View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Saturday 6 June 2009

113

World War I veteran Henry Allingham turns 113 today. He is the oldest man alive in the UK. He is one of only two veterans of the Great War left alive today.

Saturday 6 June

Today is the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, which heralded the beginning of the end of the Second World War in Europe. It would be another 11 months before the forces of Nazi Germany were finally vanquished, although great progress was made in the summer months of 1944, leading to the liberation of France, Belgium and southern Holland.

I had planned to go on a walk in the interior of Lewis this afternoon, but decided against it when a series of showers appeared to be on the menu. A local contact sent me a picture of the terrain I would be encountering, and it involved 45 degree angles and exposed rock. Not something to tackle in wet conditions, so I pulled the plug on the expedition. The bus was due out at midday, which was exactly the moment that the showers moved into the Minch and the sun came out. Bummer.