Dear Charles
Research suggests the indigenous people of St Kilda had lived on this isolated island for around 2000 years – as they spoke a very old Gaelic language mixed with the odd word of Latin and Norse! They were not discovered in the modern age until 1697 CE! The island was attacked once by an Imperial German U-boat during Spring 1918 (which fired 60 artillery rounds at a British Telegraph Station) near the end of WWI. During WWII (after all the indigenous Celts had gone) my maternal grandfather – Arthur Gibson – when serving in the Royal Navy on the Minesweeper (HMS Beaumaris Castle) – was ordered onto the island of St Kilda (Hirta – the main island)!
A US military aeroplane full of US Servicemen (returning home after fighting in Europe) – crashed into the high mountainside with no survivors. The British Sailors formed ten groups of two – with each group carrying a stretcher. They were ordered to climb the mountain and retrieve one head, one torso, two arms and two legs, etc, sometimes including detached hands and feet (some still in shoes) with these body parts not having to be from the same person (I was told that when back on ship – a medical crew tried to rearrange the remains before they were handed over to the US Military Authorities on Stornoway).
The military aeroplane had exploded in mid-air – with all the Servicemen deceased and in pieces. Also scattered across the hillside were wrapped Christmas presents intended for their families – together with wallets, IDs and photographs of loved ones. My grandfather was told the plane had hit an air pocket – but others suspected enemy action or even sabotage!
Dear Charles
When the Victorians discovered the ancient, pre-modern Celts still living on St Kilda in the 1800s – there was no concept of private property, no use (or need) of money and no crime. There was no locks or sense of isolation caused through the need of personal security. Living was entirely communal. By 1930 – this society was completely destroyed through contact with the outside world.
Dear Diane
Just before the last Celtic inhabitants were evacuated from St Kilda in 1930 to the British Mainland – hundreds of their dogs (a type of middle-sized Labrador) were drowned in sacks thrown in the harbour and weighed-down with rocks! The cats did not fare much better – these animals were hunted-down shot in 1931 by visiting government officials – apparently to preseve the mouse and bird population!
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 