1916
March
- 2nd
Cargo vessel Dirigo bound from Canada to Sweden was arrested by British patrol ships and brought into Lerwick where her cargo of barley was confiscated because it was feared that it was meant to be shipped onward from Sweden to Germany.
June
- 21st
The Francoise D'Amboise, a steel hulled sail barque laden with a cargo of coke, of Nantes, France, from Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, for Valparaiso, Chile, was stopped by the submarine U 22 who forced her crew to abandon ship, before sinking her with a torpedo at a position given as 60.00N, 03.45W, which falls very very approximately 55 miles WSW of Foula. All of the crew were saved. The incident occured either on this date, or on the same date in 1915 (the available records are in dispute).
April
- 11th
Bahá'í leader 'Abdu'l-Bahá, said the following in the Tablet to the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada
- "Therefore, O ye believers of God! Show ye an effort and after this war spread ye the synopsis of the divine teachings in the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, San Marino, Balearic Isles, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Malta, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Hebrides and Orkney Islands."
August
- 1st
By-election of the Lerwick Town Council. - 10th
Norwegian steamer, D/S-Glitra, (JPTL), of Skien, bound for Baltimore, wrecked near Shetland
September
- 5th
By-election of the Lerwick Town Council. - 26th
- The Thelma, (1002GRT), of and from Glasgow, Scotland, for Gothenburg, Sweden with a cargo or coal and mixed general goods was topedoed at close range by the German submarine U-20 and sank 24 miles east from Fair Isle. All of the crew were saved, being taken aboard U-20 and transferred to a neutral vessel.
- The St Gothard (2788GRT), of Glasgow, Scotland, from Swarbacks Minn to the Firth of Forth, Scotland on charter to the Admiralty carrying 200 tons of coal, the Admiralty requisitoned armed trawler Sarah Alice, and the Conqueror II, a steam yacht hired to the Royal Navy, were all torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U52 under Kapitanleutnant Hans Walter 12 miles north by west from Fair Isle/6-8 miles off Fitful Head, Dunrossness within minutes of each other. Another British vessel, the trawler Talassa is also recorded as having been sunk in a similar position to the Sarah Alice, on the same day by German submarine activity.
- 30th
The three Norwegian steamers, D/S Fancy, (MCQB), D/S Hekla, (MDRB), and D/S Hefnia, (JTPM), was attacked and sunk by German submarines U66 and U43, on tour Lerwick - Arkangelsk with a cargo of herring.
October
- 4th
The T 19, a Royal Navy requisitioned and armed fishing trawler laden with a cargo of stores for the White Sea, Russia, wrecked on Little Holm in the Bay of Quendale. All of the crew including eight Japanese seamen were saved, as was some of the cargo. - 31st
The Saturn, a steel hulled steamship laden with a cargo of cotton, of Bergen, Norway, from Liverpool, England, for Narvik, Norway, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U 57 at a position either 35 miles or 60 miles (the available records are in dispute) N of Muckle Flugga. All aboard are believed to have been saved.
November
- 24th
News received of heavy death toll and casualty list of Shetland soldiers at Battle of Ancre. 7 Shetlanders had been killed, 11 wounded and 2 were missing.
Those killed were Joseph Anderson, aged 24, Lerwick, Laurence Halcrow, aged 20, Lerwick, William Kay, aged 25, Lerwick, George Groat, aged 20, Lerwick, James Sinclair, aged 19, Northmavine, William Robertson, aged 21, Gluss, and John Jamieson, aged 21, Burra.
All were killed on the same day, the 13th, but it took eleven days for the news to reach home.
The following is noted on the Bayanne site:
In Memory of
JOHN WILLIAM JAMIESON
Private 4127
1st/7th Bn., Gordon Highlanders,
who died on Monday, 13th November 1916. Age 21.
Additional Information: Son of Agnes Jane Jamieson, of 48, Burgh Rd., Lerwick, Shetland, and the late William Jamieson. Born at Hamnavoe, Burra Isle.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: Y RAVINE CEMETERY, BEAUMONT-HAMEL, Somme, France
Grave Reference/
Panel Number: A. 40.
Location: Using the D919 from Arras to Amiens you will drive through the villages of Bucquoy, Puisieux then Serre Les Puisieux (approximately 20 kilometres south of Arras). On leaving Serre Les Puisieux, 3 kilometres further along the D919, turn left following the signs for Auchonvillers. At the crossroads in the village centre, follow the signs for 'Newfoundland Park, Beaumont Hamel'. "Y" Ravine Cemetery is located within the Park.
Historical Information: "Y" Ravine runs East and West about 800 metres South of the village, from "Station Road" to the front line of July, 1916; it was a deep ravine with steep sides, lined with dug-outs, and extending two short arms at the West end. The village of Beaumont-Hamel was attacked and reached on the 1st July, 1916, by units of the 29th Division (which included the Royal Newfoundland Regiment), but it could not be held. It was attacked again and captured, with the Ravine, by the 51st (Highland) Division on the 13th November, 1916. The Newfoundland Memorial Park, and the 29th and 51st Divisional Memorials within it, commemorate these engagements, and "Y" Ravine Cemetery is within the Park. The village was later "adopted", with three others in the Somme, by the City of Winchester. The cemetery was made by the V Corps in the spring of 1917, when these battlefields were cleared. It was called originally "Y" Ravine Cemetery No. 1; No. 2 cemetery was concentrated after the Armistice into Ancre British Cemetery, Beaumont-Hamel. There are now over 400, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over a third are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 53 soldiers (or sailors or Marines) from the United Kingdom and eight from Newfoundland, known or believed to be buried among them. The cemetery covers an area of 1,166 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall.
Died: Killed in action
October
- 17th
The Edam, a steel hulled steamship laden with a cargo of hides and hemp, of Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, from Enisei, Siberia, Russia, for Grimsby, England, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U 43, believed to have been at a position given as 60.30N, 03.25W, approx 60 miles W of Esha Ness. All of the crew are believed to have been saved.
December
- 5th
By-election of the Lerwick Town Council.
