Les Wilson
Survivors of the Otranto disaster bid farewell to the islanders
Funeral of Tuscania victims in the hastilyprepared cemetery at Port Mor
The island of Islay, in the Inner Hebrides off Scotland’s west coast, lost 200 men during World War I – but, in 1918, the conflict came crashing onto the shores of the island itself. Two ships, carrying American soldiers bound for the Western Front, sank off Islay’s coast. Islanders risked their lives to pull men from the waves, fed and clothed survivors and made painstaking efforts to recover and identify the victims. Unable to bury their own war dead, they were determined to treat these fallen strangers with dignity and honour.
The convoys that crossed the Atlantic, bringing more than a million US soldiers to the battleflelds, were at their most vulnerable as they funnelled through the North Channel – the narrow passage between Scotland and Ireland. These waters were the hunting ground of German submarines. The wrath of the U-boats had reached its height in the spring of 1917, when 413 British, allied and neutral ships were sunk during April alone. By 1918 the tide of war had begun to turn against Germany’s submarines, but they were still a formidable force when SS Tuscania, a Clydebuilt luxury liner requisitioned as a troopship, left New York harbour on 24 January.
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About History Scotland
In the May/June issue of History Scotland we present the latest research from experts in the fields of Scottish history, heritage and archaeology, as well as news, opinion, book reviews and upcoming history events.
Highlights include:
· The tragic attempt by the tobacco heir David Guthrie Dunn to sail around the world in his small yacht, Southern Cross, in 1930
· A fresh contribution to the ongoing debate as to where the elusive abbey of Selkirk was situated during its brief existence in the early 12th century
· A new study of the causes and consequences of the devastating famine of 1623
Plus: Family history advice, archaeology dig reports and finds analysis, National Records of Scotland column and lots more…