Hi, I'm new to the forum so not sure if this has been covered by hundreds of people hundreds of times before. I'm looking for information about camp 60 in Orkney, especially personal accounts of Italian POWs and people who knew them. Hope someone can help. KJ
Hi KJ, It's cropped up very briefly here: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/prisoners-war/10349-italian-chapel-camp-60-lambholm-orkney.html?highlight=camp+60+orkney Afraid I can't help further but there's a good chance someone will. Cheers, Adam.
Not much more help here either. If memory serves there were at least two camps on Orkney-Burray & Lamb Holm. Prisoners from both were used to build the Churchill barriers-a system of blockships designed to be sunk and block as many unofficial entrances into Scapa Flow as possible after U47 sneaked in and sank the Royal Oak in 1939. The barriers were extended into inter-island causeways after the war. Under the 1929 Geneva Convention POWs couldn't be used for war-related work, but after the Italian Armistice in 1943 many 'Co-Belligerents' (or friendly Italians) volunteered to work to get out of the camps, and did a variety of work which they couldn't be asked to do previously. This didn't apply to those classified as 'Black' or categories 'C' or 'C+'- the die-hard Nazis and Fascists. They remained locked up until after VE Day. If you go to the Scottish Archive Network website (SCRAN), you'll find photos of POWs from both Orkney camps. Scran - Group Of Italian Prisoners Of War Outside The Italian Chapel, Lamb Holm
Thanks for posting those Vailron. They must have been Christopher Wren and Michaelangelo wrapped into one.
it really is an amazing place to visit. one has to cross the churchill barriers to get to lambsholm, the barriers were built to prevent more u-boats entering scapa flow following the royal oak sinking. The Churchill Barriers Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland Scapa Flow's Wartime Heritage uboat.net - Allied Warships - Battleship HMS Royal Oak of the Royal Sovereign class uboat.net - Boats - U-47
Bumping this old thread because my oldest daughter has just returned home after a tour of the area and was waxing lyrical about the Italian chapel that she and her husband visited. The historiical aspect of Scapa Flow and the naval disaster is, I regret to say, not an area of ww2 history that I have studied in depth but I intend to remedy that as soon as possible. Ron
Some sad news from Orkney - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-28770194 Regards Hugh
Hugh By one of those wierd quirks of fate my daughter visited the chapel during the relevant period and has already sent off photos taken within the chapel as requested by the local constabulary. Ron
Sadly, Martin, some people have no morals whatsoever. A lousy thief hitting a soft target becoming more and more commonplace now unfortunately. Ron, I hope your daughter's photos will help the police in their investigation. Regards Hugh
Hugh When my daughter was discussing the holiday, prior to the theft being announced in the press, she commented on how the lack of security in that part of the world was very evident and that in a lot of the tourist sites it was left to the honesty of visiitors to pay for items. It seems now that the expected honesty could have been misjudged ! Ron
Stolen plaques have been replaced with copies, but stolen originals still remain missing. Link to BBC Scotland below (hopefully) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-29759003
Just returned from a visit so am sharing some photos, a really interesting site and beautiful craftsmanship. 58.889637, -2.890407 Much of the chapel was made from scrap materials including the lanterns - from old bully beef tins! http://www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/ITALIANCHAPEL/index.asp
The Chapel is located at the historic site of Scapa Flow, some photos of the Churchill barriers, constructed by the Italian POWs 58.892994, -2.896472 and sunken block ships 58.870205, -2.912937 http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/
Tony, Thanks for the photos. Is the wreck used for diving? as there appears to be a landing deck along the side. Regards Tom
Tom, apparently a very popular site for divers, but also extremely dangerous, I understand that there are one or two deaths a year. http://www.divestyle.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4:scotland-scapa-flow&catid=7:international-travel&Itemid=19 http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/scapa-flow-missing-divers-feared-dead-1-2947076 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-15552607
Hi Tom, The wreck is called "The Reginald" and was sunk as a blockship during WW1. It lies about a mile from my house. There are local tales which suggest that she would roll from one side to the other as the tide changed. The deck is just a platform used as a place to store "creels", the local name for lobster pots. This wreck is in very shallow water.... just 3-4 metres so is very rarely dived. However, the wrecks on the western side of the barrier are dived on a daily basis during the summer, usually during training dives. The divers swim out from the shore. Kind Regards, Ian
Hi KJ, There is a wealth of information on this subject. Until recently I worked at Kirkwall Grammar School which has in the past hosted large groups of schoolchildren from Moena, the hometown of many of the Italian prisoners including the key figures behind the Chapel. The children are often the direct descendents (grandchildren, great-grandchildren) of the Italian prisoners. I have a 44 page booklet entitled "Churchill's Prisoners - the Italians in Orkney 1942-44" which details the story. It was privately published and has no ISBN number. I think that it might be on sale at the Italian Chapel itself. Kind regards, Ian
hello, new to the forum but hoping someone somewhere can help me. My wifes father was an Engineer sent to Orkney after Scapa flow help with the construction of the Churchill Barriers. The story we have is that during the construction, where he worked closely with the Italian POWs, there was an explosion. Possibly from a steam engine, an Italian POW pushed my partners father, Norman Stewart Pollock, out of the way and the POW was killed doing so. If this story is true we want to set out on a pilgrimage to find this mans family and thank them, because without his selfless actions she, her children and her grand child would not be here now. Any leads or information on this would be really gratefully received. Thanks in advance Simon Smith