Italian Builders

We set off from Stromness for a few days to explore Scapa Flow and the surrounding coastline.

The strong Scapa tides surged us on our way and we had a good sail with fair winds to St Marys Holm on the furthest side.  We picked up the one and only visitor's buoy (no other takers as usual) and we settled down for the evening.

Next morning, we rowed ashore to see the impressive "Churchill Barriers" that were built between 1940 and 1944 to protect the Royal Navy fleet within Scapa Flow from attack by enemy submarines.  The barriers closed off the eastern entrance into Scapa Flow by joining together the islands between Orkney Mainland and South Ronaldsay.   They consist of mighty concrete blocks with a roadway on top.


Doug on the Churchill Barrier Between Lamb Holm and Mainland

The project to build the barriers required a huge labour force and it was decided to draft in 1300 Italian prisoners of war, captured in North Africa, to do most of the work.

Churchill as First lord of the Admiralty, was motivated to build the barriers after a German U-boat had been able to navigate into Scapa Flow, past the existing imperfect defences and then sink HMS Royal Oak at anchor.

While they were living on Lamb Holm, building the barriers, the Italians felt they needed a place of worship and were given permission to build their own chapel, provided that they did this outside of normal working hours.

Using two Nissan huts joined together, they constructed an incredible building that still stands today, having been restored in the 1960s and again in the 1990s.

The Italian Chapel at lamb Holm Island

They used concrete to create the impressive sculptures and the front facade, driftwood for panelling and altar pieces and even bully-beef tins for the elaborate oil lamps.
But the painting of the walls inside is unbelievably detailed and far surpasses anything imaginable for such a simple Nissan hut.

Inside the Elaborately Painted Nissan Hut Chapel (with a bully-beef tin lamp)

The Altar

Painted Roof by the Altar

It was very moving to see what these men had been inspired to achieve under such grim conditions of war.  What a place!

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