History - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 414

The same harbour was immediately involved in World War II , when a German
U-boat breached the defences around Orkney in October 1939 and torpedoed
HMS Royal Oak , with the loss of 833 men (see p.345). Many more ships and lives
were lost in the waters of the Hebrides during the hard-fought Battle of the
Atlantic, when convoys carrying supplies and troops were constantly harried by
German U-boats. Various bases were established in the Highlands and Islands,
including a flying-boat squadron at Kerrera, by Oban, with Air Force bases on Islay,
Benbecula, Tiree and Lewis, and a Royal Naval anchorage at Tobermory; on the
mainland, commandos were trained in survival skills and offensive landings in the
area around lochs Lochy and Arkaig, near Fort William. Though men of fighting
age again left the Highlands to serve in the forces, the war years were not altogether
bleak, as the influx of servicemen ensured a certain prosperity to the places where
they were based, and the need for the country to remain self-sufficient meant that
farms and crofts - often worked by the women and children left behind - were
encouraged to keep production levels high.
Even before the war, efforts had been made to recognize the greater social and
economic needs of the Highlands and Islands with the establishment of the Highlands
and Islands Medical Service , a precursor to the National Health Service introduced by
the first postwar Labour government. Other agencies were set up in the 1940s,
including the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board and the Forestry Commission ,
both of which were tasked to improve the local infrastructure and create state-
sponsored employment.

The Highlands and Islands today
After Britain joined the EEC in 1972, the Highlands and Islands were identified as
an area in need of special assistance and, in harness with the Highlands and Islands
Development Board , significant investment was made in the area's infrastructure,
including roads, schools, medical facilities and harbours. European funding was also
used to support the increased use and teaching of Gaelic , and the encouragement of
Gaelic broadcasting, publishing and education. At the same time there was renaissance
of Gaelic culture across Scotland as a whole, from the annual National Mod (see p.37)
to the nationwide success of folk-rock bands such as Runrig and Capercaillie, with the
result that the indigenous language and culture of the Highlands and Islands, while still
vulnerable, is as healthy now as it has been for a century.

Employment in the Highlands and Islands
The strength of cultural identity - even in its more clichéd forms - has always been a
vital aspect of the Highlands and Islands' attraction as a tourist destination. Tourism
remains the dominant industry in the region, despite the furrowed brows of, on the
one hand, businesses vulnerable to dips in numbers and spending, and on the other,
conservationists concerned by the impact of increased numbers. The main traditional
industries, farming and fishing , continue with European support to struggle against
European competition, while others, such as whisky and tweed making , remain
prominent in certain pockets although they have never, in fact, been large-scale
employers. Few of the region's new industries have quite fulfilled the initial hopes

1979 1996 1999 2009

Scottish referendum
for devolution fails
to gain the required
forty percent

The Stone of
Scone is returned
to Scotland

Labour win the most seats
in Scotland's first-ever
general election

Carol Ann Duffy
becomes the
first Scottish
Poet Laureate