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What Scotland’s future looked like in the summer of 1938. One of the most popular attractions at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park was the Palace of Engineering, exhibiting large models of the ships which had made the Clyde famous. (The Mitchell Library, Glasgow City Council)
Hawker Hart light bombers of 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron above the Forth railway bridge in 1934. Re-equipped with Supermarine Spitfire fighters the part-time auxiliary squadron claimed its first kill, a Junkers 88, over the same area on 16 October 1939. (© Museum of Flight, National Museums Scotland. Licensor www.scran.co.uk)
First casualties of war: survivors from the sinking of SS Athenia arrive at fog-bound Greenock on 5 September 1939. The unarmed passenger liner had been sunk the previous evening by the U-30 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp.
Mathematics class in progress at Broomlee evacuation camp near West Linton. Before the war plans had been laid to evacuate women and children from the Central Belt to escape the expected air raids. In addition to the camps most evacuees were billeted in private houses. (National Archives of Scotland)
The threat of enemy bombing was taken seriously throughout the conflict. Although the anticipated chemical warfare attacks failed to materialize, people were encouraged to carry gas masks and to practise wearing them, as these telephonists are doing.
Kilbowie Road in Clydebank after the first intensive enemy bombing attack on the night of 13 March 1941. Known as the Clydebank Blitz, most of the damage was done to housing, and 35,000 people were made homeless while 528 were killed. (West Dunbartonshire Council)
A section of local defence volunteers on patrol by Loch Stack in Sutherland. Better known as the Home Guard, the force came into being in May 1940 to provide a part-time defence force whose primary task would be to counter the threat of invasion posed by German airborne forces. (Imperial War Museum H 7323)
General Władysław Sikorski and King George VI inspecting Polish troops at Glamis Castle. With their smart uniforms and the romance of their recent fighting experiences the Poles were well received in Scotland; many married Scottish girls and settled in the country after the war. (Imperial War Museum H 7755)
Tom Johnston acted as Churchill’s Secretary of State for Scotland between 1940 and 1945 and used his authority to protect Scotland’s interests. A ‘Red Clydesider’ in the First World War, Johnston launched numerous initiatives to help the war effort and to create jobs.
Two foresters from British Honduras (Belize) cutting timber for pit props and wood pulp in East Linton. They were an important part of the w
ar effort, but their treatment by the authorities ranged from callous indifference to off-hand cruelty. (Imperial War Museum ZZZ 12724 D)
A working party of ‘Lumber Jills’ of the Women’s Timber Corps, formed in 1942 to train young women for war work in Scotland’s forests. After basic training 4,900 of their number worked as foresters, mainly in the Highlands, freeing up men for service in the armed forces.
Fairfield drillers at work on a gun-shield for the battleship HMS Howe prior to commissioning in August 1942. At the outbreak of war the Clyde yards had 164,911 tons of ships under construction including the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth and the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable. (The Mitchell Library, Glasgow City Council)
Having been conscripted for war work in 1942 the poet Hugh MacDiarmid worked as a lathe-turner at Mechan’s Engineering Company in Scotstoun in Glasgow.
Women played in a key role in war work, and after 1941 were liable to be conscripted. A group of workers is preparing ration packs of tea, milk and sugar at the Scottish Co-operative and Wholesale Society (SCWS) factory at Shieldhall in Glasgow in 1942. (The Mitchell Library, Glasgow City Council)
Commandos cross a toggle bridge at the Commando Training Depot at Achnacarry in Inverness-shire. Simulated artillery fire gave some realism but the most potent factor was the rugged terrain. The western Highlands proved to be ideal training ground for operations in occupied Europe.
Men of the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders engaged in jungle training in Malaya in 1941. Nicknamed ‘Jungle Beasts’ on account of their ability to survive in the enervating conditions they were one of the few battalions to emerge with credit following the surrender of Singapore the following year.
Blindfolded survivors from the Scharnhorst are led ashore at Scapa Flow after the German battle-cruiser was sunk by a naval force led by HMS Duke of York on 26 December 1943. During the Battle of North Cape only 36 of Scharnhorst’s sailors survived from a crew of 1,968.
Two of the four-man crew of the X-class midget submarine HMS Extant (X-25) prepare to dock in the Holy Loch. Just over 50 feet in length the boats were designed for stealthy penetration of enemy harbours to attack individual targets such as the battleship Tirpitz.
A line of Allied merchant ships makes its way around the north cape of Norway to the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel. Altogether 78 Arctic Convoys assembled at Loch Ewe for the dangerous voyage in which they endured attack by enemy surface ships, submarines and aircraft. (National Archives of Scotland)
The pipes and drums of the 51st Highland Division play in the main square of Tripoli on 28 January 1943, following a review by General Bernard Montgomery, commander of the British Eighth Army. The division played a key role during the Battle of Alamein in October the previous year. (Imperial War Museum E 21969)
Led by a piper, soldiers of the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders move up to the attack during Operation Epsom on 26 June 1944 to outflank Caen. The initial assault was made by the 15th Scottish Division and the ground they fought over came to be known as the ‘Scottish Corridor’. (Imperial War Museum B 5988)
Major-General T. G. Rennie, commander of the 51st Highland Division in Rouen in September 1944. He had recently taken over the division after it had been badly mauled in Normandy and had quickly restored morale and fighting spirit. In the following year he was killed during the crossing of the Rhine. (Imperial War Museum BU 1518)
A De Havilland Mosquito VI fighter-bomber of 143 Squadron fires rockets at German merchant ship during an attack by the Banff Strike Wing on the harbour at Sandefjord in Norway. Formed in 1944 the wing operated out of Banff and Dallachy in the North-east. (Imperial War Museum HU 93037)
Soldiers of 10th Highland Light Infantry come ashore after crossing the Rhine at the end of March 1945 as part of the final push into Germany. The exploit was commemorated in a memorable march, ‘10th HLI Crossing the Rhine’, composed by Pipe-Major Donald Ramsay and Corporal J. Moore.
Victory parade in Bremerhaven on 12 May 1945 led by the pipes and drums of the 51st Highland Division which was then under the command of Major-General Gordon Macmillan. The salute was taken by Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks, the commander of XXX Corps. (Imperial War Museum BU 6560)
Even before the war ended preparations had been made to celebrate the end of the fighting. The Scottish Office was keen ‘to avoid the hooliganism which may develop amongst an excited crowd with nothing to do’, but crowds still gathered to celebrate in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh. (Scotsman Publications)