Friday 12 November

A quiet Friday, with the odd shower and some spectacular rainbows. The sun set more than an hour ago, and although the moon is out, I'm not expected any "moonbows". Last night, there was allegedly some aurora borealis, but I did not see any of it. Neither did I feel like traipsing out to Mossend for a clear view of the northern horizon.

The storms that battered the north of England last night have claimed one life. A lady, who was a passenger in a car, died after the vehicle was struck by a falling tree. A limb pierced the windscreen and the woman was impaled on it. She succumbed to her injuries in hospital; the driver is seriously injured. Winds in north Wales reached in excess of 90 mph in gusts, and caused extensive travel disruption. The gales are abating, and the clear-up can commence.

I'm transcribing tributes from the Stornoway Gazette for WW1 victims, and the result of one of these is shown in my previous post.

Not remembered

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has put the details of Evander Macleod, who drowned in the torpedoing of HMS Otway in July 1917, neatly on its website. Following the heavy loss of Lewis sailors in that sinking, the Stornoway Gazette also made mention of their names. Evander has since slipped under the radar. The Roll of Honour, published in 1921, does not refer to his death; the Lewis War Memorial does not mention him, and neither does the Point War Memorial at Garrabost, only a few miles from his former home at 34 Lower Bayble.

The loss of life during WW1 was, proportionately, heavy in the Isle of Lewis, and it is only to be expected that a few unfortunates will be missed in transcription. I trust that in time for Remembrance Sunday, Evander will be given the proper place amongst the ranks of island men who made the supreme sacrifice during the Great War.