1930s binoculars given to Archie MacLeod, Carrachan, Kilmoluaig, by one of the officers of the destroyer HMS Sturdy, which was wrecked on rocks at Sandaig in 1940. Archie (Erchie Charrachain) was home on leave from Gourock where he was skipper on one of the troop tenders based there during WWII. He was present at Sandaig during the rescue and carried ashore on his shoulders one of the Sturdy’s navigating officers who, in a show of gratitude, placed the binoculars around Archie’s neck. Archie’s son, also Archie (Gilleasbuig Carrachan), played with the binoculars as a boy. The binoculars remained in Carrachan until they were passed on to An Iodhlann in 2019.
Includes handwritten history of the binoculars by Gilleasbuig MacLeod.
Copies of the Royal Navy service record, death certificate and list of medals awarded to John Barnard Norton (Bunty) Whyte (1909-1942), son of Balephuil/Oban artists Duncan MacGregor Whyte and Mary Barnard Whyte, who was killed during an air raid on Southampton during WW2. The material includes correspondence from Navy Command to the donor.
Transcriptions of personal letters from Wilfred Lancaster (1909-1988) to his wife Elizabeth (Betty) when he was stationed at Kilkenneth, RAF Tiree during WW2. They provide an interesting insight into life at the airbase during that time. Includes photographs of Wildfred and two other airmen, Reggie Burton and George Parker.
Copy of a page from An Tirisdeach 679 about a visit to Tiree by the Free Czechoslovak Air Force Associates, an organisation dedicated to remembering the Czech men and women who served in the RAF during WW2. Includes a detailed biography of Flying Officer Leonard Revilliod (1922-1944) who died in a mid-air collision over Island House in 1944.
Black & white composite postcard made by Mona MacDonald, Scarinish, from different scenes from Tiree in around 1940. Mona sold these from her shop in Scarinish.
Black & white composite postcard made by Mona MacDonald, Scarinish, from different scenes from Tiree in around 1940. Mona sold these from her shop in Scarinish.
Black & white photograph of cargo boats at Scarinish Harbour in around 1940, with a kilted gentleman in the foreground. The ship behind is probably the Mary Stewart.
Hardback book ‘Forecast for Overlord’, by J M Stagg, 1971. A first-hand account of the weather forecasting that allowed the D-Day operations to be carried out on June 6, 1944. Written by General Eisenhower’s chief weatherman. Airmen at RAF Tiree collected the weather data that was used to forecast D-Day.
