[singlepic id=1278 w=240 float=right]Three buses went from Uig to Stornoway daily during the war – John Macaulay Islivig, Peter Macritchie Aird and John Buchanan Valtos. During the war the buses used to be full of servicemen coming and going back from leave, some never returning. I remember as a kid I was on holiday at my uncle’s house in Timsgarry and got on Peter Macritchie’s bus to go back to Enaclete. I was sitting beside Neil Matheson, 22 Crowlista, (right) who was in naval uniform. It was his last leave, and he was lost at sea, aged 27, off North Africa. (Neil died on 11 November 1943 and was attached to HMS President III at the time. His hatband reads HMS Iron Duke (which spent the war in Scapa Flow) and the troopship HMS Ombra on the frame was a minesweeping yacht – presumably Neil served on both.)

[singlepic id=1277 w=180 float=left]All buses coming and going stopped at Puff’s house – Norman Macdonald, Post Office, Enaclete. There were always people ceilidhing at his house, as he had a wireless and the bodachs used to visit to hear the nine o’clock news about the war. There was great hilarity when the service lads came off the bus and they were welcomed by all and sundry. Bottles of beer would be drunk beside the bus and enws was swapped, length of leave, where they were serving and whether there were any other Uig lads with them.

Puff, left, had been a policeman in Glasgow but came home after his wife, who was from Lemreway (South Lochs) died. John M Macdonald, Puff’s son, was a Quartermaster in the Merchant Navy, on the Anchor Donaldson Line of Glasgow. He was on SS Gregalia during the war. John was later the postmaster in Enaclete, a highly intelligent man who should have stayed at sea as he had no idea how to work a croft.

[singlepic id=1276 w=280 float=right]Puff’s brothers Domhnall Dubh (Donald) and Iain Masach (John) – right, with John Macleod 5 Enaclete – ran a shop beside the Post Office and also had the tank for paraffin. The people from Ungeshader, Enaclete and Gisla used to queue there for petrol. Donald had been a policeman in Glasgow but had to resign, possibly because of epilepsy. He swore like a trooper but was very kind to children. On the counter of the shop were small tin pails with boiled sweets. When we went into the shop he would put his hand in the tin and give us some sweets for nothing, and then in Gaelic tell us to bugger off. He was not religious; I think some people looked on Enaclete as a ‘place of darkness’ in those days as nobody sat at the Lord’s Table to take communion.

We used to have two grocery vans, a butcher’s van and a fish van every week during the war. The Co-op van and Lipton’s van came with groceries from Stornoway; John Buchanan, Valtos had a grocery van and John Matheson, Cliff, used to come on Saturday with his butcher’s van. During the summer herring season Alex Morrison, from Achmore but with a paternal connection to Reef, used to come with fresh herring, charging 2/- or 2/6 for 20 or 25 herring, and he always gave you a couple of extra. My grandmother did the curing and every week she used to put around 20 into a barrel with rough salt for our winter feed. Being from Bernera she was a dab hand when it came to fish.

[singlepic id=1263 w=400]

During the Second World War, five Macdonald brothers from the village of Valtos, Uig, Isle of Lewis, served at sea. The five sailors were sons of Donald and Christina Macdonald 22 Valtos.

Their mother Christina (nee Maciver), formerly of 25 Valtos, had lost two brothers in the first World War. Norman Maciver serving on a destroyer was swept overboard and lost in 1915 and Murdo Maciver in the Canadian Seaforths was killed in action in France 1916. Donald Macdonald, the father of the five young seamen had served in World War One and contracted malaria, which recurred often. Their uncle John Macdonald, who was in the Merchant Navy in 1939-45, was also a veteran of the 1914-18 war.

Two of the five brothers were lost at sea. Donald Norman, who was called up at the beginning of the war, was lost on HMS Gloucester off Crete in 1941 aged 23 and Murdo who had joined the Merchant Navy, was lost on the SS Empire Comet off Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1942 aged 21. This was the only family in Uig to lose two sons.

The family’s eldest son Duncan worked long hours as a labourer hauling stones to the many croft houses under construction in Valtos at the time. Duncan joined the Merchant Navy in 1935 at the age of twenty one and later as a reservist, was called up at the start of hostilities and was awarded the DSM (Distinguished Service Medal) while serving on HMS Welshman during the relief of Malta in 1942. HMS Welshman was sunk later that year in North Africa and Duncan joined the HMS Orion. After the war Duncan was a weaver and settled in Bragar, Lewis.

