New plaque marks Inverness hotel's use by wartime spies
The Royal Highland Hotel – formerly the Station Hotel – has looked after the needs of countless guests and travellers since it first opened its doors in 1854.
But between 1914 and 1918, it played a pivotal role, given its central location immediately next door to the railway station which was a hub of activity with thousands of military personnel passing through.
It was also at the centre of an intriguing episode when two German spies were discovered thanks to the vigilance of the hotel’s staff.
The pair – a man and a woman – were arrested and taken to London to be tried. Some of the hotel’s staff were called to give evidence against them.
The man ended his career in the Tower while the woman was sentenced to penal servitude for life.
The long-forgotten story has been uncovered by the Inverness Local History Forum and is outlined on a plaque which has been installed at the hotel.
Anne Mackintosh, a researcher with the forum, delved into the hotel’s wartime role after helping to put together two Inverness exhibitions in 2014 to mark the centenary of the start of the conflict.
“Inverness was the gateway to the north and a hub of activity during World War I,” she said.
“Formerly known as the Station Hotel and owned by the Highland Railway Company, this hotel played an important part in providing sustenance and comfort to hundreds of military personnel during the war years.”
Mrs Mackintosh, of Leachkin, said the history forum felt it was important that should be recognised and approached the hotel with a view to having a plaque displayed.
“They kindly took this on board and it is wonderful to see not one, but two plaques exhibited,” she said.
“I hope guests at the hotel will find it interesting to read what an important strategic area Inverness was and also convey to them the hotel’s involvement during these years.”
In 1916, the north of Scotland was recognised as being strategically important and proclaimed a special military area under the Defence of the Realm Act.
The government also took over control of the railways to ensure key military personnel could be moved around without delay and that lines could be closed to ordinary traffic, if necessary.
Strict security was enforced and anyone wanting to go on to the station – which was policed by armed soldiers – had to get a special permit in advance even if it was to say farewell to loved ones.
Civilian passengers disembarking were not allowed to leave the station without a permit and even British residents in Inverness had to be registered and carry a passbook when moving around.
It was against this background, two enemy spies were arrested after hotel staff became suspicious.
Mrs Mackintosh knows they were taken to London and were tried but so far she has not uncovered their names.
“They will be archives in London,” she said. “But it is a very intriguing story.”
As well as being a hangout for spies, the hotel played an important role in the war effort.
Large quantities of food were always kept on hand for military personnel passing through.
They included those travelling by the naval special – the Jellicoe Express – which broke its journey in Inverness for half-an-hour.
Between 1917 and 1919, it ran daily between Euston and Thurso, taking personnel north to transfer to the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow in Orkney.
One one occasion, before naval barracks were provided in the area, between 100 and 150 naval rating arrived in Inverness by rail late at night only to discover the last train to their next destination had left.
The hotel came to the rescue, taking them in and giving them mattresses on the floor.
The hotel’s laundry also took on the task of washing blankets for the admiralty and a special naval mail sorting office was built which incorporated part of the laundry.
With naval depots in Invergordon and Scapa Flow, it handled millions of letters and parcels.
The early morning editions of The Daily Mail, which were printed in Manchester, and Glasgow Herald were also delivered to Inverness so they could be read the same day on board the ships at Scapa.
Mrs Mackintosh also revealed another little known fact.
“There used to be an entrance linking the hotel with the station,” she said.
“I think it was to do with the fact the hotel belonged to the Highland Railway Company.
“But it meant that troops going back and forth over the concourse of the railway station could go straight into the hotel.”
It also meant that key military personnel or government officials could enter the hotel from the station without being seen from Academy Street and thereby reduce the risk of strategic information being leaked out, or arousing speculation.
Mrs Mackintosh said this side entrance had eventually been blocked off during later development and alterations.
But she believed it came out at where the station manager’s office is now located.
Her research, which included delving into back issues of the Inverness Courier, also revealed that the hotel hosted a dinner at the end of the war to mark American Thanksgiving Day celebrations for troops based in the Highlands.
Indranil Banerjee, the hotel’s general manager, was fascinated to hear of hotel’s role during World War and said it was important to have it recognised.
“We have always understood this hotel is a part of Inverness’s history,” he said.
“It is a part of the Inverness community and with anything of historical significance, it is important that we bring that out and promote it so that people who are visiting will get a different view of the hotel and understand its role in history.
“We were very interested to hear about its role during the First World War.
“It is a story which should be told and not be stored away in some dusty archive.
“It is something to be celebrated.”
Mr Bannerjee said there was a great sense of history at the hotel.
The newly-installed plaques, along with the account of the hotel’s role during the war, were already creating interest among guests.
The research into the hotel’s role during World War I is not the first piece of work Mrs Mackintosh has carried out to mark the centenary of World War I and its impact on Inverness and its people.
Earlier this year, she was involved in putting together a poignant exhibition at Inverness Cathedral to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Sergeant Frederick Winchester, of the Gordon Highlanders.
The young soldier, who had been a bell-ringer and chorister at the cathedral, died when his trench in northern France was destroyed by a German shell on March 29, 1917. He was 26 and described as an “exemplary young fellow “ by the chaplain.
The youngest of three children, Frederick was born on September 4, 1890, at Kilmuir Cottage in Fairfield Road, Inverness.
On September 24, 1914 – two months after the war started – he signed up for three years or “a period of war” to serve with the Lovat Scouts and was enlisted in the reserves as a private.
He is buried in the British Military Cemetery at Maroeuil.
