‘As thirsty land desires with rain refreshed to be’
In the days before email it was much harder to keep in touch and people at home were in a state of constant anxiety for news of their loved ones in the armed forces.
Ian MacLeod, son of the Church of Scotland Minister in Applecross, joined the Royal Navy in 1942 as a Surgeon Lieutenant, having just completed his medical studies. He served on HMS Cowdray, an escort on the notorious Arctic convoys taking supplies to Russia, and then in the North Atlantic. There he witnessed the sinking of HMS Curacoa and was involved in caring for a large number of serious casualties, covered in oil.
Only a month later, Ian was wounded himself after his ship came under heavy air attack off the North African coast.
The Historical Society is fortunate in having access to an archive of surviving letters belonging to Ian MacLeod, which gives more detailed information on his life during the war than we have for other service personnel, and also an insight into the anxieties of those left behind as they waited for news of their loved ones.
On 1st October 1942, even before Ian was wounded, his mother wrote from Camusterrach Manse, “Ian m’dear, I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to receive a letter from you at the hands of Murdo Never* a few minutes ago! … I am wiring Daddy that news has come from you as he is thirsty – ‘as thirsty land desires with rain refreshed to be’ – for news of you safe”. Ian’s father also wrote, “I cannot tell you how pleased we were to get your letter and to know you were safe. These are anxious and trying days for young and old – for the young who have to face extreme hardships on land and sea and in the air – for the aged who have loved and dear ones away from them … what an evil thing this war is! Well my dear boy how I long for a sight of you again and the time when this war comes to an end.”
* The Applecross postman, who had himself served in the Ross Mountain Battery in WW1
On 16 November, a wire from the Admiralty arrived at Camusterrach Manse, informing the family that Ian had been ‘seriously wounded’. There followed a very stressful week until more news started to filter through that it was a broken leg, and finally confirmation on the 26th that there was no other injury. His mother wrote, “’Seriously’ wounded was a horrible thought to live with for 6 days, though we soon discovered that ‘dangerously’ [wounded] is used for a worse condition.”
Ian also received a letter from his family’s neighbour Ina Murchison, “The post – Murdo Never – passed the reassuring communiqués on as he went on his rounds. We hear you are in a good hospital and well looked after”. She also gave news of other locals – “Donnie Sutherland will be out of hospital some time ago I should think. He was jolly lucky. Do you remember Joan MacKenzie Camustiel (‘Rufus’)? Her brother was for months a prisoner in North Africa but is now home & seems none the worse. We were all sorry about Angus Finlayson [killed in action when his motor torpedo boat hit a mine]… and his brother’s house in Lonbain was burned to the ground 2 weeks earlier. He was away fishing. His wife rescued the children but they have nothing left”.
After a long recovery, Ian MacLeod was allocated duties in the hospital where he had been treated, which occupied him safely until the end of the war.
