View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Sunday 9 May 2010

Sunday 9 May

Bright and fairly sunny in the Outer Hebrides this morning, although I can see a threat of showers. What is not just a threat is the cloud of volcanic ash, which has closed several airports, including Stornoway's, in the north of Scotland. Even more disruption is currently being experienced in southern Europe, where airports in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland have been closed. Another natural disaster has struck Sumatra in Indonesia, where a magnitude 7.4 quake hit the Aceh region in the north of that island.

I am currently tracing details for 560 men from the Isle of Lewis who signed up for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War. Some 140 of them did not survive the conflict, and are remembered on the Faces from the Lewis War Memorial website. The details include descriptions of eye- and haircolour, as well as their last place of residence in Canada. It is possible to track these addresses using Google Streetview, which adds a sense of poignancy.

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