Back in August 1940 Italian forces had invaded British Ethiopia and driven out the British defenders; now Emperor Haile Selassie returned from exile and the British counter-offensive began in Ethiopia and Eritrea, forcing an Italian retreat. In Libya, British and Commonwealth troops surrounded Tobruk. Also this week, Hitler agreed to send troops to North Africa to support Mussolini’s forces there, though this would take some weeks to organise.

Caithness experienced its first snow of the year this week, with heavy falls across the county. Thrumster School recorded in its log book on 16 January: “There was a heavy fall of snow overnight, & to-day a strong wind has been blowing with showers of snow and much drifting.” Next day the head teacher wrote, “Owing to the impassability of the roads to-day, the Assistant Mistress was unable to be on duty. Two post-primary pupils were put in charge of the Infant Classroom, & as the weather looked threatening the dinner interval was cut short & school dismissed at 3pm.”

The John O’Groat Journal reported that a ceremony had been held in Edinburgh to mark the centenary of Alexander Bain of Watten, inventor of the electric clock, the electric printing telegraph and the chemical recorder. “Thus was honour paid to a former comparatively unknown son of a rural county, whose genius was unrewarded in his lifetime.” A plaque was unveiled at 24 Hanover Street, where Alexander Bain had his workshop.

The Education Committee had proposed that four “defaulting schoolboys” should be birched; now the case had come before the Wick Sheriff Court, where it was rejected by Sheriff Trotter. As the John O’Groat Journal put it, “The Caithness Committee may have strong views on the rights and wrongs of dealing with bad little boys, but the fact that there is a war on should not blind us to the need for reducing brutality to a minimum in the ordinary ways of life.”

Finally this week, Captain McHardy of the Home Guard received a letter describing an “unsatisfactory” drill given to the men of the Ulbster South Section in Mid-Clyth Hall. “For nearly an hour [the instructor] talked on the bolt and firing needle of the Ross rifle. Personally I was bored to death and learnt nothing, and we were all stiff with cold sitting in an unheated hall. At length at 9.5pm we were fallen in to get some drill. We got “Attention” then “Stand at ease”. Whether at ease or not, in that position we stood for half an hour while we got another lecture on the proper way to stand at attention, at ease, and stand easy. Interspersed were asides on military discipline, duties of the Home Guard. Finally we were told we “knew nothing” and at 9.35pm I was ordered to dismiss the squad.”

Coming soon! Week 73, 20th - 26th January 1941, will be published on Monday 20th January 2014. To view previous issues please use the menus on the right hand side of the page.
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