When I Heard the Bell: The Loss of the Iolaire

by John MacLeod

On 31 December 1918, hours from the first New Year of peace, hundreds of Royal Naval Reservists from the Isle of Lewis poured off successive trains onto the quayside at Kyle of Lochalsh. A chaotic Admiralty had made no adequate arrangements for their safe journey home. Corners were cut, an elderly and recently requisitioned steam-yacht was sent from Stornoway, and that evening HMY Iolaire sailed from Kyle of Lochalsh, grossly overloaded and with life-belts for less than a third of all on board. The Iolaire never made it. At two in the morning, in pitch-black and stormy conditions, she piled onto rocks only yards from the harbour entrance and just half a mile from Stornoway pier, where thronged friends and relatives eagerly awaited the return of their heroes. 205 men drowned, 188 of them natives of Lewis and Harris—men who had come through all the alarms and dangers of the First World War only to die on their own doorstep, at the mouth of a harbour many could themselves have navigated with ease, on a day precious to Highlanders for family, celebration and togetherness. The loss of the Iolaire remains the worst peacetime British disaster at sea since the sinking of the Titanic. Yet, beyond the Western Isles, few have ever heard of what is not only one of the cruellest events in our history but an extraordinary maritime mystery—a tale not only of bureaucrats in a hurry, unfathomable Naval incompetence and abiding, official contempt for the lives of Highlanders, but of individual heroism, astonishing escapes, heart-rending anecdote and the resilience and faith of a remarkable people. In the first English account and on the ninetieth anniversary of the 'dark ship', John MacLeod tells the story of the Iolaire, the astonishing commitment of the people of Lewis to the war against the Kaiser, its sickening end, and the way of life the disaster effectively destroyed—a tipping-point, he argues, in the overthrow of an old human economy and which deprived the Isle of Lewis of an entire generation.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian note: There is more than one author on goodreads by this name.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of the wreck of the Iolaire [pronounced YOO-luh-ruh], the second largest peacetime ship disaster in the British Isles, occurring only seven years after the sinking of the Titanic, on the 1st of January, 1919 in the wee hours of the morning. This yacht, HMY Iolaire commandeered by the British Navy, was bringing more than 200 sailors of the Royal Navy Reserve to their homes in the Outer Hebrides. Due to naval ineptitude and that of the officers on board, plus a stormy night, poor visibility, and a helmsman who didn't know the area, the yacht crashed into a reef not far from where it was supposed to land at Stornoway on the island of Lewis. Also, it was overcrowded and lacking a full crew. Given no orders by the officers, the men attempted to save themselves; some men survived and most died. The author was extremely fortunate; his great grandfather who could have been assigned to the Iolaire, was directed onto another ship which made a safe and uneventful landing. After the wreck, the author tells of inquiries into what might have caused it, the fates of the various families of Lewis and Harris, and economic conditions in the Hebrides up to time of writing the book. To this day, this disaster is still seared into the consciousness of Lewis after nearly one hundred years later.

The poignancy of this sliver of history moved me nearly to tears. I appreciated the author's deep research into all aspects and also his charts and list of men, where they were from down to street addresses, and what finally happened to them. Many Gaelic-language poems were written: the author included two or three of the better ones but nothing of the quality of Hopkins' "Wreck of the Deutschland". I feel the whole book was a labor of love.

Highly recommended.

[Carol Aldred · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book for anyone interested in the Highlands and Islands or WW1. It took me longer than normal to read as I had to keep putting it down, too intense. The author was a bit annoying in places, with some opinions not relating to the Iolaire that I disagreed with.

Highly recommended

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

touching and shocking, and really interesting

[Sam Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure fluke I picked this up and read it. Scottish history that few know about and should considering the extent of what happened and the immense loss of life.

Glad to see in the years since I've read this there is more being done to remember the victims of this awful tragedy.

[Emma Swan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account, factual and easy to follow.

[Stephen Mccollum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought with the anniversary of the Iolaire disaster coming up that I would read some local history. This is a poignant account of that tragedy.

[Guido · Rating 3 out of 5]

An account of the sinking of HMY Iolaire on 1 January 1919, published on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the tragedy.

[Jim Woolwine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tragic, sad, avoidable. Subsequent naval enquiry a whitewash. How many times have we read this story? Too many.

[Daniel Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on the Iolaire and the First World War. One of Scotland’s worst tragedies, but not one she often remembers.

[Michael Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about the tragedy of the sinking of the Iolaire. John Macleod has been thorough in his research and has presented the book on what appears to be an unbiased and balanced manner. It was important for this detailed book to be published as it will remain a comprehensive record of all aspects of the disaster. His descriptions of what happened leading up to its sinking and the aftermath were excellent and sympathetic but extremely harrowing.
Many people in Britain will never have heard of this tragedy and will not know that so many people from one island perished, having survived the many dangers and horrors of the First World War.

[Dwer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might be of interest if you are interested in the history of Stornaway (in Scotland) or of marine disaster. But I found the story very hard to follow