Local Defence
Force (LDV - later known as the Home
Guard). Members of the Local Defence Force were usually too old, too young for the regular forces, or worked in
reserved occupations. It's easy to regard them as a bit of a joke following the
successful TV series, Dad's Army, but that would be unfair. Many of the older
ones had experience of warfare in the First Word War just over 20 years earlier
and they would be defending "home" territory. With their UK numbers
reaching one & half million, it was a force to be reckoned with. In
Shetland they were formed into the 1st Zetland Battalion, Home Guard, which had more than 1,000 members
during the war. One of their tasks on Unst was to man lookout posts and to report
any landing of paratroops .
Coastguard. Three
Coastguard posts were also manned on Unst throughout the war, at Muness,
Hermaness and on the Keen of Hamar. They worked watches, often in appalling
weather and it's interesting to note they were armed. Six men were assigned to
each post and the main armament was rifles, though a Thompson Sub Machine Gun
was assigned to each of the posts at Hermaness and Muness
The Regular and/or the
Territorial Army. Over the course of the war a number of companies from
different Regiments were tasked with the defence of Skaw and the Admiralty
radar on Saxa Vord. I know that elements of the Gordon Highlanders , Cameron
Highlanders, Black Watch and the Highland Light Infantry were involved at different times.
The Royal Artillery
presence at Skaw varied throughout the operational life of the Station. In
1941, four Bofors Gun sites were surveyed but whether all were ever used at the
same time is another matter. The first 2 guns appear to have arrived in Jan 42
and I believe that they were deployed near the main Power House and just NW of
the Transmitter Block. Another gun probably arrived in Mar 42 and was
positioned near the Receiver Block. The Royal Artillery had a reputation for
being "self-contained",
organising their own food, laundry etc.The photo below, from the Imperial War Museum, shows a 40mm Bofors Gun and, below it, a photo of a Lewis Gun, also from the Imperial War Museum:
Army Billets and
Buildings. There seems to have been at least 6 billets and a number of other buildings assigned for
Army use. Three Army Billets lay just north of the road, which runs through the
camp and were on the main Domestic Site. These would probably have been
allocated to the Guard Force. Certainly for a significant part of the War
Shetland was considered to be at threat of invasion and radar sites were also
thought to be vulnerable to sneak "commando style " raids.
The other three billets (with associated ablutions) are
split between three of the sites surveyed for the Royal Artillery for their
Bofors Guns - I
presume that these were occupied by the gunners. Each of these 3 gun positions
appears to have been a "self-contained unit". However, Ron Simkins , an RAF radar mechanic
at Skaw later on in the war, remembers
the most easterly of these billets being occupied by the Highland Light
Infantry - perhaps the Royal Artillery
had left and the accommodation had been reassigned - there were many significant
deployments around D Day.
The constructions by each of the gun sites were all similar
and I have marked the positions of the
billets as A1, A2 & A3 on the following image:
Because they are so alike I will describe the area around A2
as that site seems reasonably well preserved. This is a short distance to the south-west
of the Main Power House, as can be seen
on the Flash Earth image below.
Recent photos, showing what remains of these structures,
follow:
The
final element of the artillery site - the ablutions, were described in the Dept
of Works plans as "latrines and drying room". Note how close to the
cliff edge it was built:
The
actual Bofors Gun hard standing for the site marked A3 on the Flash Earth image
a little earlier, was just north-east of the Receiver Block but the actual
accommodation site can be seen in this next picture, taken soon after the war
and kindly sent to me by the late Norrie Moir:
The RAF Regiment. In
Jan 42, King George VI signed a Royal Warrant which brought the RAF Regiment
into being. The primary aim of the new force was the defence of RAF
Installations against ground and air threats . It obviously took some time to train
sufficient personnel and the Skaw records I have seen are short of details but,
I know that some members of the Regiment were on the Station in 1943 & 44.
