With the Allied conquest of Sicily almost complete, German forces now began to evacuate to the Italian mainland; they had suffered some 32,000 casualties in the campaign, and the Italians over 130,000. The RAF now launched a heavily bomb raid on Milan. Also this week, General George S. Patton was forced to apologize to two wounded US soldiers for slapping them and accusing them of malingering, and in the Pacific the battle for the Solomon Islands continued with fighting on Vella Lavella island.
In Caithness the summer harvest was progressing well. As the John O’Groat Journal reported, in Reay “Crops of all kinds look well, and promise of good returns comes from all farms. Corn is fast “filling” and will, if the weather is favourable, come early to the stook. Hay is nearly all in ricks, but the crop is light.”
The County Education Committee noted a new problem caused by wartime shortages. Watches had hitherto been given as prizes for pupils with a perfect attendance record; now, however, “Mr Macadie, Jeweller, Wick, was finding very great difficulty in obtaining watches and had not been able to give a delivery of
watches ordered a year ago. Mr Macadie had also indicated that the cost of watches would now be in the vicinity of £5 10s each.”
Thurso Town Council finally laid to rest the vexed question of the town horse trough being removed for salvage, after they received a petition “signed by owners of horses and rate payers … as [the horse trough] was considered essential for the needs of horses”. Councillor Barry also pointed out “that it was gifted to the town by the late Sir Tollemache Sinclair. On reconsidering the matter the Council agreed to allow the trough to remain.”
Finally this week the John O’Groat Journal reported on a plan to cut down a quantity of trees at Berriedale, “the county’s most beautiful woodland amenity”, as part of a national timber scheme by the Home-grown Timber Department. The matter had been raised with the County Council and Miss L.M. Kennedy of Dunbeath had protested on the grounds that “the amount of wood to be procured … would not count for much in the whole national scheme for timber supply, and, that as Caithness was very sparsely wooded, it was wrong to cut down the few trees it possessed.” Unfortunately for the trees of Berriedale they were destined to be cut down by the Canadian Forestry Corps later in the summer.
Coming soon! Week 207, 16th – 22nd August 1943, will be published on Monday 15th August 2016. To view previous issues please use the menus on the right hand side of the page.
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