Speaker Peter McKinnon

The Club's weekly meeting was as usual held in The Scores Hotel. The evening's speaker was Peter McKinnon husband of member Wilda. Following a visit to Arromanche, the site of D Day landings, made Peter think about his late grandfather who had been involved at that time. His Grandfather Peter MacIntyre had been born on Islay in 1902. His mother died when he was only 2 and he was brought up by 2 fishermen uncles as his father was at sea. As a boy he would go with his uncles on trips to Northern Ireland. His father remarried, eventually going back to sea and was never heard of again. Grandfather eventually went to sea aged 15 joining the Merchant Navy and married in the early 1920s. In 1941 he was a crew member on SS Marslew on a convoy to Montevideo when it was torpedoed by a U Boat and sunk. Although 13 out of a crew of 42 were lost he survived and was taken to Philadelphia before returning to UK. In 1944 he was involved in transporting Mulberry pontoons and was on the beaches on D Day+1. He was also involved in Arctic convoys where much of the time was spent preventing build up of ice on the ship. He ended his seafaring career from 1958 to 1961 spending 3 solid years in South Georgia on a whaling factory ship. In those days there was no home leave. Peter had found out that in his only trip to Halifax Nova Scotia his grandfather met another Gaelic speaker when ashore and arranged to meet him again next day. However his ship sailed early and he did not meet the man again, but thought it might have been his missing father. On behalf of the Club, wife Wilda thanked Peter for a most interesting talk.