Air-raid shelter, detail of roof vent.

Description Air-raid shelter, detail of roof vent.

Date 24/5/1996

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

Catalogue Number SC 645247

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 73139 CN

Scope and Content Emergency exit, air raid shelter, World War II airfield, Twatt, Mainland, Orkney Islands In World War II there were four main military airfields in Orkney, two of which were originally operated by the Royal Navy (Twatt and Hatston) and two by the Royal Air Force (Skeabrae and Grimsetter), Grimsetter, now Kirkwall Airport, being transferred to the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945. The most complete surviving wartime airfield remains are at the Royal Naval Air Station at Twatt which was commissioned as HMS Tern on 1 April 1941. At first a satellite of Hatston, Twatt became an independent command on 31 March 1942. This detail of one of the air-raid shelters at the former naval airfield at Twatt shows a small emergency exit-cum-ventilator which protrudes through the roof of the earth-covered mound. Cast in concrete with chamfered angles, such openings are normally associated with shelters which have only one main entrance. 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/645247

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap