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italian chapel
Lamb Holm, Orkney Islands
The Mainland, Orkney’s largest island, is surrounded by one of the most renowned natural harbours in the world—Scapa Flow, an important naval base during WW I and WW II. Following a sneak attack by a German U-boat at the eastern end of Scapa Flow, Sir Winston Churchill ordered the construction of four causeways in 1939.
Started in 1940, using 1300 Italian Prisoners of War captured from North Africa, the Churchill Barriers were completed in May 1945, ironically a few days before the end of WW II. Today the causeways continue to serve as a vital link between Orkney communities.
The POW’s left another legacy behind, the Italian Chapel on the island of Lamb Holm. Using scraps of wood, brick and concrete, the prisoners created a church out of two Nissen huts provided by the British.
Inside the chapel, painted-on images of brick, stonework and religious figures reveal the prisoners’ painstaking efforts to add a touch of warmth and grandeur with the meagre provisions they had at their disposal.
The Orcadians vowed to maintain the chapel after the war ended. An Italian flag overlooks the chapel and one of the northern Churchill Barriers—important reminders of Orkney’s war history.
italian chapel
Lamb Holm, Orkney Islands
The Mainland, Orkney’s largest island, is surrounded by one of the most renowned natural harbours in the world—Scapa Flow, an important naval base during WW I and WW II. Following a sneak attack by a German U-boat at the eastern end of Scapa Flow, Sir Winston Churchill ordered the construction of four causeways in 1939.
Started in 1940, using 1300 Italian Prisoners of War captured from North Africa, the Churchill Barriers were completed in May 1945, ironically a few days before the end of WW II. Today the causeways continue to serve as a vital link between Orkney communities.
The POW’s left another legacy behind, the Italian Chapel on the island of Lamb Holm. Using scraps of wood, brick and concrete, the prisoners created a church out of two Nissen huts provided by the British.
Inside the chapel, painted-on images of brick, stonework and religious figures reveal the prisoners’ painstaking efforts to add a touch of warmth and grandeur with the meagre provisions they had at their disposal.
The Orcadians vowed to maintain the chapel after the war ended. An Italian flag overlooks the chapel and one of the northern Churchill Barriers—important reminders of Orkney’s war history.