KNO (Keep NATO Out) archive project

The KNO Campaign to oppose NATO escalation at Stornoway Airport was a protest group which was formed in Stornoway in 1979. The group was highly active during the 1980s but, despite a Public Inquiry decision in favour of the group’s stance, the Secretary of State for Scotland gave the go-ahead for the proposed developments by the Ministry of Defence.

This archive collection provides a fascinating insight into the group’s activities and its highly successful advertising campaign which brought support at national and international level. The collection was gifted to Tasglann nan Eilean in summer 2024 by Angus McCormack, who was Chairman of KNO.

The collection has now been fully catalogued and preserved, thanks to funding sourced from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) by Dr Charlie Peevers, Professor of International Law at Glasgow University. Please click below for access to the catalogue, which provides a fuller history of the KNO campaign. (Please note this is the brief version of the catalogue. Contact us if you require a version with more detailed item descriptions).

Dr Peevers is investigating the history of disarmament and peace campaigning from the early 20^th century until the present. As part of this project she is looking at the long history of peace campaigning work in the Outer Hebrides including in relation to the NATO base expansion at Stornoway airport in the 1970s.

A small exhibition telling the story of the campaign, drawing on the KNO archive collection and other sources, will take place at Tasglann nan Eilean in 2026.

Oral history project: invitation to participate

As well as tangible items, the exhibition will also include links to oral history recordings which Dr Charlie Peevers has been collecting from some of those involved in Keep Nato Out and other related disarmament campaigns. Anyone who is interested in participating in the oral history project to record their memories of the campaign, or who would like to discuss their experiences as part of the research, is invited to contact Dr Charlie Peevers at scottishdisarmamentproject@gmail.com.

We are grateful to the AHRC and Glasgow University for providing funding for this collaborative project.

If you wish to use this collection for research please contact the archive service.

Please see this page for an overview of all the archive collections.