I have been learning about World War One and the Iolaire Disaster this term.

What happened?

• It was New Year’s Day, 1919, and around 300 island men were celebrating the end of the war. The men on board the Iolaire could see the lights of Stornoway harbour when a group of large rocks (also know as the Beasts of Holm) beneath the waves made the boat crash.
• Records suggest, 174 Lewismen and 7 Harrismen lost their lives in the wreck.
• A man called John F. Macleod swam to shore with a rope line to help others to shore, without this even more men would have died.

Facts

• Two months after the end of the First World War, 205 men died.
• The Iolaire was a luxury yacht before the war.
• She had been called Iolanthe at first , then Mione, then Amalthaea and last the Iolaire.
• It happened on the 1st January 1919. Next year marks 100 years since the disaster.
• The Iolaire means Eagle in Gaelic.

What I’ve learnt!

• I’ve learnt a lot.
• For example how to say the name of the boat
• What Iolaire means
• I’ve learnt about how sad it was.
• They where on there way home from just fighting in the war and they could see the harbour, but they the ship crashed into some rocks and most of the people that where lucky enough to survive the war died.

What I used to help me find out about the Iolaire disaster:

• Google images
• Insider’s Guide to Lewis and Harris THE MEN OF THE IOLAIRE
• (https://discoverlewisandharris.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/the-men-of-the-iolaire/)
• Iolaire Disaster – End of the War – The Ship Sinks off coast of Isle of Lewis
• (https://www.virtualheb.co.uk/iolaire-disaster-western-isles/)