Norman Macdonald served on the Silicia and HMS Trouncer, an aircraft carrier built in America in 1940. Later when one of his own sons joined the Merchant Navy in 1966, his first ship was the Benrinnes he was amazed to find it was his father’s old ship the HMS Trouncer coverted back to a conventional cargo ship. After the war Norman returned to Uig and worked, at first, as an insurance agent, then for the Hydro, when the electricity came to Valtos in 1952. After that he worked on the building of the RAF Camp at Aird Uig and worked in the camp as a civilian until the camp closed in 1955. Norman was married in Valtos and died in 1989.

John Macdonald (Tochaidh) lived at the family croft at 22 Valtos and said: “I had an enlisting deferment for nine months as Donald Norman and Murdo had been lost, then I was enlisted in 1943. Murdo was called up and never returned, Donald Norman had one leave before he was lost. The only time I met my brother Norman during the war was in Glasgow, in my cousins house, Norman was going on leave and my leave was over.

“I remember the D-Day landings in France. I was on the Emphatic at Arromanches the part of the coast where the British were landing. I had been up all night and went to get my head down, suddenly the loud firing started and I couldn’t sleep. I went up on deck and saw the Orion about 20 metres away, my brother Duncan was on it. Another time the Orion was going into Malta and passed us on the way out. That was as close as I got to meeting Duncan during the war years.

“Duncan and Norman were demobbed at the end of the war, but as the Emphatic was an American tug crewed by British Merchant Navy men they didn’t send replacement crews and we were sent to the Philippines. It took me two years to get back, I was in Burma and Singapore and came back to Lewis in February 1947. I spent some time in the Merchant Navy, after that I was weaving at home. Then for ten years I worked on the road for the County Council until I retired. There is nobody left on the Valtos peninsula that served in the war except myself. There were no good times then.”

The picture shows Donald Macdonald (Domhnall Daoighear) and his wife Christina nee Maciver with their five sons, who served in World War Two. The picture was taken by a relative on 3 September 1939, the Sunday afternoon war was declared. This was to be the last time the family were together.

As a boy in Enaclete I heard many stories about the war, including the Onslow action, being discussed by Calum Iain Smith and the worthies who used to congregate at night for a ceilidh at Norman Macdonald’s (Puff’s) house, Post Office, Enaclete, and also at the Coisich’s house after the family had moved from Ungeshader.

Calum Iain’s father, Donald, was one of six men from Uig who had served in WW1 on the auxiliary cruiser HMS Orama at the Battle of the Falklands.  He was a very quiet man but on Hogmanay he sometimes sang a song about the Orama and the Falklands, but I have never heard anyone else singing it. I wonder if anyone has the words of this song?

Puff’s house was one of two houses in our village with a radio and most nights there were people from Enaclete, Ungeshader, Geshader and sometimes further afield who would visit the house for a ceilidh, listen to the BBC 9 o’clock news and wait the arrival of the Uig bus. Uig had three buses then, MacRitchie’s, Buchanan’s and MacAulay’s, all of which on their journeys to and from Stornoway would stop at the Macdonalds’ house.

The ferry sailings from Kyle to Stornoway were at that time staggered to prevent U-boats shadowing and sinking the Lochness and consequently nobody knew when the boat, and therefore the bus meeting it, would arrive. People often waited into the wee small hours and when the bus eventually arrived there was great hilarity and a hearty welcome for the servicemen coming home on leave. Today this house lies empty and my thoughts often return to the days of laughter, jokes, stories, leg-pulling and bonhomie. Next to the Post Office was a shop and a paraffin storage tank and it was very busy place with cars, buses, lorries and people on cycles and on foot coming and going all day long; indeed the area could be described as the Piccadilly of Uig.

Norman’s son John was a Quartermaster in the Merchant Navy and when he returned from the sea he used to bring me comics from New York. These American comics were full of dragons and monsters and sometimes they scared the living daylights out of me when I read them by the fire with the light from a peat.

©DJ Macleod

American press photographers visited the vicinity of St Pauls on Hogmanay to pick up a few colourful pictures of New Year celebrations in London.

