I realise these pictures arn’t aviation linked but I thought there would be plenty of people on here who may have an interest in them.
I took a trip to the Orkney Mainland last Friday and crammed as much sightseeing and exploring into the 24hrs I had there as I could. I visited the Churchill Barriers that lie between the Orkeny Mainland and South Ronaldsway. These were built to prevent German U-Boats from penetrating Scapa Flow. The decision to build them was taken after a U-Boat did just that and sank the British Ship HMS Royal Oak. The ship still lies at the bottom of Scapa as a war grave (800+ lives were tragically lost). The ships bell can be found in Kirkwall Cathedral. Scapa of course was also the site of the scuttling of the German fleet at the end of the First World War.
The barriers that were erected consisted of what were known as blockships and concrete barriers. These were erected by labour provided by the Italian POW camp erected nearby for the very purpose of building the barriers. The men of the camp, finding themselves without a place to worship, created a Chapel from two of their Nissan huts. The result is astonishing and survives today as a symbol of peace and reconcilliation.
The only thing of aviation interest that I found was a Dragon Rapide statue at Kirkwall airport.
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on where to go. Radar Archive, sadly the Wireless Museum was shut (till April!) so I didnt get to look around. Gave the Whisky Distillery a go instead! Enjoy the photos.
best regards, steve
By: Bob - 10th November 2004 at 19:18
Ian,
That was probably the pic I saw – quite a stack of building blocks!!
By: Ashley - 10th November 2004 at 16:43
Great pics Steve, very interesting 🙂
By: Swiss Mustangs - 10th November 2004 at 16:13
oh – and an interesting link here:
http://islandaircrashes.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.jhtml
Martin
By: Swiss Mustangs - 10th November 2004 at 16:08
What air protection was afforded these islanders from Luftwaffe incursions from occupied Norway, anyone know?
Pierre Closterman tells in his book “The Big Show” of his deployment with No. 602 Sqdn “City of Glasgow” to the Orkneys (Skeabrae) and the hunting of high altitude recon planes over Scapa Flow, flying Spiftfire Mk VI.
IIRC there were Squadrons / Flights rotated to this area.
Martin
By: RadarArchive - 10th November 2004 at 16:01
That’s one of the blockships that were sunk to try and prevent submarines entering Scapa Flow. As Gunter Prien demonstrated, it was still possible to get past them, hence the construction of the barriers.
Royal Oak cannot be seen from the surface. I don’t know exactly how far down she lies, but you certainly can’t see any of her from above the water.
By: Peter - 10th November 2004 at 15:24
what is the ship that is listing to stbd is that the royal oak
By: Hatton - 10th November 2004 at 11:53
another blockship…
By: Hatton - 10th November 2004 at 11:47
great pictures Ian, i’d wondered what the temporary rail network had looked like, fascinating stuff.
By: RadarArchive - 10th November 2004 at 11:35
Here’s a couple of photos of the construction which, although certainly not historic aviation, may nonetheless be of interest in this thread.
By: RadarArchive - 10th November 2004 at 11:24
I don’t know if it’s still available anywhere, but the DEFINITIVE account of the Churchill Barriers has to be Bolsters, Blocks, Barriers: The story of the building of the Churchill Causeways in Orkney by Alastair and Anne Cormack. Well worth getting ahold of.
By: Bob - 10th November 2004 at 11:16
In your second to last photo in the foreground is a large wooden structure. I have been told that these are the remains of the molds for the concrete blocks that were made by the POW’s.
I saw a wartime photo in a book, I believe, of the ‘construction yards’ for the blocks and it resembled a modern day container terminal with the blocks stacked on high awaiting delivery to the barriers. Quite impressive.
Churchill had to get around the use of POW’s for war related work while building these defensive structures, so they plonked a road on top of each barrier and classed the constructions as civilian improvements to link the various smaller islands to the main island.
Orkney had 5 airfields – Hatston, Kirkwall, Skeabrae, Smoogro and T watt (honestly!)
and details can be found in Action Stations No. 7 by David Smith.
The Orkneys are a wonderul place full of history from as far back as 5,000 years ago in the shape of the settlement at Skara Brae and the standing stones which dot the islands. The roads are great to drive on with the odd traffic jam caused by a sheep crossing the road. A complete contrast to the hell that is the A14 in Cambridgeshire.
If you have never been to the place, put aside a week sometime to visit it. You may just find yourself wanting to return.
By: Mark9 - 10th November 2004 at 08:58
Great pictures, thanks for sharing 😉 Anna 🙂
By: RadarArchive - 10th November 2004 at 08:52
Steve,
Superb photos. You certainly packed a lot in! I’m sorry you didn’t get into the Wireless Museum – I didn’t realise they shut over the winter season.
John,
I highly recommend getting ahold of Sky Over Scapa by Gregor Lamb. This is an excellent account of aviation in Orkney and the wartime air defences. There was also a complex radar-based air defence organisation covering the Orkney Islands. Detailed information on this will be included in my book on radar in Scotland which I hope will be published next year. Watch this space.
By: Der - 9th November 2004 at 20:53
Glad you enjoyed the trip Hatton.
I have similar pics from my trip mid 80’s and things look no different from then. Its a unique place.
By: Arabella-Cox - 9th November 2004 at 20:26
Steve
Great shots, I have similar pics from my trip there 3 months ago, the chapel is absolutely remarkable and so too is the U-Boat story of the sinking of the Royal Oak. I’m sad to say from a British point of view that the operation was brilliantly executed by the U-Boat Captain as over 800 sailors perished that night.
The Naval presence around north Scotland, The Orkneys and The Shetlands was truly huge. There must have been an air force prescence there too. The nearest airfield I got to was the USAAF base at Dounreay on the Scottish coast, the Air Traffic Control Tower is now the visitor centre for the Nuclear Power Station.
What air protection was afforded these islanders from Luftwaffe incursions from occupied Norway, anyone know?
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November 9, 2004 at 7:41 pm