Dignitaries will lead tribute service to Iolaire victims
SCOTTISH researchers have created a digital visualisation revealing the untold stories of those who lost their lives in one of Britain’s greatest maritime disasters.
The Iolaire was carrying sailors who had fought in the First World War back to the Isle of Lewis when disaster struck just before 2am on January 1, 1919.
As the ship approached Stornoway, only a matter of yards offshore, and half-a-mile away from the safety of the harbour, she hit The Beasts of Holm, an infamous outcrop, and sank. Only 79 people survived and 201 perished.
Leading tributes at a service near the disaster site on New Year’s Day will be Prince Charles and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the tragedy, researchers from Abertay University and the University of the Highlands and Islands have developed an online application, Visualising the Iolaire, which provides a virtual map of the disaster.
It details those who died and identifies the communities directly and indirectly impacted, while also documenting how victims have been memorialised on the island. The development of the online application has been led by Dr Iain Donald from the School of Design and Informatics at Abertay University.
He said: “The original aim of the project was to look at how the impact of a single event can transform a community.
“Previously we have looked at how the 4th Black Watch casualties at the Battle of Loos in 1915 had impacted the city of Dundee.
“The story of the Iolaire is especially poignant as it occurred after the war was over and was bringing sailors home to be with friends and family for New Year in 1919. Working with Dr Iain Robertson at the University of the Highlands and Islands and the community partners on this project has demonstrated what a heavy price the Western Isles paid during the war, and the Iolaire tragedy was sorrow heaped upon sorrow.”
The project is funded by the engagement centre for the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Living Legacies 1914-18, which has been helping to fund community-led research projects to mark the centenary of the First World War.
The app can be accessed via https://iolaire.itch.io/the-iolaire