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Peace & War & Peace
The Cromarty Firth's attraction to the military was never a secret, but among those who highlighted the fact in print was Daniel Defoe. Defoe was sent to Scotland in 1706 on behalf of the English Prime Minister to spy on the land while questionable negotiations for the parliamentary union was in progress.

Since that time, hundreds of warships have moored anchor in the deep harbour. During times of the Jacobite risings, the government made great use of it for tactical deployment of troops to aid Seaforth. Two centuries later it would still be a busy and strategic asset in the nations defences.

In 1906 bands of German Gypsies landed at Leith and travelled throughout Scotland, earning money telling fortunes, playing music and selling the usual wares. One band decided to head North and when it was learned that they had left Dingwall to travel to Invergordon, the alarm bells began to ring in case there was a spy in their group. This should not be seen as an over-reaction,though,given the state of affairs between Britain and Germany and their great naval rivalry.

Colonel Cuthbert of Ardross came down with the estate fire brigade and met the Gypsies at Novar Toll. Cuthbert told them they could go North, but only over the Struie road to Bonar Bridge and not to Invergordon. This they weren't keen to do, but after some argument and fighting, they were persuaded by Col Cuthbert, at gunpoint, to camp at Clashnabuic farm. Police arrived the next day and escorted them South again.

When Winston Churchill became First Lord to the Admiralty in October 1911 he made great play of his enthusiasm for the Firth. Churchill visited the firth twice; on September 1st 1912 and again in July 1914. On that occasion he was to inspect the new gun emplacements at the Sutors.

Among the results of his first visit, a decision was made to station a torpedo boat flotilla in the Firth. Moorings were laid down between Alness and Invergordon by the late spring of 1913. The first flights from the firth took place in July 1914 from Cromarty.

The Americans, who entered the war in 1917, had developed a particularly powerful mine. Grangemouth was to become the first British base and the Cromarty Firth was set aside for the Americans. Equipment was sent from the States to Kyle and then across Scotland to the Firth. Dalmore Distillery was chosen for its useful spur line and was taken over by the Admiralty in November 1917 and rebuilt to accommodate about 1200 men. Construction then began on an embankment pier (still called the Yankee Pier) and was completed by November 1918. By the time of the Armistice, some 38,000 mines had been shipped from Dalmore.

During the war, however, Minister for Munitions Lloyd George, was concerned about the effect of alcohol on war production. A Central Control Board was set up in 1915 to supervise all aspects of the drinks trade. In April 1916 a scheme of direct control was introduced to more sensitive areas, like the munitions plants in Carlisle, Gretna and the Cromarty Firth.

On and Off Sales were separated and Off Sales were only available to genuine residents. The Government acquired hotels to control the bar trade and opening hours were reduced to 4 1/2 a day. Surprisingly the system of state liquor control was only abolished in 1972.

After the passing of the Invergordon Harbour (Transfer) Bill in June 1920, the harbour at Invergordon reverted partly to civilian use, with the Admiralty remaining in overall control. And so it remained until the creation of the Cromarty Firth Port Authority in 1974.

Dalmore Distillery was also handed back in June 1920, partly destroyed by an exploding mine in February 1919. By the time malting had begun again, its owner, Andrew Mackenzie and the Admiralty were locked in contention over compensation. Eventually the case went to the House of Lords in 1925.

An appeal for funds was made in May 1920 for the erection of a war memorial at Alness. The appeal stated;

The memorial, which it to take the form of a Celtic Cross, is to be erected on a suitable site at the top of the Station Road, at the junction of the county roads leading to Tain and Invergordon, and it is to be of specially selected Dumfries sandstone, carved on three sides, standing 20 feet in height and weighing close on 20 tons

The estimated cost was about £650, the greater part of which was in hand. The final £200 was needed to complete the memorial. The appeal succeeded and in September 1921, the memorial was unveiled by the Secretary for Scotland, Robert Munro. During his speech, he made reference to his roots as the son of the Rosskeen Church Minister, and the many local men who enlisted in the Great War.

This, to me, is an inexpressibly tender and touching ceremony. In this village I spent my boyhood years. To it I am bound by the close ties of birth, of parentage and of upbringing. Round it cluster the earliest, happiest and most sacred memories. By yonder church lies the dust of my father and my mother.

Today, after many years, I come back to this place. What message can I leave with you? Surely this. Let us resolve, you and I, that our lives shall be worthy of these, our brothers, who died that we might live. These Alness soldiers have shown us a noble example. With God's help, let us strive to follow it

It's the early 1920's and the Royal Air Force's presence in the Firth begins to grow. Newton of Novar Aerodrome (later Evanton) was opened as the Shore Station of the Fleet Air Arm of the RAF. By 1937, Evanton Aerodrome began to expand and became a flight and bombing training school (No 8 Armament Training camp) and repair base.

Throughout the Thirties the RAF held a number of public Air Days which were usually on the same day as Empire Day. The 1939 Empire Day was to be the last pre war event and 78 RAF stations were opened to the public. Evanton was the farthest north and was notable for the 9,000 spectators and mile long queue of cars.

On the outbreak of war No 1 Air Observers School arrived from North Coates and was re-named No8 Air Gunnery School, using Harrows, Henleys, Wallaces and Battles. The largest aircraft to use Evanton was a USAAF B17 which landed there after getting lost. Before it left it was daubed 'Evanton Babe'.

Permanent squadrons of seaplanes started to arrive in Alness around October 1938 when it became a training base for Short Sunderland seaplanes. A year later three squadrons patrolled as far north as Shetland and the Southern Norwegian coast. In the autumn of 1940 the War Department requisitioned part of Ardross Castle, the stables, the gamekeepers house (later known as Soli, the gate lodge) and part of the policies.

The first army group to arrive was the Catering Corps. Food for all the Army and Airforce camps in the Alness area was brought to Alness by train and then taken to the requisitioned Ardross Castle by lorry where it was divided up into various amounts for the different camps. After about five months the army agreed with the owner that it would be better to do this nearer Alness Station.

The second army group. the Royal Artillery Drivers, were stationed at the Castle for about three months in the spring of 1941. The drivers would disappear into the hills for two or three days at a time on day and night driving manoeuvres.

In the late summer of 1941 the Norwegians wanted to use the Castle as an officers training camp. The Royal Ordnance Corps set up shop there also. The Castle was declared Ordnance Camp 109. The following Monday, when the Norwegians arrived, there was a heated debate over the occupied buildings, but eventually the Norwegians gave in and moved to Achandunie, where they were later visited by King Haakon of Norway. The Ordinance Corps stayed at Ardross until May 1943, when they left for North Africa.

Peace and War and Peace - Page 2