Computers
Repairs
Sales
Service
Desktops & Laptops
Phones
Cameras
ipods
Consoles
& Games
01851
700178
17 Bayhead St
Stornoway, Lewis
Today (Saturday) marks the 70th anniversary of the SS Politician grounding on Eriskay.
In 1941, the SS Politician set sail for Kingston, Jamaica with a cargo which included
pianos, motor parts, bedding and 28,000 cases -
The ship ran aground at Calvay, off Eriskay, on 5th February of that year. Luckily the crew were rescued unharmed; and so, over the next few weeks, was the whisky.
Islanders, from Eriskay, Barra, and South Uist, starved of whisky by war time rationing, systematically liberated her cargo before the authorities caught up with them.
Some of the looters were fined; some ended up in jail; few of the stolen bottles were recovered. The hull of the ship was blown up by a frustrated local customs officer to put the whisky beyond temptation.
Boat trips to the wreck site are due to take place at 1pm and 3pm, weather permitting.
A party is organised later in the Polly, the Eriskay pub which bears the ship’s name.
BBC Alba is showing three programmes to mark the event.
WhiskyGalore, the the classic 1949 Ealing comedy is on tonight (Sat) at 10pm.
It tells the tale of inhabitants of the isolated, fictional island of Todday in the Outer Hebrides were largely unaffected by wartime rationing during that time. That was however until their supply of whisky ran out in 1943, when gloom descends on the dejected locals.
However, the vessel that had foundered off their shores offered a chance opportunity for deliverance to those in need of their native drink. The islanders clashed with authority as they tried to outwit the English Home Guard commander, Captain Waggett who was determined to protect the cargo at all costs.
Following the film, Morag Stewart provides an insightful report into the whisky cargo aboard the ship and explores the stories of the men who were sent to jail for 'salvaging' it. The programme also asks why the ship carried an intriguing amount of Jamaican currency on board as she made for Kingston, Jamaica and New Orleans, America. Am Politician will be shown at 11.20pm on BBC ALBA
On Sunday night a documentary highlighting the improved ferry links and major engineering
projects which have helped to inter-
Through the lives of the islanders, Cabhsair Eirisgeidh follows one of the projects from inception to completion, the building of the Eriskay Causeway which took place between 1999 and 2002 and now links the island to the Uist mainland.
70th anniversary of Whisky Galore ship is marked 5/2/11
SS Politician, in her grey wartime colours, off Eriskay