A group of Lewisfolk gave them their best ‘shots’ of the evening when Pipers Findlater and Grant accompanied some of the lads and lasses totheir stations to see them off.

While waiting for the train at Tottenham Court Road and Hyde Park Corner, the pipers played and dances were arranged in the wide open spaces at both ends of the escalators.

Some allied servicement joined in the dances although the steps were strange to most of them, and the American photographers who had been waiting for a real snap got the best of the evening there.

Earlier the cameramen had met another Lewis crowd at Chancery Lane, and they appeared to like their company too, focussing their cameras on them periodically, perhaps attracted by the Gaelic banter and song.

Despite travel restrictions a number of Lewis folk obtained short leave in December and early January and the following were among those who met in the heart of the capital during the festive season:

Norman* Maclean, Army, 8 Timsgarry; Chief Officer W Williams and Bell, the Manse, Carloway; Catherine Macleod, WAAF, Aird Dell; Nurse Jessie Macdonald, Burnside, Doune; Malcolm Mackay, Navy, 13 Kneep; Nurse Chrissie Macphail, 7 Doune; Donald Smith, Navy, 20 Valtos; Chrissie Macdonald, NFS, 35 Gress; Nurse Peggie Morrison, 24 South Bragar; Malcolm Macaulay, MB ChB, Enaclete; Mary Mackay, WW, Cromore; LS Malcolm Macdonald, Navy, Earshader; Annie Murray and Chrissie Eliot, LT, North Tolsta; Norman Macaulay, MN, 34 Upper Bayble; Nurse K Morrison, Reef; Fergus Ferguson, Army, Croir; Malcolm Macleod, Navy, Park Shawbost; Joan Mackenzie, NFS, Back; John Campbell, MN, North Bragar; John Chisholm, Canadians, whose ancestors left Uist 150 years ago; Pt Neil Maclean, Canadians, 37 Kenneth St; Louis Macleod, Navy, Ranish; PO Mary Macneil, WRNS, 51 Upper Carloway; George Macleod, Navy, Coll; Donald Maclennan, Navy, Tong; CPO Kenneth Macdonald, Breaclete; LAC Alex Neil Macleod, RAF, 28 Keith St; John Smith, Canadians, 20 Valtos.

*see comment below.

Just now I am up in a cold land
And a message has arrived for us to go to sea,
That the ships are now assembled and when night comes
We have to move off with them.

-Murdanie Macritchie

This song was written by Petty Officer Murdanie Macritchie, Brenish, whilst serving during the Second War on HMS Cape Palliser escorting merchant ships on a Russian convoy, PQ-15, from Iceland to Murmansk.  PQ-15 (not PQ-16, as previously thought) sailed from Iceland on 26 April 1942, reaching Kola Inlet on 5 May, after several air and U-boat attacks.  In the convoy were 25 merchant ships that had arrived from various seaports in the UK, plus naval escort ships. An account from English sailor Geoff Hall aboard the Commodore ship, SS Ocean Voice on convoy PQ-16, later in May, gives detail of the run from the Clyde to Loch Ewe to Iceland and then Murmansk, and of being bombed.

To be as far away as possible from the enemy’s airfields in Norway, convoys from Iceland to Russia were routed close to the ice-edge, passing Jan Mayen Island, Bear Island and Novaya Zemlya then heading for the Kola Inlet and the port of Murmansk.  Arctic convoys came under attack from aircraft, U-boats, large surface ships and light surface ships.

For the return journey, HMS Cape Palliser joined convoy QP-12 as an escort, arriving back in Iceland on 29 May.  En route, one day near Bear Island, convoy PQ-16 and homeward bound convoy QP-12 were incessantly attacked by 108 waves of German aircraft.  Seven vessels were lost including SS Lowther Castle, SS Empire Purcell and SS Empire Lawrence.  SS Empire Purcell, on her maiden voyage, was loaded with ammunition and blew up when hit by two bombs.  The Ocean Voice was also badly damaged.

Murdanie Macritchie survived the war and was ordained a minister in the Church of Scotland.  A translation follows the Gaelic song.

An till mi gu bràth gu Eilean mo Ghràidh
‘S don a’ bhaile a rinn mi fhàgail
Faic mi tuilleadh le mo shùilean beanntan sgire Uig
No Mealisbhal ag èirigh an àrda?

