tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post6884234068989223757..comments2024-03-19T10:31:34.937+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: Italian Catholic chapel built by POWs on remote OrkneyHelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-12779889616329527302017-08-30T11:30:18.077+10:002017-08-30T11:30:18.077+10:00Viola
The Italian soldiers didn't want to fig...Viola<br /><br />The Italian soldiers didn't want to fight and didn't hate the British or the French. Instead of being wounded, killed or captured in the North African campaign, they would much rather have been at home with their families and businesses. So I agree that Italian POWs were very grateful for the chapel (memories of home), Orkney girlfriends and for any families that befriended them.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-59550998460314975932017-08-30T10:50:20.550+10:002017-08-30T10:50:20.550+10:00That is a lovely story, Hels. It looks like such a...That is a lovely story, Hels. It looks like such a beautiful chapel and it's wonderful that the wartime ties are so strong.<br /><br />I met a former Italian POW in Rome in the 1980s. He stayed with a family in Australia and loved it! He often visited the family. I think that he would have had a better time here than in the cold and bleak but scenic Orkneys.Violahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08046603677301666579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-30583435327567105052017-08-16T10:36:32.148+10:002017-08-16T10:36:32.148+10:00CherryPie
strange, isn't it? I thought I was ...CherryPie<br /><br />strange, isn't it? I thought I was very knowledgeable about camps on the Isle of Man and on the Channel Islands, but would have been hard pressed to find the Orkneys on a map until a few years ago. Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-723900884176763632017-08-16T09:04:17.576+10:002017-08-16T09:04:17.576+10:00This is really fascinating. I had not heard of the...This is really fascinating. I had not heard of the history or the delightful chapel before :-)CherryPiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11788084724907992076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-82800388401595318282017-08-06T00:48:43.920+10:002017-08-06T00:48:43.920+10:00Student
Domenico Chiocchetti's daughter said ...Student<br /><br />Domenico Chiocchetti's daughter said that, before the war, her father always loved art. But because he was the youngest of eight impoverished siblings, a full time career in the arts was always going to be impossible. <br /><br />In Orkney, his first art project was a statue in the main square of the camp - St George slaying the dragon. He was soon delighted to be working on further art projects.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-27060385811733590852017-08-06T00:37:11.162+10:002017-08-06T00:37:11.162+10:00Parnassus
the only real building materials availa...Parnassus<br /><br />the only real building materials available to the workers were corrugated iron huts and the concrete left over from work on the barriers. Everything else was cobbled together from second-hand and adapted materials found around northern Scotland, mud, sweat and love for the Catholic church. Pretty amazing job! Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-84422724915629051002017-08-06T00:23:20.581+10:002017-08-06T00:23:20.581+10:00Andrew
so many of Orkney's POW camp facilitie...Andrew<br /><br />so many of Orkney's POW camp facilities were destroyed over the years, we need to be very grateful for the Chapel Preservation Committee's work and history-writing. I am not sure how many local Catholic citizens use the chapel, but I have seen thousands and thousands of tourists thoroughly enjoying the site.<br /><br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-90910160256542101562017-08-06T00:07:05.219+10:002017-08-06T00:07:05.219+10:00Joseph
The average high temperature for June is 1...Joseph<br /><br />The average high temperature for June is 14.0c on Orkney <br />The average low temp for Jan is 1.9c on Orkney and has brutal gales and constant rain. <br /><br />The average high temperature for June is 26.9c in Rome<br />The average low temp for Jan is 3.1c in Rome and moderate rain.<br /><br />The building of causeways to link the south isles to mainland Orkney and to seal off enemy entry into the naval port was better for Italians than fighting in North Africa. But being inside a warm, dry chapel was better still.<br /><br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-18052000052174593372017-08-05T23:37:28.392+10:002017-08-05T23:37:28.392+10:00Mike
It is fascinating that so many POWs came int...Mike<br /><br />It is fascinating that so many POWs came into the UK after the Axis defeats in North Africa in mid 1943. Some 260,000 POWs included more than half Germans and fewer Italian, but there was a difference - by October of the same year, the Italians had left the German Axis! <br /><br />By the end of the war, there were some 400,000 POWs. I imagine that those men who had been given proper work in agriculture and building were well fed and protected, so tens of thousands of prisoners voluntarily remained in the UK after their landsmen had been repatriated. The Italians who remained seemed to be warmly accepted; the Germans perhaps less so.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-38790507847883737562017-08-05T23:06:09.595+10:002017-08-05T23:06:09.595+10:00bazza
that is so true, and some POW camps seemed ...bazza<br /><br />that is so true, and some POW camps seemed to particularly fascinate historians. I spent a lot of time visiting/reading about the German POW camps in the _Channel Islands_ and the British POW camps on the _Isle of Man_. If it wasn't for the art and architecture of the Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm, I probably would have been less interested in the Orkney Islands.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-91349032614256543862017-08-05T15:47:43.967+10:002017-08-05T15:47:43.967+10:00Was Domenico Chiocchetti an artist in Italy before...Was Domenico Chiocchetti an artist in Italy before the war? The chapel art looks very professional.Student of Historynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-5459821691686863442017-08-05T13:56:17.630+10:002017-08-05T13:56:17.630+10:00Hello Hels, So often when we hear descriptions li...Hello Hels, So often when we hear descriptions like that (such as made from tin cans, car exhausts and concrete) we think of roadside attraction-type structures, but here we have something of true beauty and permanent value, inspired by devotion which fueled remarkable craftsmanship.<br />--JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-24696640809193263122017-08-05T13:15:46.776+10:002017-08-05T13:15:46.776+10:00What an amazing structure and so beautifully made....What an amazing structure and so beautifully made. Without knowing how it came to be, I would be scratching my head if I came across it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-88150340178227591742017-08-05T11:43:52.381+10:002017-08-05T11:43:52.381+10:00The Italian POWs must have been excited to leave t...The Italian POWs must have been excited to leave the war but distressed in the freezing weather of far north Scotland.Josephnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-83279598362783480212017-08-05T10:29:15.302+10:002017-08-05T10:29:15.302+10:00That's a place I have long wanted to visit! Yo...That's a place I have long wanted to visit! You're so lucky to have had the chance to go. There's a real interest in POW camps, from both world wars, in the UK at the moment. Maybe it's just me. I wouldn't want to give the impression that people are talking about the subject when they cross the road, but I think there's certainly interest. A surprising number of German and Italian PoWs remained in the UK after the war, working on farms, perhaps, and marrying locals. Mike@Bit About Britainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08741370413282813229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-42218412788244069722017-08-05T06:43:50.170+10:002017-08-05T06:43:50.170+10:00That's a heart-warming story with continuing b...That's a heart-warming story with continuing benefits. I have heard other similar tales of German POWs being incarcerated in two virtually 'open' camps near where we live. One was a farm where the prisoners were happy to work. The other was a place where the locals thought they would be safe from German bombs because of the camps - sadly not so!<br />It's hard to believe that the Italians were happy to be fighting against the Allies in the first place. Many Italians chose to remain in Scotland after the war, especially in Glasgow.<br /><b><a href="http://todiscoverice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> CLICK HERE for Bazza’s argle-bargular Blog ‘To Discover Ice’</a></b>bazzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794010156639774028noreply@blogger.com