Outbreak of War, 1939

William Paton, a miner, lived in Stoneyburn in West Lothian. He kept a diary throughout the war in which he recorded local, national and international news and events. He made the following entry in his diary on the day that war was declared.

Transcript

Sunday 3 September

Great Britain declared war on Germany at 11.20am, as Germany had not replied to their ultimatum which had a time limit which expired at 11am. France declared war on Germany at 5pm. ARP trenches were being dug in Stoneyburn. The schools did not take up for another week. Germany tried to block the news bulletin at 1pm.

(National Records of Scotland reference: NRAS 4107/6)