I don't as yet know how many of them there were but my late father-in-law, 1554227 LAC
Hughie McMeechan, was among their number at Skaw:
2740 Squadron, RAF Regiment was used in defence of Sumburgh
and 2751 Squadron was at Sullom Voe. I'm
not sure which Regiment provided the personnel on Unst, but it was possibly
2737 Sqn. This Sqn was deployed to Norway later (so was my father-in-law). Although the RAFRegiment used
a variety of anti-aircraft weapons during WWII, including 40mm Bofors Guns and
20mm Oerlikon Cannon, I think it more likely that they used .303 Lewis,
Vickers, Bren or Browning Machine Guns at Skaw, all types being recorded on the
Station. In Aug 42, the operational records note that work started "on the
4 gun pits for the motley stalk mountings". In fact, the firm of Motley
made a number of different mountings for machine guns, including the Bren gun
& the Vickers .303. In this case I believe the text refers to the Motley Stork
Mounting, which itself comes in a number of varieties. I have identified three
suitable "gun pits" within the Station boundaries and marked them with orange crosses on
the Flash Earth Image below, I suspect that they were manned by Regiment
Gunners or the Royal Artillery. There
may well have been a fourth position but bricks are a rarity on Unst and
someone may well have found a different use for them in the 70+ intervening
years!
The next 2 pictures show the exterior and interior of the
site gun emplacement closest to the Receiver Block, the other 2 sites are similar:
There is another type of "gun pit" on the station, also probably for .303 use.
These are flush with the ground and offered a certain degree of protection
should the site come under attack:
Building used by
Guards/Sentries. Some buildings were constructed for the use of sentries
and/or the guard force. The main CH buildings would have had controlled entry
in an attempt to prevent intruders or inquisitive civilian workmen gaining
access. However, there were 5 stand-alone buildings that I know of, intended
for use by guards. For simplicity ! will describe them starting from the
western end of the Station.
Just to the south of the main entrance to the camp was a
wooden Guard Hut. Nothing remains of the hut but its approximate position is
marked below:
To the SE of the Power House lies another " Guard
Hut", but this time it was a more like a "Guard Post," though
small and substantial. It is largely as it was over 70 years ago:
The next "guard hut" is close to the turn-off to
the Transmitter Block. I believe that this building may also have served as an armoury:
Alongside
the structure are the foundations of what possibly was a set of ablutions:
The interior of the building shows that it has been used as
a shelter by sheep for many years. The rear part of the building, without
windows, was possibly used as an Armoury:
The last two "Guard Huts" look alike but are slightly different sizes. Just to the east of the Standby Power House lies the ruin of the next one. In plan it measure about 16'3" x 18'3" and it had a high pitched roof:
At some stage during the war a German Bomb landed close by:
It was slightly larger than the one by the Standby Power
House, measuring 20'4" x 18'5". It also has a high pitched roof and a
raised concrete floor:
WWII ruin NNW of the Transmitter Block. There are the remains of a number of structures in the area to the north of the Transmitter Block. The largest one, circled in yellow on the Flash Earth Image below, was built during the lifetime of RAF Skaw (same makes of bricks employed - ETNA & EDINBURGH)
A couple of photos of
this follow:
This site does not appear on an Air Ministry Works
Department plan, dated 1945, nor is it labelled on a map produced by Ron Simkin
after the war. After a long time puzzling I remembered two rectangular
buildings of similar proportions at RAF Noss Hill, Shetlands other Chain Home
station. A Noss Hill plan names them as "Q Buildings", ie decoy
buildings and, therefore, I presume this one at RAF Skaw to have been built to fulfil the same
function.
Camouflage and
Barriers. As mentioned elsewhere, extensive use was made of camouflage
netting, particularly around the Transmitter Block, Receiver Block and Stand/by
Power House. An example from the SD0458 can be seen below (from a more wooded
part of the UK):
A photo from just after the war, showing the location of the
Stand By Power House, reveals the where the camouflage surrounding the block used to be :
Camouflage was not
just limited to buildings. Prominent, irregular patterns were often painted on
to the ground - anything which might help confuse attacking aircrew.
