Symbol of Hope  (A discovery while cycling Orkney Isles)

Orkney comprises 70 Islands. Just 20 are inhabited. Day one we cycled from Burwick ferry terminal to Kirkwall. Burwick is a 45-minute ferry ride from John O’Groats on the Scottish mainland.

On a dismal grey day we pedalled north, crossing so-called Churchill Barriers constructed by WW2 Italian prisoners. The barriers were to prevent German U-boats getting into Scapa Flow. In October 1939 a U-boat had got into Scapa Flow and sunk HMS Royal Oak with the loss of 800 lives.

Five hundred Italians were sent to uninhabited Lamb Holm Island to build the barriers.  I had thought, unless ardent supporters of Mussolini, Italians had little heart for fighting WW2.

Lamb Holm was the fourth island we cycled across. As with much of Orkney, it was a cheerless landscape deprived of trees. Here we found a curious relic to those Italians of Camp 60. In a landscape of barbed wire were two Nissen huts, given to the pensioners to create a place for worship.

The Italians were treated reasonably well as prisoners of war. Their one complaint was having no place to worship – hence the Nissen huts. From the austere huts they created their church. It is so beautifully decorated, it remains today as a remarkable symbol of triumph over defeat and loneliness. I had visited great cathedrals of England. Magnificent as they were, they failed to make a lasting impression as did the Italian Chapel. Here, there were no signs forbidding photography. Yet the Italians had created a photographers’ dream.

An artistic prisoner, Domenico Chiocchetti, and a small band of ingenious helpers, crafted the chapel making the best use of otherwise worthless scrap. The altar, altar rail and holy water scoop are moulded from concrete.

The chancel is partitioned by a wrought-iron screen. Painted glass windows depict St Francis of Assisi and St Catherine of Sienna. Chiocchetti’s own masterpiece above the altar, a representation of the Madonna and Child, is from the famous Nicolo Barabina work Madonna of the Olives. Chiocchetti carried a small reproduction with him throughout the war.

After the war the chapel became a place for pilgrimage. But the permanence of materials used was doubtful. In 1960, funded by the BBC, Chiocchetti accepted an invitation to return to Orkney. He had no intention to work on the Italian Chapel. But that is what he did, helped by the Orkney people. In three weeks the chapel was returned to its original splendour. All artwork was remade with permanent materials. There was much to celebrate.

In a letter to the Orkney people before returning to his home in Moena, Italy, Chiocchetti wrote:

``……. The chapel is yours – for you to love and preserve. I take with me to Italy the remembrance of your kindness and wonderful hospitality.  I shall remember always, and my children shall learn from me to love you. …..’’     

Inspired, I followed my companion, Haruko, across the last of the Churchill Barriers. The day had become even gloomier. The rusted hulk of a once proud ship was half-submerged in the bay. I pondered the friendships derived from Italian prisoners, forced to manhandle huge blocks of concrete forming the barriers, and their Orkney captors. And I felt a glimmer of pride in having Orkney ancestry.  Lamb Holm Island is owned by a Sinclair.