T’was out in a secluded lonely area of Orkney Isles.
The Orkneys are quite desolate,stark,have few trees, lots of rock
and sheep
surrounded by water. We bumped along on a “hieland road” to our
destination.
At last, there it was ……..in the middle of now where.Once inside this chapel, it was as if we were transported across
time,
and space to a charming place.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-24770737The experience was breathtaking!
Italian P.O.W.’s had created out of miniscule things
that are oft taken for granted. ( like corn-beef cans made into
chandeliers).
During war time they had lost hate and created a place of peace.
They received humane treatment by their captors the allies.
70 years has gone by and here I am able to observe a historical
place which is
remembered and preserved by the Orcadian people.
Those days on the Orkney Isles, I learned about Scappa Flow .
The trip to Orkney greatly expanded my knowledge of WWII. I was
delighted when a well known Bottineau person asked me if I’d been to Scappa
Flow. He’d been in the area while in the Navy serving in the Atlantic during WWII. Ht also served
in the Pacific.
While in that chapel,
I thought about my friend and neighbor, former farm boy Carroll
Carlson. Carroll who
lived through the great depression of the 30’s, found the Bear Paw’s
in his youth, as a young man,
listened to a scratchy radio while in Tijuana, and with heavy
foreboding drove back to Montana to enlist,
he prepared for war in the California desert, lived in mud on the
east coast, crossed the Atlantic to Northern Africa,
he waited for orders in Great Britain, he crossed the English
channel experiencing a costly battle on the sands of Normandy,
rode in a tank through to the end of war.
Then, returned on a 12×7 freight train rolling west across Europe,
and USA.
And finally hitch hiked a ride home to the farm N. of Dunseith.
Carroll was one of the many stalwart peace loving American Veterans I
have known.
I hope many of you will share with youth, that next long
weekend in November,
isn’t just about the opening of deer season.
Like the Orcadians and Italian’s, remember and preserve.
A couple more YouTube and newspaper articles about the chapel.Studying the brick work, floor and ornate sculpting of the chapel,
it is amazing the work was all done in left over paint giving
wonderful illusion.
If you view you will may feel the ……desolation in the wind, far
from Italy. V/
http://vimeo.com/73406037
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12WUbgHDWgg
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/former-pow-returns-to-orkney-s-italian-chapel-1-3170594
