Wick Voices Home Recordings Collections About us News Contact us Log in

Wick would have been vaporised

Recorded 8 years ago

About this recording

July 1st 1940 was a tragic day for Wick. Fifteen people – mostly children – were killed when a German plane dropped two bombs on Bank Row, which was then a densely populated part of Lower Pulteneytown. Yet it could have been unimaginably worse. In this recording, Eric Farquhar reveals that two huge ammunition ships were berthed in the nearby river harbour at the time. The local fishermen were convinced that if those ships had been blown up then the town itself would have been wiped from the face of the earth. Wick would have been vaporised,” Eric says. There would have been no Wick.”

For some of Erics other memories, see the recording entitled Life in e Chapel: That was the hub of the universe”.

Eric passed away in January 2023.

Contributors
Eric FarquharBorn in 1938

Photos

There are no photos for this recording.


Comments ()

You might also enjoy ...

Wull's Thomas JohnEric Farquhar
We were living in the slums of WickEric Farquhar
Life in e Chapel - That was the hub of the universeEric Farquhar
Footsteps on the stairsEric Farquhar
The UnexplainedEric Farquhar
There were thousands of troops hereIan Swanson
We didn't know what war was, but we knew it was no goodMary Manson
Do come and see the Iron Wellie and the Second World War pillboxDenny Swanson
The RAF boys came down to the church in their drovesKathlyn Harper
The Bank Row memorial garden: It's a sacred spotJenny Szyfelbain
The boy that Hitler couldn't killGeorge Cameron
Wick High School Pupils Visit Auschwitz Tom Allan
The BlitzMargaret Mackay
The unborn baby of the Bank Row bombingGeorge Heppel
When war came: Caithness in 1939-45Caithness At War
Declaration of First World WarMiss Begg
The Bank Row bombing: It really destroyed the familyJohn Mackenzie
There was a real threat that Nazi Germany would invade CaithnessAlistair Jack
There were Spitfires flying about the sky all the timeAlice Calder
Bank Row BombingJimmy Clark
A Gutter's Life Harry Gray
The Bombing Of Willowbank - Part 2Kathlyn Harper
Growing up during WW2David Bruce
The Bombing Of Willowbank - Part 1Kathlyn Harper
Operation Freshman and memories of a wartime bomber pilotDon Mason
The Victory in Europe procession in Cuba's CadillacKathlyn Harper
There would be aircraft taking off and landing all the timeDrew Guttridge
We got two days of holidays to mark VE Day - everyone felt so relievedJohn Young
The Veterans Memorial Tower – Lest We ForgetRoy Mackenzie



All content and recordings are copyright 2026 The Wick Society

Brought to you by the online heritage experts
Close
Close