War trail shows how Wick area became ‘formidable fortress’
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Guests at the launch of the new World War II heritage trail in Caithness were told how Wick was transformed in the 1940s from “a sleepy little town” into a “formidable fortress”.
The Caithness At War trail was officially opened by Lord Thurso, the Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness, at an outdoor event at Wick John O’Groats Airport on Saturday.
Dignitaries from RAF Lossiemouth and the Vulcan site also took part in the ceremony, which was attended by an estimated 200 to 250 people.
Forty-six information panels have been installed, 30 in and around Wick and 16 in the Sinclair’s Bay area – each devoted to a different aspect of the war from a local perspective and illustrated with archive images.
The project has been delivered jointly by Sinclair’s Bay Trust and Wick Development Trust with funding from the Caithness Beatrice Community Fund. The trusts are supported by Alistair Jack, Caithness Voluntary Group’s senior development officer.
Jonathan Miller, chairman of Wick Development Trust, told guests: “When our development officer approached us to extend the Caithness At War trail from Sinclair’s Bay into Wick, this seemed like an amazing opportunity to not only showcase just how important the area was during the war but to enable us to create a trail that would be an educational attraction for locals and visitors alike.
“This has been a very big project for both development trusts, and I know that Alistair has spent well in excess of 4000 hours on this project, but this is only the first phase.
“There are plans afoot for the trail to eventually expand across the entire county, as well as the creation of the Caithness Allied Air Forces Memorial that will be erected at this site. It will take the form of a full-sized replica of Spitfire AA810 and a large flagstone memorial wall listing all 544 names of those lost operating from the three Caithness RAF airfields during the war, which we are fundraising for now.
“The Wick trail takes you to various sites across the town and highlights how strategically important Wick was during the war.
“When doing the trail you will learn all about the defences that surrounded our sleepy little town and turned it into a formidable fortress to protect the airfield and harbour in the event that Caithness was invaded by the Germans.”
Maysie Calder, who chairs Sinclair’s Bay Trust, also gave a speech at the start of the event.
She said: “In 1940 there was a real worry that the Germans could launch an invasion of Britain. Sinclair’s Bay was identified as a likely location due to the long, flat beaches, two large airfields, the strategic harbour of Wick and the narrow, winding roads that led into the county which would make any sort of counter-attack very difficult.
“Had the Germans launched an invasion from occupied Norway and managed to overrun Caithness, this would have spelt disaster for Britain, as U-boats based at Wick harbour and bombers based at Wick and Skitten airfields would have rendered Scapa Flow unusable to the Royal Navy and would have given the Germans control of the passages into the North Atlantic.
“Therefore, Sinclair’s Bay and Wick were turned into a veritable fortress in an attempt to thwart any attempt to invade Caithness by building miles of pillboxes and anti-tank obstacles and laying thousands of land mines.
“The trail takes you around Sinclair’s Bay where you will be able to see remaining wartime structures which you can learn all about, and have a better understanding of why they are there.
“Other sites on the trail provide detailed information on important events or activities associated with Sinclair’s Bay, such as the attempt to thwart the Nazi atomic bomb programme or the top-secret squadron formed at Skitten to help develop and then deploy the bouncing bomb against the battleship Tirpitz.
“I think you will be amazed at what went on in the area when you do the trail and read about things like the top-secret listening station at Noss Head that intercepted Enigma-coded signals and relayed these to Bletchley Park to be decoded.”
Mr Jack said afterwards: “I could not be happier with how things have gone, and would like to thank everyone who took part in the planning and execution of the opening ceremony and to everyone who turned up to support the opening of the trail.
“Everything went off without a hitch and what makes it even more amazing is that there were no rehearsals beforehand – it was simply planned on paper which everyone followed. The weather played an important part as well and we could not have asked for a better day for it.
“I think it is important to single out for special thanks the SSE Caithness Beatrice Community Fund, which has supported this project from the outset and funded 95 per cent of phase one of the Sinclair’s Bay and Wick trails, and Highlands and Islands Airports Limited and the amazing team at Wick John O’Groats Airport whose support and assistance enabled this event to take place.
“I would also like to thank all of the landowners who gave permission for the Caithness At War panels to be placed on their land, as well as everyone who gave support and assistance behind the scenes, providing information that we have used, proofreading of the panels and so on.
“While the two trails were delivered by Caithness Voluntary Group for Sinclair’s Bay Trust and Wick Development Trust, from the very beginning we realised this project would have more chance of success if it had the support of partner organisations, so a steering group was formed consisting of representatives of the main stakeholders in the project who would be able to provide the necessary input to make this project a success.
“These included Caithness Voluntary Group, Sinclair’s Bay Trust, Wick Development Trust, Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, Royal British Legion Scotland, the Wick Society, High Life Highland, Sinclair’s Bay Community Council and Andrew Guttridge. Andrew was our local World War II adviser and provided a lot of the information used in the trail and many of the drawings and pictures you will find on the information panels.”
Mr Jack added: “I really hope that people will find the trail informative and enjoy reading about what went on in Caithness during the war. The trail leaflet containing the map can be downloaded from caithnessatwar.com but we will also have paper copies going out to hotels, museums and other venues.”
Related stories:
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Launch event at former Wick RAF base will highlight vital Caithness role in World War II
It is hoped that eventually the trail will be extended across the rest of the county, with community groups in other areas getting involved.
An app will generate an augmented reality experience at eight of the Sinclair’s Bay sites. Some panels contain QR codes which lead to the website.
