Sandy's Blog
Cromarty in World War II
by Casagrandeblog - 10:00 on 30 April 2013
Eric Malcolm phoned me this morning apologising for having to miss last night’s Memories session in the Brewery. He tells me he is looking forward to the session on 6th June when we will be sharing stories of Cromarty at War. Readers of his book The Cromarty We Knew will be conscious of what a minefield of information Eric is about Cromarty life in the 1930s and ‘40s.
It got me thinking about some of the stories of World War 2 that were recorded by David Alston and Jenny Fyfe back in 1994. They recorded on audiocassette the memories of, among others, Johnny Gray, Jean Newell, Eric and Muriel Malcolm, Derek Mathieson and Ellen Stephen.
Mrs Newell was teaching in Fortrose during the war. She was one of only two teachers with a car, and regularly gave a lift to Cromarty men serving in the Forces. Men on leave got a rail voucher to their nearest rail station, and for Cromarty men that meant Fortrose, so Mrs Newell would pick up local chaps at the station and bring them home.
She also tells a touching story about the Cromarty church organist (anyone know his name?) who knocked on her door to say goodbye when he was called up. He didn’t seem worried about getting killed - his main concern was that his hands might be wounded and he would be unable to play. She remembers him saying over and over ‘My hands, my hands. I do hope they will be unhurt.’
Everyone recalls the big houses being commandeered by the armed services: Laurel House by the RAF, the White House and Bellevue by (I presume) the army, with the navy taking over much of the Royal Hotel. One naval officer’s family - the Stephens - moved into Wellington House on Church Street. Ellen Stephen, the officer’s wife, has very warm memories of Cromarty. Cromarty folk made them very welcome, and Ellen was very impressed with the education her children received at Cromarty School. The family also ate much better than they had in their native Yorkshire, with fresh eggs, milk and vegetables from local farms.
What a cosmopolitan place Cromarty must have been! The first troops to arrive seem to have been the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. When they marched through the town with their pipe band, it gave everyone a lift. They were followed in time by Norwegians, then Poles, and the Gaelic Chapel became a Roman Catholic place of worship for the Polish troops. And of course there were the Canadian lumberjacks working the local forests, plus the Italian POWs working on local farms. Johnny Gray remembered that the Italians used to manufacture cigarette lighters which they would trade for cigarettes on their trips into town. 
Construction of the camps on the Sutor had begun in 1938. I’m a bit confused about how restricted access to them was. Clem Watson’s father had a pass allowing him entry (see left), but others have spoken about attending concerts, dances and film shows there. According to Mrs Newell, some of these dances were quite formal affairs - you didn’t just turn up in a skirt and blouse; it was evening dresses and high heels.
Of course it wasn’t all dances and concerts. I’ll leave the more serious memories, and the sad ones, to a later blog.
Add your comment
