After the overthrow of Mussolini, on 3 September Italy signed a secret armistice, effectively surrendering to the Allies; the treaty was kept secret initially until the Allied invasion of the mainland was well under way. Also on 3 September the British XXIII Corps landed in Calabria in Italy. In the Pacific, Australian and US forces landed near the strategically important port city of Lae, New Guinea, preparatory to an assault.
In Caithness the summer harvest and fishing was going well. The John O’Groat Journal reported that in Dunbeath, “In most places the corn crop is fairly heavy, while there are also prospects of a good return of potatoes and turnips”, and also that “Large shots of herrings are being landed. Everyone can have plenty of “tattie herring” this year, as the boats are landing fish for the crofters.”
The harvest once again began to have an impact on school life. The log book of Greenland School in Dunnet records on 30 August, “Randolph Begg has been granted leave of absence for six weeks to help with harvest work”.
Meanwhile Thrumster School was having no problems with attendance, although the wartime book shortage was inspiring some creative thinking. On 3 September the Head Teacher noted, “The children in the top class have been examined and several of the older ones drafted into an “advanced” class chiefly because of the shortage of books.”
It is interesting to note that, even at this stage of the war, the authorities were planning for what would follow the eventual end of hostilities. Wick Burgh Council had received a letter from the Scottish Home Department stating that “a number of motor vessels are being built to meet present naval requirements, but that they have been specially designed so as to be suitable, after the war, for employment in herring fishing and white fishing.” The Council had represented “their desire to secure an allocation of these vessels” and that had been noted.
Finally this week, here’s a parallel between the activities of the “youth of ‘Poltney’” as reported in the John O’Groat Journal in 1943, and the same youth in the 1890s. Norseman, while waxing lyrical on Wick Harbour, lamented the “rigid control” on the purchase of fish during wartime, but reflected: “And yet there is no stopping the youth of “Poltney” from sitting on the edge of the quay and playing the game of fishermen with hook and line”.
And here is a photograph taken in the 1890s of the harbour at Wick; and on the right, on the edge of the quay, the youth of the town can be seen fishing with hook and line…
Coming soon! Week 210, 6th – 12th September 1943, will be published on Monday 5th September 2016. To view previous issues please use the menus on the right hand side of the page.
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