Orkney: Italian Church & Churchill Barriers
A bit of history of the Orkney Islands: during early WW2 days, German submarine enters the southern part of the islands and sank HMS Royal Oak battleship killing 834 sailors. Winston Churchill ordered the construction of naval barriers to block access to the islands, four barriers along the islands. However, there was a shortage of workers to do this, so UK brought over 1000 of Italian prisoners of war to work on barrier constructions. The Italians lived in primitive huts, and one of them were permitted to convert one of the huts into a chapel. Hence, the Italian Chapel was born – simple and yet elaborate in its internal decoration and unique location in the middle of nowhere on a tiny islet.
