WWII sea mine discovered under gravel on the Sandaig shore in August 2016. Visible are the locations of the detonation horns and the hole where a time-sensitive self-destruct mechanism was installed. Hundreds of pebbles and shells are fused onto its surface. Tens of thousands of similar mines were laid around the Hebrides and the North Sea during the first and second world wars.
Five WWII bricks found on Balephetrish Beach. Made by different brick-workers: Arrowhill, Dewar, Hurlford, Holytown and AR.
Black & white photograph of Graeme MacKinnon (1921-2000), grandson of Archibald MacKinnon, Vaul, who emigrated to Australia in 1876. Graeme became an Antarctic explorer and geographer responsible for mapping Antarctica. McKinnon Island and McKinnon Glacier in the Antarctic are named after him.
Original programme for ‘Bon Voyage’ (1945), a performance by The Tireans – a drama group formed by members of RAF Tiree during WWII. Judging by the stains and cigarette burns, the programme was well handled by members of the audience, including the donor’s father, airman Joseph ‘Ray’ Stephens.
Scanned correspondence between John Brown, Manager of the Scarinish Hotel, March-July 1949, and guests George and Kathleen Morton. George Morton was one of the flight crew based at RAF Tiree with 518 Squadron – Meteorological Observers, during WWII. George brought Kathleen back to Tiree for their honeymoon in 1949. The correspondence includes a receipt for £12 and 8 shillings for one week’s room and board, plus transfers, and instructions regarding the use of ration cards.
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Compiled information about the Steamship Laristan which ran aground on rocks at Craignish, Hough, in 1942. Includes the log of the ship’s movements around the time it ran aground, an extract from a book about shipwrecks, and an extract from Home Commands’ War Diary – Casualties and Defects. The ship was also known under the names of Cherrywood and Empire Gulf.
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Black & white photograph of seaman Ralph Frederick Smith (right) who was rescued by Tiree residents when his ship, the SS Laristan, ran aground on rocks at Craignish, Hough on January 19th 1942. Ironically, having survived the wrecking of the Laristan, Ralph Smith died at sea three months later when his next ship, the Empire Dryden, was torpedoed off the USA coast. Ralph’s Seaman’s Card with details of his death can be viewed here.
Scanned copy of a Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book belonging to Fred B Green, AFC, who was a pilot with 518 Squadron based at RAF Tiree from February 1943 to May 1945. The log book shows that he flew missions on 1, 2, 5 and 6 June 1944, all in Halifax LL294, including a stint of 9 hours 50 minutes on 2 June. That flight was diverted to Stornoway, presumably on account of weather conditions.
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Black & white photograph of a thatched house around 1930-40, probably one of the row that later became part of the Thatched House Museum at Sandaig.
Black & white postcard photograph of an elderly woman holding a baby on her lap outside a house (not Tiree). Found in a collection of photographs connected to Marion MacLeod, Port Mor, Sandaig, and likely to be of her relations. On the reverse is written “Miss M MacLeod, Sandaig, Middleton, Isle of Tiree”, plus notes on colours of features and clothing of both subjects.
