''Rockets Galore'' is a 1957

comedy novel A comic novel is a Novel, novel-length work of humorous fiction. Many well-known authors have written comic novels, including P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Mark Twain, and John Kennedy Toole. Comic novels are often defined by the author's liter ...

by the British writer

Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of t ...

. It is part of his sequence of Highland Novels, and its title echoes that of an earlier entry in the series, 1947's '' Whisky Galore'', and sees the inhabitants of a remote Scottish island resist a government plan to build a missile base on their home. The author refers to it, in an Author's Note, as a 'bitter farce', as opposed to the 'genial farce' that Whisky Galore was.

Plot

In the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

era of post-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Britain, the government decides to establish a guided

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

base in Scotland. The German project leader, Dr Emil Hamburger, proposes that the best location is on the two Hebridean islands of Great Todday and Little Todday. Other nearby islands have already been evacuated to make way for the bases that will be built. Andrew Wishart, a Minister at the Scottish Office, is reluctant to fall in with the plans of the "Ministry of Protection". He travels with his private secretary, Hugh McInnes, to the islands. On the ship, Hugh meets, and is smitten with, a visiting Irish singer, Jane Kinsella, who is researching old Gaelic songs. They later marry, despite she being Roman Catholic and Hugh a Protestant. Hugh and Jane honeymoon on the islands and decide that they must support the islanders opposition to the rocket research. Hugh resigns and joins the family woollen goods business. Although some of the islanders plan to profit from the building developments, most are opposed, especially on Little Todday, where the islanders are led by the formidable Father James, the Roman Catholic priest. When a rocket goes astray, it is 'captured' by the islanders, Notices of Eviction are issued, but torn up. Machinery mysteriously disappears or fails to work. RAF, Army and Government try unsuccessfully to find a way out. Then Hugh obtains some pink dye through the business and conspires that an ornithologist friend of his will 'discover' a rare pink

seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

that only nests on a small island off Todday. The government, under siege by conservationists, abandons the idea of the base. The gulls prove a major tourist attraction. And even the Roman Catholic and Protestant priests are united and reconciled.

Film adaptation

In 1958 the story was made into a film ''

Rockets Galore! ''Rockets Galore!'' (U.S. title: ''Mad Little Island'') is a 1958 British comedy film directed by Michael Relph and starring Jeannie Carson, Donald Sinden and Roland Culver. The sequel to '' Whisky Galore!'', it was much less successful than i ...

'' directed by

Michael Relph Michael Leighton George Relph (16 February 1915 – 30 September 2004) was an English film producer, art director, screenwriter and film director. He was the son of actor George Relph. Films Relph began his film career in 1933 as an assista ...

and starring

Jeannie Carson Jeannie Carson (born Jean Shufflebottom; 23 May 1928 – 1 August 2022) was a British-born American actress, singer, and dancer. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Born to show business parents, Carson was born as Jean ...

Donald Sinden Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was an English actor. Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including '' The Cruel Sea'' ( ...

and

Roland Culver Roland Joseph Culver, (31 August 1900 – 1 March 1984) was an English stage, film, and television actor. Early life After Highgate School, Culver joined the Royal Air Force and served as a pilot from 1918 to 1919. Career After considering ...

. The story was changed somewhat and some characters changed.Goble p.300

References

Bibliography

* Burton, Alan. ''Historical Dictionary of British Spy Fiction''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. * Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. 1957 British novels 1950s in comedy British comedy novels Novels set in the Outer Hebrides Novels set on fictional islands Novels set during the Cold War British novels adapted into films Comedy novels adapted into films Novels by Compton Mackenzie Chatto & Windus books {{1950s-novel-stub