Thurso’s Heritage by a Thirsa Loon
During World War II the north coast of Scotland became an unexpectedly dangerous frontier. Scrabster and Thurso occupied a vital position between Scapa Flow, the Arctic convoy routes and the Norwegian Sea. What had once been quiet fishing and trading harbours suddenly found themselves drawn into the vast machinery of global war.
Although Scrabster itself escaped the large-scale destruction suffered by ports elsewhere in Britain, the war was never far away. The harbour became a place where exhausted survivors arrived after German attacks at sea, where prisoners of war were landed under guard, and where local people witnessed at first hand the grim realities of conflict unfolding beyond the horizon.
In November 1940, for example, 22 prisoners of war, including five officers, arrived at Scrabster under military escort before leaving Thurso later that evening by train. A year afterwards, HMS Calshot landed 41 men, 26 women and 11 children at Scrabster, all Norwegian nationals escaping the German occupation of their homeland.
The danger was already becoming apparent in the autumn of 1939. On October 17, Wick experienced its first air-raid warning when German aircraft crossed Caithness on their way towards Orkney and Scapa Flow.
The returning enemy, defeated in their attack, targeted shipping in the Pentland Firth. Among the vessels caught up in the raid was the St Ola, then crossing to Scrabster. Bombs splashed into the sea only a short distance from the ship, while passengers were ordered below decks to avoid flying shrapnel.
There were women among the passengers, and it was reported that “all had a thrilling experience.” Despite the alarm and confusion, the attack caused no damage to shipping.
By 1941 the threat had become even more real. One of the clearest records of direct enemy action at Scrabster survives in Air Raid Precautions telephone messages dated June 22, 1941. During the early hours of the morning, warnings escalated through the wartime sequence of Yellow, Purple, Red and White alerts as enemy aircraft activity was tracked over Caithness.
At around 2.30am the minesweeper HMS Beech, formerly a trawler, was attacked while lying at anchor at Scrabster. A lone German aircraft struck the vessel, sinking her with the loss of 12 crewmen, while eight survivors were rescued.
Around the same time, a bomb was dropped among trawlers some 500 yards from the lighthouse at Holborn Head.
Shortly afterwards, at about 2.50am, reports stated that a German aircraft had flown low over Thurso and Scrabster. One chilling message recorded: “A German aircraft machine-gunned a ship in Scrabster Roads just after the ‘All Clear’ was sounded.”
The ship returned fire, but the incident captured the uncertainty and sudden violence of wartime on the Caithness coast. Enemy aircraft could appear out of nowhere with little warning, strike quickly, and vanish again.
By 1942 the conflict in northern waters had intensified dramatically. The Arctic convoy routes to Murmansk and Archangel had become among the most dangerous sea lanes in the world. Merchant ships battled through freezing seas while facing relentless attacks from German submarines, aircraft and surface raiders.
Although the fighting itself took place far from Scotland, the human cost regularly reached Caithness. Police and intelligence files from Scrabster and Thurso recorded the arrival of weary and often traumatised survivors rescued from convoy ships sunk in Arctic waters.
Even after the height of the fighting had passed, reminders of the war continued to appear around Scrabster. In May 1943, reports from Spear Head, west of Holborn Head, described a small bomb-shaped object with a tailfin lying in a nearby burn, while an unexploded mortar bomb was discovered in the same area. Both were removed by the military authorities.
Local memories also preserved moments. The late Gordon Noble once recalled standing near the Marine Inn with friends when a German bomber, “a green one”, flew low over Thurso towards Scrabster. The aircraft was so close that they could clearly see the crew inside the gun turrets. No bombs were dropped on that occasion, but the sight left a lasting impression on those watching below.
Long after the war ended, its remnants still surfaced unexpectedly. In 1960, while birdwatching near the Post Office huts at Holborn Hill, David Stark discovered what appeared to be two mortar bombs and two shells. Bomb disposal officers travelled from Edinburgh the following day to deal with the dangerous finds – a lingering reminder that, even decades later, the shadow of war had not entirely disappeared from the shores of Scrabster.
Photo caption: The minesweeper HMS Beech, with part of a report on its sinking with the loss of 12 crewmen.
Article credit: A Thirsa Loon via the Caithness Courier.
