On 1st March 1917 M-Class destroyer HMS Pheasant struck a mine off Rora Head, Hoy, Orkney. The explosion was enormous blowing apart the vessel with the loss of all the 89 men […]
Hawthorn Ridge: The Somme, one of the deadliest battles in human history
“Hawthorn Crater is a prominent feature of the former Somme battlefield near Beaumont Hamel, Northern France. It resulted from the detonation of arguably the most famous of nine mines that the British […]
Life in Stronsay in WW1 & 2
Do you have any copies or scans of photographs that Stronsay Heritage Society could use in a future display and booklet which would help tell the story of life in Stronsay in […]
The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past. #Remembrance
1916 “We are in for some slight trouble to-morrow. So I am just warning you that there is to be no ‘keeping well back’ then” Eric Milroy, soldier, chartered accountant and Scotland rugby captain. […]
“On all hands could be witnessed the people’s gladness that at last the end had come to the long period of bloodshed.” #Armistice 1918
It was thought at the time to be the war to end all wars but as we approach November 11th and remember all those killed and maimed in wars then and since, […]
Mata Hari #OnThisDay
On 15th of October 1917 exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad having been found guilty of spying for the Germans. Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born 7th August […]
Peter (Pat) Shearer, Orkney Hero
On 11th of November 1914, Peter (Pat) Shearer, Chief Officer of the steamer Hangchow lost his life whilst attempting to save a Chinese sailor who had fallen into the water outside Newchang […]
HMS Vanguard #OnThisDay
On 9th of July 1917 HMS Vanguard exploded in Scapa Flow (the result of an internal explosion of faulty cordite), killing 804 men.
“I realised it would be a Herculean task to climb those huge cliffs, my body numbed and drained of energy. “
“I realised it would be a Herculean task to climb those huge cliffs, my body numbed and drained of energy. ” 228580 Leading Seaman William Cashman,
#Lusitania On This Day
On the 7th of May 1915 the Lusitania was sunk on her 202nd trans-Atlantic crossing, by a German U-boat 11 miles (18 km) off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 passengers and crew.