A century of tears for the Iolaire

New Year’s Day 1919 should have been one of celebration in the Western Isles. After four years of bloody conflict fathers, sons and husbands who had survived the horrors of the First World War were returning home.

It had been more than a month since the guns had finally fallen silent on the 11 November, calling a halt to one of the worst conflicts in human history that had claimed the lives of almost 40 million people. The families of those who had lived through the war to end all wars had every right to look forward to a peaceful future with their loved ones.

As the dawn of a new world, free from the violence and suffering of the previous four years, rose over the island of Lewis His Majesty’s Yacht HMY Iolaire hove into view of Stornaway.

News of the imminent arrival quickly spread through the town and people flocked to the harbour to welcome home their boys.

But, as excitement mounted at being reunited with their loved ones triumph turned to tragedy before their eyes. Just 20 yards from shore the Iolaire struck a cluster of rocks called the Beasts of Holm, at the entrance to Stornoway Harbour, and sank.

Some 284 men went into the water - just 79 survived. It was the worst peacetime shipping disaster since the Titanic and one of the most devastating tragedies in Scottish maritime history.

Described by the island newspaper the Stornoway Gazette at the time as “the blackest day in the history of the island” scarcely a family was left untouched in the close-knit communities of Lewis and Harris.

“The homes of the island are full of lamentation - grief that cannot be comforted,” reported The Scotsman on January 6, 1919, less than a week after the tragedy.

”Carts in little processions of twos and threes, each bearing its coffin from the mortuary, pass through the streets of Stornoway on their way to some rural village, and all heads are bared as they pass.”

So many people died the island ran out of coffins and they had to be brought in from elsewhere to bury the dead.

Illustration from the Stornoway Gazette 1919

Worst of all for the families was their men had not been killed in the heat of battle but by carelessness and incompetence. The ship had run aground on a well known reef in weather conditions that could not be considered particularly bad. The island never fully recovered.

The Iolaire Plaque

Photo by Phil Smith (CC BY-SA-2.0)

“It is beyond our comprehension that over 200 men perished so close to home after surviving the war in what remains one of the worst UK maritime disasters of the 20th century,” said Professor Norman Drummond, chairman of the Scottish Commemorations Panel.

”When you look out from the Iolaire Memorial to where HMY Iolaire hit the rocks of The Beasts of Holm, you are struck by just how close they were to shore.

Beasts of Holm lying close to Stornoway Harbour

Photo by JJM (CC BY-SA-20)

“It is hard to imagine the relief and excitement of the men and their families on their return and then the sorrow that was to follow.”

Even a century after the tragedy impact of the events of that day is still profoundly felt throughout the islands. This year’s commemorations have been marked by a new exhibition at Stornaway Museum, a live-streamed service of remembrance and even the launch of a special tweed tartan to mark the occasion.

Ioaire Memorial

Photo by Stephen Branley (CC BY-SA-20)