On 21 October Liverpool was bombed for the 200th time. On Wednesday 23 October Hitler met General Franco of Spain for 9 hours, hoping to persuade him to join the war on the Axis side, but Franco steadfastly refused to be drawn in. Meanwhile Mussolini, having taken the decision last week to invade Greece, now claimed as a pretext on 26 October that Greece had attacked Albania.

On 24 October Hetty Munro of Thurso, serving over on Orkney, recorded in her diary: “Yesterday a Hun came swooping out of the clouds about 3000 yards away from H.8 where practice shooting was going on and played around quite low. The Battery opened fire but of course shot very wide of the plane. Unfortunately they got excited and kept on shooting and the poor R.A.C. who was towing the sock was almost shot up. The poor pilot was so shocked he refused to go up in the afternoon.”

She noted that there were so many incidents of friendly fire that, “The S.O.R. Commander was heard to say that Captain Howe was standing in the middle of his aerodrome with his own aircraft being shot up all around him unable to do anything!”

Passions were evidently running high in the Caithness Education Committee, as the Director of Education wrote this week to a correspondent: “Life is very real and very earnest here these days with so much going on. I have had a good deal of bother with one or two members of the Committee… The scheme which I put forward has been stigmatized as a piece of Nazi Propaganda! I am a definite Fifth Columnist and I am arranging to put it on foot willingly. I am quite sure that it will do good.”

In Thurso, a debate raged in the Burgh Council as to whether there should be films shown at the cinema on Sundays for the troops. Some felt this was a violation of the sanctity of the Sabbath; others felt that the men deserved some recreation at the weekend. In the end they voted in favour: as Councillor Bruce said, “it was necessary to do everything for the service men, that it was an act of necessity and even an act of mercy.”

Finally this week, on Saturday 26 October 1940 Wick was bombed again by German raiders. This was part of a concerted raid on the airfield by Heinkel bombers, which flew over the town firing machine guns, before dropping more than 20 high explosive bombs on the north side of the town. Three people lost their lives, 13 were injured and some 140 houses were damaged on Hill Avenue, Rosebery Terrace, Henrietta Street and George Street. Bignold Hospital was damaged, and patients were evacuated to Lybster School, now converted into a hospital.

In the police files is a record of the stark message from the Wick Control Office: “We are being bombed.”

Next day, the situation report read: “Two enemy planes approached from South at 18.20 hours on 26/10/40 and opened machine-gun fire when over town, SEVEN H.E. bombs dropped between Wick R.A.F. Station and Wick Burgh, one unexploded bomb located. Casualties, THREE killed, TWO seriously injured, and TEN minor injuries. Telephone cables to R.A.F. Station out of action.”

You can read a transcript of the account in the John O’Groat Journal from the following week here. http://www.highlandarchives.org.uk/caithness-at-war.asp?id=63

For memories of some of those who lived through the attack, see http://www.caithness.org/history/bankrowbombing/hillavenuebombing .

Coming soon! Week 61, 28th October - 3rd November 1940, will be published on Monday 28th October 2013. To view previous issues please use the menus on the right hand side of the page.
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