An cuir mi gu bràth mo ghuaillean ri bàt
Ga cur sios gu sàl air Mol Innis?
An cuir me tuilleadh na clèibh aig a’ Sgeir Lèith
Faic mise tuilleadh Mol Bhrèinis?

An dìrich mi tuilleadh an àrd dhan a’ bheinn
A thrusadh na caoraich a-nuas?
Am faic mi iad tuilleadh cruinn anns an fhaing
An cluinn mi tuilleadh mèilich nan uan?

Am faic me tuilleadh na mnathan a’ deaschadh biadh
‘S ghrian os mo chionn a’ deàrrsadh?
Faic me tuilleadh chlann nighean a chleachd a bhith ann
An cluinn mise tuilleadh an gàire?

An suidh mi tuilleadh mar a b’ àbhaist Latha na Sàbaid
A dh’ èisdeachd na fìrinn ga leughadh?
An cluinn me tuilleadh an t-seinn a bha leamsa cho binn?
Suidh mi tuilleadh ‘s taigh choinneamh am Breinis?

Faic mi tuilleadh mo mhàthair ‘s m’ athair a dh’ fhàg mi
Nach robh idir doigheil nuar a dh’ fhalbh mi?
Faic mi iad tuilleadh a-muigh anns an iodhlann
‘S leantainn a dh’ obair gu anmoch?

An-dràsta tha mi shuas anns an talamh fuar
‘S fios air tighinn oirnn dhol gu fàirge
Gu robh na luingean nis cruinn ‘s nuair a thigeadh an oidhche
Gu feumadh sinn gluasad gu falbh leo’.

Chaidh an sgiobair bho rùm a shuidheachadh cùrs,
Thubhairt e rium gu b’ ann Murmansk a bha dùil ruinn,
Dh’ fhaighnich mi dha càit idir robh an t-àit’
No’m bitheadh fada gus a ruigeadh sinn thall ann.

Nuair a thàinig an uair chaidh na luingean air ghluas’d
Tè an dèidh tè ann an ordugh
B’ e geamhradh a bh’ ann ‘s cha robh ann ach an oidhche
‘S bha cabhadh a-nuas oirnn a’ dortadh.

Nuair a ràinig sinn thall cha robh uiread againn ann,
Rinn an nàmhaid gu làidir ar bualadh
Na luingean bha gan giùlan nis mar ciste bha gan dùnadh
‘S iadnan laighe air ùrlar na fairge.

Ach ‘s e m’ ùrnaidh ‘s mo mhiann gum bitheadh mo bheatha air a dion
‘S gun dèanainn seirbhis don Righ a tha shuas,
‘S gun deidhinn am measg dhaoine chum an Soisgeul a sgaoileadh
‘S gun innsinn mu Shlanaighear an t-sluaigh.

An till mi gu bràth gu Eilean mo Ghràidh
‘S don a’ bhaile a rinn mi fhàgail?
Faic me tuilleach le mo shùilean beanntan sgire Uig
No Mealisbhal ag èirigh an àrda?

_____________________________________________________________

Will I ever return to the Island that I love
And to my village that I left?
Will my eyes ever again see the mountains of Uig
Or Mealisbhal ascending so high?

Will I ever again put my shoulder to a boat
To launch her down into the sea at Molinish?
Will I ever more set the lobster pots at Sgeir Liath
Will I ever again see Mol Brenish?

Will I ever again climb up into themountain
To gather the sheep and bring them down?
Will I ever again see them rounded-up in the fank,
Will I ever again hear the bleating of the lambs?

Will I ever again see the women preparing food
And the sun shining above me?
Will I ever again see the girls who used to be there,
Will I ever again hear their laughter?

Will I ever again sit as I used to on the Sabbath
Listening to the Truth being read?
Will I ever again hear the singing that was to me so melodious?
Will I ever again sit in the Brenish meeting house?

Will I ever again see my mother and father than I left
Who were not at all pleased when I departed?
Will I ever again see them out in the corn-yard
Continuing with their work until dusk?

Just now I am up in a cold land
And a message has arrived for us to go to sea,
That the ships are now assembled and when night comes
We have to move off with them.

The Skipper went from his room to set the course,
He told me that we were expected in Murmansk,
I asked him where indeed this place was
And would it be long until we arrived over there.

When the time came the ships started moving
In order, one after the other.
It was winter-time and there was only night
And the wind driven snow was gushing down on top of us.

