Aye. I have a friend who hailed from Bernaray, and whose great uncle was one of those lost on the Iolaire. Margaret talks of a great emptiness which haunted Lewis for decades; not only had the island lost proportionally more of its' young men to the war than the general populace, but the further disaster of losing two hundred more all but destroyed the community. That it survived was due to the older generation of men who had been too old to fight, and reliance of under-age, youngsters sent to work in croft and farm, who were themselves traumatised. It has been argued convincingly that the 'Wee Free' attitudes which pervade the island today owe much to the clinging to traditions which kept the community together. After all, on the mainland, The Free church folk are no different from CofS members outwardly....though unlike the Kirk, their membership is growing.
