General view from South.

Description General view from South.

Date 27/5/1996

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 642949

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 73194 CN

Scope and Content World War II Fighter Sector Headquarters, Inganess Road, Kirkwall, Mainland, Orkney Islands The hub of Orkney's intelligence gathering and wartime defences was the Fighter Sector Headquarters or Operations Block in Kirkwall which, in early 1944, was transferred to a purpose-built structure at the head of Inganess Road. Plotting and controlling aircraft movements, it was staffed mainly by Royal Air Force personnel but included facilities for all three services, including the Army's own gun operations room for the co-ordination of anti-aircraft defence throughout Orkney. Known locally as 'The Black Building' because of its black, wartime camouflage, long since stripped away, this large, windowless, brick-clad concrete structure was the single most important communications building in Orkney during the later stages of World War II and until its closure in March 1946. It was later used as a GPO telephone repeater station and then as a warehouse, hence the insertion of the wide double doors. Behind the upper part of the wall, demarcated by the lighter coloured paintwork and drain holes, is a roof parapet which was originally infilled with earth and gravel as a bomb-proof measure. At the heart of the Orkney archipelago, Scapa Flow was the main fleet anchorage for the Royal Navy during both World Wars. Its vital importance led to the creation of one of the most concentrated defence networks in Britain. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/642949

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap