Forestry Memories Image Library = Grave of Mr Torres, Honduran Forester, Golspie.

	279
	Heritage North
	2007

Grave of Mr Torres, Honduran Forester, Golspie.

Robert Beaton of the Golspie Heritage Society told me that there were about 50 Honduran (as was) Forestry workers in Golspie around 1941-2. They stayed for over a year, at their camp in Backies, behind Golspie, and worked up in Ben Bhraggie felling, before moving on, to be replaced by Newfoundlanders. They sang and played guitars, and were known for having a relaxed attitude to work. They had many Highland names amongst their number, and left some genetic traces in the area.

At the same time, Roberts says, the Indian Army had posted a detachment of Punjabi Trasportation specilists in the town, who drilled pack horses and mules there, from specially built stables, before being mobilised to Crete and Greece. Their cooking attracted a great deal of attention and many locals developed a palate for Indian food.

We have ben unable to find out what befell Mr. Torres, though many Hondurans found the climate very hard to deal with. It may be significant that his death was in the midwinter, though, at this stage, we cannot be sure if this was a contributing factor. Does anyone know more? Email me, if you know anything about the Honduran Foresters in Scotland
Picture Added on 01 November 2007.

Comments

My name is Steve Conway and my grandfather was a BH Forester (though he was based in Kirkpatrick Flemming where there are also three war graves of Foresters). My granfather told me of the great hospitality of the locals, but the terrible conditions in which they lived and worked. My grandfather's camp was next to a German POW camp and he often told me that he used to wish that the Geneva Convention applied to colonial workers as well as POWs! There is not much written about the experiences of the Foresters, a book or two and one or two photographs at the IWM archive. Many of them moved on after their work contracts expired fed up with the conditions - half returned home with the promise of 10 acres in Belize, the rest spread out across the UK into cities like Newcastle, Cardiff London and Manchester and continued in war work and settled into the UK.
Added by Steve Conway on 03 December 2008.