With a stone to represent every victim, this newly-unveiled memorial lays bare the sheer scale of a near-century old island tragedy.
The sinking of the Iolaire, within sight of the Western Isles, was the greatest loss of life in British waters in peacetime.
Stones have been collected from the home villages of each of the 201 sailors lost in the naval tragedy and incorporated into a memorial on Lewis which has been unveiled in Stornoway. The constant downpour – which curtailed some of the planned commemoration – added to the poignancy.
Stornoway Amenity Trust, in partnership with The Nicolson Institute – and supported by Stornoway Historical Society – worked on the project to create a memorial to mark the centenary of the sinking of the Iolaire on New Year’s Day in 1919.
The memorial in Carn Gardens, close to Stornoway Town Hall, consists of a slate engraving on a wall and a stone cairn which includes stones to represent each man lost.
The memorial was unveiled by descendants of some of those lost in the Iolaire.
It is the first in a planned series of events commemorating the tragedy up until New Year’s Day.
In an emotional speech, Sandy Matheson, the islands’ former Lord Lieutenant, said the Iolaire was the “greatest single tragedy that has affected our lives.”
He said: “If it was mentioned at all it was in hushed tones. I now know it was because the effect on our community was so devastating. It was not because they were in denial.”
Mr Matheson also said the government of the day had “never recognised the tragedy of the Iolaire” and if it was mentioned it was as a “peacetime” tragedy, adding: “It was a wartime tragedy.”
Around a fifth of the victims were aged 20 or under.
Vice-head girl Aisling Smith read a moving poem Nearly Home while the school choir also sung an emotional Amazing Grace.
The Iolaire was carrying sailors who had fought in World War I back to Lewis.
But as the ship approached Stornoway, a few yards offshore – and a mile away from the safety of the harbour – she hit the infamous Beasts of Holm rocks and eventually sank. Only 80 people survived.
WWI is held to have ended in 1919 in the island on account of the Iolaire Disaster – a fact reflected on the Lewis War Memorial at Stornoway.
A £5million world class centre to the tragedy is planned at Stornoway.