Boom Beach, Mellon Charles, Scotland

Today, Boom Beach at Mellon Charles looks peaceful, but during the Second World War it protected one of Britain’s most important naval anchorages. Loch Ewe was an assembly point for the Arctic Convoys, sometimes sheltering as many as 95 merchant and Royal Navy ships before they sailed for Russia. From this beach, a huge anti-submarine boom—three layers of metal loops supported by floats—stretched across the loch via Sgeir an Araig to Firemore. Nearly 250 servicemen and women lived and worked at the Boom Defence Depot, alongside local engineers, shipwrights and maintenance crews. The surviving pier, concrete anchors and rusting fittings are quiet reminders of Loch Ewe’s vital wartime role. https://arcticconvoymuseum.org/histor...