The next lecture in the UCM History & Heritage public lecture series will take place on Wednesday 17 May. The lecture will be given by Hamish Killip who will be speaking about internees who died while they were interned on the Isle of Man.
Hamish’s interest in the fate of internees on the Isle of Man began with a single case. A wartime crash of an RAF aircraft on Snaefell killed several of its crew. However, there appeared to be an inconsistency in the way in which the dead were treated. A civilian, though recorded as killed in the crash, had no grave, unlike his RAF colleagues.
By carefully researching this case, Hamish uncovered the disparity in the way in which civilians and servicemen were honoured after they died. This led him to look more widely at the fate of those who died during detention as internees in both World Wars. His research has shed interesting light on the lives and deaths of internees, and on the involvement of the Island and its people.
In his lecture, Hamish will explore the different ways in which internees and prisoners of war were commemorated on the Isle of Man, and will illustrate his findings with some specific case studies. In particular, he will discuss how, as a non-academic, he came to be involved in such research and will encourage others in the audience to pursue their own research in this fascinating area.
‘Death in Detention: Internees whose lives ended on the Isle of Man’ will take place in the Lecture Theatre at Elmwood House (behind the St John Ambulance Centre, off Glencrutchery Road) at 6pm on Wednesday 17 May. All are welcome, and no booking is required. The lecture will be recorded and made available online at a later date.
Further details about the History & Heritage lecture series, together with videos of previous lectures, can be found online at Catriona Mackie Lectures.
