The Italian Chapel by Philip Paris

Author:Philip Paris
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781845024116
Publisher: Black & White Publishing
Published: 2011-10-07T04:00:00+00:00

19

Winter arrived at the end of February, with no feeling for the misery caused to men working in the quarry, trying to transport materials through snow-blocked roads, standing guard or lying in bed at night, separated from the howling wind by two pieces of corrugated iron. It was a bleak time. The news from Italy was of fierce fighting and heavy bombing by the Allies, resulting in the destruction of the sacred Monte Cassino monastery. Men fretted about loved ones more than ever.

New faces appeared, as small groups of Italians arrived on Lamb Holm. Occasionally, a man with a particular skill was sent to work in England, where his talents could be put to more effective use. At the beginning of the month, sixty men had been moved to a camp of the Royal Pioneer Corps near Stromness, where their labour was needed in the local dockyards. Camp 60 had taken on a slightly different feel. There were several empty beds and shorter queues for washing and at meal times.

One of the warmest places in the camp was the vestry, which had been created following the completion of a stud wall. The men had been eager to fit out the little room and, with help from Major Buckland, a desk, cupboard and chairs had been secured. However, the most exciting find was a small stove, which had been obtained by Gordon Nicol. If Padre Giacomo was alone while Domenico and the other men were working in the chapel, he would leave the door open into the chancel to let through some heat.

The vestry provided about the only place in the camp where two men could have a private conversation and it became a small sanctuary and confessional, where troubled men could sit and talk with the priest. It was the place where Padre Giacomo had meetings about the men’s welfare with Sergeant Major Fornasier and the camp doctor, the latter having moved his twice-weekly surgery to the vestry. At other times he would read or write letters home, just like the others.

Padre Giacomo had been called up in 1938 and had been in Gondar three years later when his father died. He had been captured not long afterwards and ever since the only contact with his family had been via very infrequent letters. He wrote to his mother back home in Missano, telling her about life in the camp and how the men were building a chapel.

On the evening that Domenico and Giuseppe were alone in the chancel, the stove was cold and they shivered under the naked lightbulbs, which Micheloni and De Vitto had hung from the ceiling.

‘Can you do it?’ Domenico asked Giuseppe.

‘Phew, that’s a rood screen and a half,’ said Giuseppe eventually, letting out his breath, which instantly misted in the air.

He had spent several minutes studying the various sheets of paper Domenico had handed him. The drawings had been produced in minute detail, with every different section enlarged so that each individual curve and loop could be followed clearly.

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