made to have the harbour deepened and improved so that facilities would be available when the men presently in the Services returned to their peace-time occupations. He explained that the Harbour being tidal, there was a present delay in getting fish consigned to the market and that there was consequent loss of revenue in the Burgh.”
Finally this week, the John O’Groat Journal printed a joke from the Air Raid Precaution service, headed “Before the Magistrate”: “And what do you say the prisoner was doing?” asked the magistrate. “Having a very heated argument with an air raid warden,” was the reply. “But surely that doesn’t prove that he was drunk,” commented the judge. “Maybe not,” agreed the witness, “but there wasn’t any air raid warden there.”
