When I Heard the Bell

The Loss of the Iolaire

An account on the ninetieth anniversary of the 'dark ship' that tells the story of the Iolaire, the astonishing commitment of the people of Lewis to the war against the Kaiser, its sickening end, and the way of life the disaster effectively destroyed.

On 31 December 1918, His Majesty's Yacht Iolaire sailed from Kyle of Lochalsh for Stornoway, bearing home to the Hebrides nearly 300 naval veterans of the Great War.

She never made it. At two in the morning, the ship ran aground by the mouth of Stornoway harbour, and over 200 men drowned in what remains Britain's biggest peacetime disaster at sea since the loss of the Titanic - devastating the Isle of Lewis and scarring a generation.

Acclaimed journalist John MacLeod examines the events of that dreadful night and uncovers a story not only of official incompetence, error and neglect but also of individual heroism, and the resilience and faith of a remarkable people.

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