On Tuesday 5 March, facing defeat and with Soviet armies attacking the city of Viipuri and threatening Helsinki, the Finns finally entered into negotiations with Russia about ending the Winter War and Britain and France abandoned plans to send troops to their aid. Meanwhile, with spring just around the corner, it was evident that the “Phoney War” would soon come to an end.

Meanwhile in Caithness, with spring just around the corner, there was concern that the declaration of the area north and west of the Caledonian Canal as “the Northern Protected Area” would deter tourists from visiting. The John O’Groat Journal this week reflected both sides of the question.

On the one hand there was an opinion piece dismissing the fears: “there is nothing to prevent tourists going to the Highlands and into the protected area, provided they have taken the precaution to secure permits and passports for identification purposes”. Although the writer conceded that it would not be a normal holiday season, owing to “war conditions and petrol rationing”, he concluded that “the existence of a protected area should not deter bona fide tourists”.

But the paper also carried a letter from an Edinburgh resident who said that the current waiting time for a permit to visit Caithness was “up to ten days”. Why, he asked, was the north Highlands made a protected area and not, say, the south of England or London? Was it simply “an easy way out of some administrative difficulty” for Whitehall officials?

In Wick, recent Air Raid Precautions (ARP) exercises had suffered from a poor turnout, and it had been suggested that holding them on Sundays might have more success. But many in the town opposed the idea: “Such proposals usually come from outsiders. Few of the natives of the town would be in favour of a display on the Sabbath, and would deeply resent the peace of the day being disturbed … There is far too much unnecessary work being done already (motors careering over the roads unashamed).” If the proposal were to go ahead, it was predicted, “the result will be a failure”.

Now that meat rationing had come into force, it was announced that all children who would reach the age of six years on or before 1 July would be issued with an adult’s ration book, partly in response to the fact that meat supplies were more plentiful than expected. (A child under six years old was entitled to half the adult ration of meat.)

Finally, the register of arrivals and sailings for Pierhead, Wick, shows the effect the war was having on harbour traffic. Of the twenty vessels which stopped at the port between 4 and 10 March 1940, nine were classed as belonging to the Admiralty, and eight of these were making for Scapa Flow. Of the others, five were of Danish nationality (Denmark was neutral in the war); four brought a cargo of fresh fish from the deep sea fisheries, and only one had a Caithness destination: the Rora Head from Aberdeen, which was making for Scrabster.

Coming soon! Week 28, 11th - 17th March 1940, will be published on Monday 11th  March 2013. To view previous issues please use the menus on the right hand side of the page. 

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