Evening star., 1962-04-29
BY TED ]. BUSH
Contributing Writer

HOLY LOCH, Scotland.-Ameri-
cans who have come to the Firth
Of Clyde with the United States
Navy's Polaris base are fast max
ing friends with the native Scots.
It is not a missile-age-marriage,
either. The Americans and the
Scots really want to be friends.
The antics Of the imports" as
the Scots call them, from London
who have made worldwide head
lines with their attempts to force
abandonment of the PolariS sub
marine base in the midst Of this
summer community have embar-
rasSed the natives. Instead of con-
vincing the Argyllshire natives
that the Americans should leave,
the efforts have spurred their
determination to make the Ameri-
cans feel wanted.
One gets this feeling from talk
ing with people in the street, the
bus driver, the conductress, the
deckhand on the ferryboat. the
porter and chambermaid in the
hotel, the clerk and the shop
keeper.
Though the first Of the families
Of the Proteus crew-She is the
submarine tender which mothers"
the Polaris submarines and the
heart Of the Navy'S facility at
Holy Loch-have been in Scotland
little more than q month there
are already many stories Of the
Scots kindness and efforts to make
them feel at home.
One Of the first wives to arrive
on the scene overpaid taxi driver
because she had trouble converting
from dollars and cents to pounds,
shillings and pence. The next
week end the driver bundled his
family into the cab and drove 35
miles to return the overpayment.
In the interim his wife had knitted
q sweater for the family's "wee
one" as the Scots term any child
under school age.
The Scots Friendliness
An officer who was exploring
the city Of Glasgow, about 35 miles
from the Loeb, on rainy day
tells how a man ran block in
the rain to amplify some direc-
tionS on how to find the main
shopping center.
A sailor relates how the day
after he and his wife moved into
their home the neXt-door neighbor
invited his wife to go shopping
with her so she would have no
trouble getting started on the daily
round of household buying.
' These are gestures which come
from those who have no direct eco
nomic interest in the arrival of the
Proteus' families. Already there
are about 100 families on the
scene, and already the original
estimates of the availability of
housing are out of kilter. No one
realized how many of the owners
were going to open their summer
homes to provide housing year.
round for the American service
personnel.
Dunoon, the town closest to the
Proteus, boasts a population of
"close on 10000" according to the
Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire
Standard, the local weekly paper.
It Is primarily a summer resort.
Geographically, it is huddled on
the north side of the Firth of
. Clyde about 40 miles west Of
Glasgow.
Across the firth, to the south
and east, are Gourock and Green
ock. Gourock is the railhead for
train transportation into the area.
From it ferries leave for the cities
nesting westward along the firth
and to the islands which dot the
caost Of Southern Scotland.
Transportation Center
Greenock is an industrial city,
mostly shipbuilding and repair,
which adjoins Gourock. Many
World War II GIs embarked for
Africa through its port facilities.
1t was the target of numerous
German bombing raids and a close
look will reveal the 20-year-old
scars left by the nocturnal visits
of the Luftwaffe.
Americans are not unknown in
the area, but they are unusual. It
is off the normal tourist track
which the visitors from the United
States follow. Normally, they go
to Glasgow and then on to Edin-
burgh, a two-hour trip by train
from Gourock.
The summer visitors to the area
are mainly Scots themselves, with
few tourists from Ireland, few
hours by boat to the west.
AS a result of this situation, the
area is typically Scottish. Ameri-
can families arriving on the scene
face adjustments, which the Scots
are willing to help them make The
natives can be expected to do little