When we reached the other side there were not so many of us,
The enemy had struck us very hard,
The ships that bore it are now like coffins being closed
And they are lying at the bottom of the ocean.

But it is my prayer and desire that my life be protected
And that I will do service for the King on high,
And that I would go amongst the people to spread the Gospel
And tell of the Saviour of the multitude.

Will I ever return to the Island that I love
And to the village that I left?
Will my eyes ever again see the mountains of Uig
Or Mealisbhal ascending so high?

West Uig, along with other parts of the Island, has contributed its quota to the fighting forces, both army and navy.  Being on the Atlantic Seaboard, much interest is taken in all surface craft observed, and much speculation as to their intentions is rife.  More interest, however, is taken in the very unusual appearance of any aircraft and, so, considerable apprehension was blended with interest one day last week when an aircraft was first heard and then seen rapidly approaching the coast.  One was not very sure what to do – whether to stand and star or make for the nearest ditch!  The absence of a gas mask, that talisman against air raids which hasn’t been distributed here yet, added to the feeling of insecurity.  “How can anyone escape a gas attack when one’s only protection is a thatched roof?” is how one old lady put it.  However, the plane must have been a friendly one, for not even a leaflet was dropped, and apart from a few cows which swung their tails and rushed helter-skelter for cover, no one was seriously alarmed.

Meanwhile, here are some telegrams sent to Donald Matheson (Dòmhnall a Bheiceir, 39 Cliff) and Chrissie nee Ferguson (Morsgail) on the occasion of their wedding on 27 September 1944 at Morsgail Lodge.  Many thanks to Christine for passing them on to us.

Heartiest congratulations and may the ship of good fortune take anchor in your home.

Heartiest congratulations.  May the chain that is joined today never rust a link.

May this pairing never need repairing.

Hearty congratulations Chrissie.  Sugar is rationed, love is not, you don’t need coupons for a utility cot.

Congratulations. May this union never go on strike.

May the new-bound volume lead to many happy additions.

May all your spuds be Golden Wonders.

Congratulations. May your lives be one long song with Donald supplying the notes.

Congratulations. Urgent: Valtos Public School wants more pupils.

Congratulations. Invasion tonight, beware of secret weapons.

Good luck to the Captain and the mate, may the crew increase at a terrible rate.

Don’t let Calum oil his plugs too much tonight.

You have long dwelt in Hope Street – may you dwell longer in Union Street.

Happy be the bride, happy be the groom.  Happy be the little crowd who sit around the room.

Disease, love. Treatment, marriage.  Prognosis nappies and floor walking.

Readers in Lewis and Harris, please remember tonight is the night for your 2011 Census rehearsal form to be filled in, online or on paper, in English or Gaelic. In all the Comainn Eachdraidh we rely on the census records in our research, and whatever the state of genealogy in a hundred years time, our followers will appreciate a full and accurate record.  A wide participation in this (voluntary) rehearsal will help to ensure the success of the 2011 record.

William Matheson (Uilleam Dearg) was born to 2 Geshader in 1877, the youngest son of William Ruadh.  As a young man he went off, presumably to join the Seaforths, though his family heard nothing of him until he turned up in a picture of a company in Egypt or the Sudan, about 1898. He served in the Boer War then settled in South Africa, worked as a prospector, joined up again in 1914 (despite severe bouts of malaria) and in 1940, at the age of 63, served finally in the South Africa First Reserve Brigade.

[singlepic=596,200,right] William never returned to Lewis but his daughter Annie, now living in Australia, has visited (her nearest relations being the Mackays at Reef) and the Comann Eachdraidh is delighted to have received recently her father’s medals, which will be on display in the museum.   In a Great War chocolate tin (above right) are the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the British Empire Service League badge (South African Legion of Military Veterans); and in a WW2 chocolate tin, the War Medal (1939-45), the African Service Medal, his bar of ribbons and two cap badges from the SA First Reserve Brigade.  Many thanks to Annie and her daughter Felicity for their generous donation. We’re looking forward to gathering more detail about William’s adventurous life – and to identifying his two missing medals, which from the ribbons on the left end of the bar seem to be the Queen’s South Africa Medal (Boer War, 1899-1902) and the King’s South Africa Medal (for troops completing at least 18 months service, 1902.)