A new book about the Iolaire disaster is to be published to mark its 100th year anniversary.
Some 205 men perished when the Admiralty yacht sank in the approaches to Stornoway harbour in the early hours of New Year’s Day 1919.
New book will commemorate Iolaire disaster
5 June 2016
Historians Malcolm MacDonald and Donald John Macleod have researched the full story of all 281 men aboard. Apart from the ship's crew, the rest were naval sailors returning home at the end of WW1.
Only 79 men made it ashore alive in the horrific accident. Virtually every village on Lewis lost men in the tragedy.
Seven belonged to Harris while 31 were crew members from other parts of the UK.
The book will be part of a wider multi-
An intergenerational programme of educational workshops in the community will also invite young people to create and exhibit their own creative responses.
Comhairle convener, Norman A MacDonald, said: “I am very pleased that the project has reached this stage.
"This is a very emotive event for the people of Lewis and Harris.
"The exhibition, the publication and the education programme will reflect on the impact of the disaster, bringing to light the many stories of those who were lost and those who survived.
"The project will explore the legacy of the disaster on the community itself. The sheer scale of it in the context of a small community gave it its extraordinary intensity. The timing and closeness to home made it incomprehensible and unbearable.
"Every village in Lewis and Harris lost fathers, sons, brothers and were left with scores of widows and fatherless children, creating a lasting trauma that runs deep into the community."