Barriers were also constructed at possible enemy
landing points; for example, a substantial barrier was established across the
beach at the Sands of Inner Skaw with the possible laying of mines on the seaward side. Barriers
were also put up across the peninsula of Lambaness from the north to south,
allowing defence in depth - they permitted defences to retreat into prepared
positions. The picture below is part of 2 photos, given to my late
mother-in-law by Leslie Smith. The dark zig-zag line from the bottom left to
the top right is one such barrier and what looks like a dotted line across the
bottom probably consists of anti tank obstacles. The 2 dark circular areas are
bomb craters to the SW of the Transmitter Block, caused when a JU88 attacked Skaw
in Mar 41
Decontamination. Many
forget that during WWII servicemen and
civilians alike were issued with gas masks and haversacks in which to carry
them - they were expected to have them close to hand at all times. Some of the
lessons of the 1914 - 18 "Great War" had been studied, including the
effects of chlorine & mustard gas,
nearly all military units of any size in WWII had decontamination chambers. RAF Skaw was no
exception. A sleeping shelter which stands near where the camp gates were at
the western end of the Station was converted into a Decontamination Chamber. It
seems that it has since been used by local sheep for many years:
Air Raid Shelters
(ARS). A variety or shelters were erected. Personnel who worked in
protected environments like the Transmitter and Receiver Blocks were reasonably
safe; whereas, those in wooden or nissen huts at the time of an attack were
particularly vulnerable. Three types of ARS are shown below; the first picture is of the type provided for
the civilian Palmer and Cruickshank families - the material for the roof has
obviously been "salvaged":
The next shelter illustrated is from near the area of the
smaller domestic site, about 200 yards SE of the Main Power House - some of the
roof remains in the vicinity:
The final ARS photo shows the largest of the three and it is
relatively intact. There is another, similar one, with both of them being on
the westerly Domestic Site. Like many buildings on the Station it has long been
used by sheep - good waterproof boots are recommended!
At the beginning, when the construction of RAF Skaw began,
the threat of attack by German forces was considered to be great. Barriers,
anti-tank traps and the use of mines helped deter sea-borne landings and
continual surveillance from the Coastguard, Naval vessels and Coastal Command
aircraft would, hopefully, provide early warning. In 1940 the use of Fallschirmjäger (Paratroops) was extremely effective in the
German invasions of France, the Netherlands and Norway. The use of glider-borne
infantry was also successfully demonstrated in the German capture of the
Belgian fort
of Eben
Emael in May 1940. It's no wonder that troops like the Home Guard
throughout the UK were trained to meet such threats. Many fields in Unst, which
were relatively flat, had rows of stakes erected to hinder landings and special
Home Guard Observation Posts were manned. Two of the Unst fields where stakes
were placed can be seen in the 2 images below - there must have been many more! er
Previous articles on RAF Skaw
Part 1 of RAF Skaw - Inception to Jan '41 is here:
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/a-history-of-raf-skaw-ames-no56-part-1.html
Part 2 of RAF Skaw - Advance CH - From Jan 41 to May 42s is here:
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/a-history-of-raf-skaw-ames-56-part-2.html
Part 3 of RAF Skaw - CH Ops is here:
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-history-of-raf-skaw-ames-56-part-3-ch.html
Part 1 of RAF Skaw - Inception to Jan '41 is here:
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/a-history-of-raf-skaw-ames-no56-part-1.html
Part 2 of RAF Skaw - Advance CH - From Jan 41 to May 42s is here:
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/a-history-of-raf-skaw-ames-56-part-2.html
Part 3 of RAF Skaw - CH Ops is here:
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-history-of-raf-skaw-ames-56-part-3-ch.html
Part 4 of RAF Skaw - Transmitters & Receivers is here: http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-history-of-raf-skaw-ames-no-56-part-4.html
Part 5 of RAF Skaw - Some of the Other Buildings at RAF Skaw
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-history-of-raf-skaw-ames-56-part-5.html
Scheduled Monument Status: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM13097
Scheduled Monument Status: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM13097
Acknowledgements:
Papers of Major Denis Rollo - Held by The Shetland
Museum and Archive
Mr Leslie Smith
Rita Carle
The Late Norrie Moir
The late Lexie McMeechan
The Late Ron Simkin
Unst Heritage Centre
Mike Dean
Bob Jenner
SD 0458 -
Photographic Record of Radars stations
(Ground) - Air Ministry Aug 43Imperial War Museum
CONTENS LIST
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