When Hatch was on the boats when WWII started, nobody had a radio except the chief engineer and the wireless operator. The chief engineer's room would be packed with people at the news time - sailors, stewards etc. There was only one wireless in Stoighseall belonging to Eòghan Bheag MacKinnon beside the Berties. It was in that house that everyone gathered to get the latest news of the war. There was a 6-volt accumulator and a battery on the radios. A big dry battery, and the accumulator with acid which you had to charge. There were 110 volts in the batteries. They were heavy. There were two stations on the radio - Medium and Long Wave - and a lot of atmospherics! When the accumulator went down, the wireless was done, whether or not there was a good battery in it. If there were other radios, people kept them to themselves. Everyone came from each part of the village to listen to the radio. Sometimes a radio would be loud and then low according to the sound waves. People would have an ear to the wireless and they would then be arguing about what had been said. After these models, came the ever-ready portable radios. The accumulator went out the window then. There was very little Gaelic on the radio then and people preferred to hear the news than dance. The accumulator did three weeks of item (with a good charge) and the dry battery did three months. The dry battery was disposed of once it was done. You had to go to the RAF station in Kilmaluag to charge your accumulator if it had gone caput. You would leave with your bicycle. The wee doctor would cycle around getting a dram here and there as he sorted accumulators. There was a fear during WWII that the invasion might well come from the north, and this is why they put the RAF station in Kilmaluag. They call it radar today. It was up on top of the rocks. The powerhouse was beside the main road where the generator was. This supplied the electricity for the station on the top of the hill and nissan huts ("na campaichean", as they were known). The RAF used to keep dances and film shows in the Mess - once a week local people could go if they wished. After the army moved out, the Highlands and Islands Film Guild came round - perhaps once a month. Then a van went around to Kilmaluag, Portree. People only used batteries for radios, torches and perhaps bicycle lamps - the twin cell battery. Many's a person got a sglog with a bicycle walking at night without torches. Every house had a paraffin lamp. Bha an taigh dubh dorcha. In the old days you got paper on rolls - roller blinds - black - . These were specifically for the war years so that aeroplanes didn't see you. Other posher houses had shutters. A big board was put in front of the house. You could never see a house in the dark. Cars had dimmed lamps - masks on car lamps for the same reason. One or two people were more careless. The policeman would arrive from Uig on his motorbike and warn you that you had been careless. The Ministry of Food stated that you had to have a permit to kill your own sheep. You would send for one permit and would kill one or three in the year. Everything was rationed and there was an attempt to see that everyone was equal. Hens and eggs. People were much better off than in the towns because of this. Dìg for Victory - slogan to encourage people to seek their own subsidy for seed, potato. Careless talk costs lives - to warn of spies.