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by a second team. The change-over day was Tuesday. This meant, roughly, one week on and one week off. The light would be manned 24 hours a day, with four hours on duty for keepers (who wore uniforms) and eight hours off. There were also two replacement Marine Department staff who stood by at headquarters in the event of a lighthouse keeper taking leave or falling sick.
Every Sunday there would be a lighthouse "spring clean," when windows would be cleaned and everything made shipshape. In addition, equipment would be checked and minor maintenance carried out. Nevertheless, a maintenance section would visit the island once a month to attend to anything not functioning correctly and which was beyond the capabilities of lighthouse keepers to rectify.
Defence
In addition to Marine Department staff, it is understood that during various periods, for defence purposes, British soldiers were stationed on Waglan. Quarters for a military presence were provided. Similarly, a squad of Japanese soldiers was stationed there during the Second World War.
Both Waglan and Gap Rock, where there were air-raid shelters, were damaged by bombing during World War Two. There are said to be two Japanese ghosts on Waglan, with one Japanese soldier, so it is believed, having been buried under what is now the floor of the recreation room which was built later. One member of staff of the Marine Department said to me:
It's no wonder keepers saw ghosts on Waglan, cut off from their families as they were. It was a psychological thing.
To defend Waglan in the event of attack, at the start of the 20th century, cannons were mounted on the island. These were said to have been transferred later to the Government Queen's College (Bruce; 1990, 7). There are, in fact, two cannons in the grounds of the College. The cannons are marked:
296
by a second team. The change-over day was Tuesday. This meant, roughly, one week on and one week off. The light would be manned 24 hours a day, with four hours on duty for keepers (who wore uniforms) and eight hours off. There were also two replacement Marine Department staff who stood by at headquarters in the event of a lighthouse keeper taking leave or falling sick.
Every Sunday there would be a lighthouse "spring clean," when windows would be cleaned and everything made shipshape. In addition equipment would be checked and minor maintenance carried out. Nevertheless, a maintenance section would visit the island once a month to attend to anything not functioning correctly and which was beyond the capabilities of lighthouse keepers to rectify.
Defence
In addition to Marine Department staff it is understood that during various periods, for defence purposes, British soldiers were stationed on Waglan. Quarters for a military presence were provided. Similarly, a squad of Japanese soldiers was stationed there during the Second World War.
Both Waglan and Gap Rock, where there were air-raid shelters, were damaged by bombing during World War Two. There are said to be two Japanese ghosts on Waglan with one Japanese soldier, so it is believed, having been buried under what is now the floor of the recreation room which was built later. One member of staff of the Marine Department said to me:
It's no wonder keepers saw ghosts on Waglan, cut off from their families as they were. It was a psychological thing.
To defend Waglan in the event of attack, at the start of the 20th century, cannons were mounted on the island. These were said to have been transferred later to the Government Queen's College (Bruce; 1990, 7). There are, in fact, two cannons in the grounds of the College. The cannons are marked:
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