View from south east

Description View from south east

Catalogue Number SC 665162

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 17921

Scope and Content Command post, Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Rysa Lodge, Hoy, Orkney Islands In World War II the famous Scapa anti-aircraft 'box barrage' was made up of 25 Heavy Anti-Aircraft batteries, supported by numerous Light Anti-Aircraft posts and rocket sites, all manned by the Army. Heavy Anti-Aircraft artillery could fire 3.7- or 4.5-inch (98- and 113-mm) calibre shells to heights of over 30,000 feet (9,144m), while smaller, faster-firing Light Anti-Aircraft guns such as the 40mm-calibre Bofors had an effective ceiling of about 5,000 feet (1,524m). Barrage balloons, an RAF responsibility, were extensively used as a deterrent against low-level enemy air attacks, the steel tethering wire being capable of cutting into and bringing down an aircraft. This view shows one of the two open concrete-walled enclosures which formed part of the command post at this battery. One or more of the essential instruments associated with command post operations - telescope, height/range finder or predictor - would have been housed in this enclosure, though its precise purpose remains uncertain. The roofed structure in the middle distance is one of the battery gun pits which has been converted into a sheep shelter. 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/665162

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap