Typed memoirs of RAF posting on Tiree in 1956 during the Cold War
Typed account of an RAF posting on Tiree in 1956 during the Cold War by Dennis Anderson, and two photographs (R195-6) with information.
Click here to view 2012.129.1
Photograph of Dennis Anderson, formerly of RAF Scarinish during the Cold War
Colour photograph of Dennis Anderson of Edinburgh reading a copy of the book “The Hebrides at War” by Mike Hughes, in 2012. Dennis was stationed on Tiree in 1956, when the RAF maintained a radio post during the Cold War. (origingal stored in filing cabinet 9 drawer 4)
Photograph of An Iodhlann, 2012
Colour photograph of An Iodhlann building from the road, with new steps, handrail and sign, taken in spring 2012. (Original and four other copies in filing cabinet 9, drawer 4).
Information about the flight crew of one of the mid-air collision Halifaxes
Printed email from Ken Organ about the flight crew of one of the RAF Halifax aircraft that crashed in mid-air over Tiree in 1944 with the loss of all crew`s lives. Ken` father was one of them.
15 August 2012: “I said I would inform you of the identity of the airmen on the photograph we looked at last week. From the original my father noted the airmen thus:- front row left to right: F/O “Harry” Oates, F/Lt “Bill” Kemp, F/O K W Organ, F/O “Johnny” Peterson; back row left to right: Sgt “Bill” Graham, Arthur Marshall, “Norm” Power, “Warny” Creswell.
I understand that my father’s crew in the accident on 16/8/1944 included six of the above, but not Kemp and Power. Instead of Kemp and Power there was P/O B W Smith and Sgt P G Smith. I do not know when or where the photograph was taken, but his diary notes he was posted to Tiree on 10th August 1944 (and the accident was six days later); prior to Tiree his diary notes he was at RAF Brawdy (in Pembrokeshire). Maybe the photograph was taken there and that he went with most of his crew to Tiree. I guess we’ll never know.”
Photograph of Mary Flora MacDonald with her new Clydesdale horse in 2012.
Colour photograph of Mary Flora MacDonald, Balemartine, with her grand-daughter Kara, in their trap being pulled by `Major` the Clydesdale horse on the Balephuil road in July 2012. Taken by Margie Brown, Salum. (oringinal stored in filing cabinet 9 drawer 3)
Photograph of Balephuil Bay from St. Patrick`s Chapel
Large card-framed colour photograph of Balephuil Bay with part of St. Patrick`s Chapel in the foreground. Taken around 2012 by Andrew Trussell, Hough. Wrapped in cellephane and labelled “St. Patrick`s Chapel, Kinavara”.
CD `Fonn` by the Campbells of Skye, 2012
CD of 13 Gaelic songs and mouth music from the Campbell family of singers from Greepe in the Isle of Skye.
An Iodhlann`s visitors book 2006-2012
An Iodhlann`s visitors book with comments from 2 July 2006 to 31 July 2012.
Poem `Eilean mo Chridh`
Handwritten poem in Gaelic entitled `Eilean mo Chridh / Island of my Heart’, possibly written by Nan Hunter in the 1960s. Original and photocopy. Donated by Nan MacLean, Kenovay.
Information and photographs about the wrecking of HMS Sturdy in 1940
Printed email from the son of a woman who was holidaying on Tiree in October 1940 when HMS Sturdy ran aground at Sandaig with the loss of four lives. Tells of how she and her friend rallied round to help the survivors and how they in turn gave her thank-you gifts of a spoon from the mess and the ship`s badge. Message also mentions the MacArthur family particularly Archie MacArthur, `Big` Katie MacArthur and `Wee` Callum MacArthur. Spoon, badge and photos accessioned separately 2012.94.2->.
18 July 2012: “My name is Henry Howland and I live in Herefordshire. I was born in 1945 at Bellshill, Lanarkshire. My mother (b.1918), now sadly deceased, was Scottish, my father, also now long dead, English. They met in 1941 when my father who was undergoing military training in Perthshire was hospitalised in Glasgow with a skin complaint (allergy to heather!). My mother nursed him. They married in England in 1943. A wartime romance.
The part of the story that I hope may be of interest to you took place in 1940. My mother, Elizabeth (“Bessie”) Barr as she then was, was nursing in a Glasgow hospital, Stobb Hill or Lennox Castle, I think. She had a very good friend from Tiree also nursing with her. I think that the family name was MacArthur. I have certainly got three photos of her labelled “ Tiree 1939 “. One shows her with a young man (early 20’s) labelled “Archie MacArthur “, another is labelled “MacArthur family including Big Katie“. The third shows my mother and a friend, Jane Morrow with a boy of about 6/7 called “wee Callum.” There is an another name in my memory from her nursing days, Betty Bryson. It may or may not have any relevance to the Tiree story, but I offer it up just in case. Oh, why don’t we ask these questions when people are around to answer them!
Anyway, my mother was again on holiday on Tiree with her friend in October 1940. She told me the story of the storm and wreck of HMS Sturdy and how she and the family she was with rallied round to take in the men from the wreck and give them shelter and food. It must have been handy to have had at least two nurses on the scene that night. My mother was a very self- effacing person and I don’t remember her making a great deal of the event or of her part in it and I would very interested to learn more.
The story has been with me since childhood and I had not given it a great deal of thought until the other evening when I ventured onto Google and read about Sturdy, the memorial, the commemoration in 2010 and your museum.
Which brings me to the “punch line” of this tale. Some of the rescued sailors of Sturdy were so grateful for the help received that they went back to the wreck when the weather had calmed and “rescued” two items which they presented to my mother as souveniers. The first is a chrome plated serving spoon from the mess. The second is the ship’s badge from the bridge! “On a field Silver. A pine tree proper”, although all the original paint has gone and we are left with the natural bronze. Are these the only remaining parts of Sturdy? I think the time has come for these items to return to Tiree and if your museum would like them they shall be yours!”
23 July 2012: “A further recollection about the badge and spoon. After returning from Tiree in 1940 they were both taken to my mother’s then home at Larkhall, Lanarkshire. The spoon eventually ended up in the family cutlery box where it dished out many a vegetable until my my grandparents’ deaths in the late 1950’s when it was retrieved by my mother and taken South to our home in Bromley, Kent. The badge had a similarly useful life as a stand for my grandmother’s hot stove heated flat irons, which probably accounts for the loss of the original paint! I remember them both in use in this way during childhood visits to Scotland in the 40’s and 50’s. Since the 1980’s they have been in my possession and on display.”
