THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

During the morning the Allied armies renewed their attack on the whole battle front south of the Somme and have made progress at all points in spite of increasing hostile resistance. French troops, extending the front of the attack southward, captured the village of Pierrepoint and the wood to the north of it. North and north-east of this locality French troops have made rapid progress and realised an advance of four miles in the course of the day. Between 200 and 300 guns have been taken.

50 years ago

A British airliner flying holidaymakers to Austria and Italy crashed in a ball of flames on a West German autobahn 40 miles north of Munich killing all 48 aboard. Eye witnesses said the wreckage was strewn for 200 yards along the autobahn, which blazing petrol had turned into a sea of flames. The four-engined Viscount turbo-prop of British Eagle Airlines was flying through stormy weather to Innsbruck and Venice when it crashed near the small town of Pfaffenhofen.

25 years ago

A husband and wife were jailed for 14 days after neighbours complained about constant noisy rows in which they threw furniture and swore. Fifer William Greechan (60) and his Inverness-born wife Elzabeth (56), who now live in Norfolk, were beginning their prison terms more than 100 miles apart after being sentenced for breaking an earlier court promise to live in harmony. A marathon 12-hour fight featuring shouting and screaming had neighbours too scared to leave their flats.

One year ago

One of Perth’s biggest annual events has fallen victim to the weather. Perth Highland Games has been cancelled after torrential downpours and the recent Perth Show left the Lesser South Inch a churned-up quagmire. The news is a major blow for the economy as the games regularly attracts more than 5,000 people along with competitors from around the world. Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart expressed his disappointment at the cancellation of Sunday’s event.