John Cload was in his late teens when the 2nd world war began and here, in this interview from the archives, John shares his memories of the impact of the war on the activities of the ships and boats that came to Scapa Flow and the pollution that happened as a result of ships being sunk there

Voices from Scapa Flow is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.

It is delivered in partnership with The Space and Museums and Heritage Highland.

Voices from Scapa Flow was produced by Adventurous Audio

Archive licenced by Historic Environment Scotland © Crown Copyright: HES

Find out more about Scapa Flow Museum and our collections

Pat Long shares a treasure trove of stories from World War II including the weekly “4 penny bash” in Stromness to treat the local troops to a wealth of home baking.

Voices from Scapa Flow is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.

It is delivered in partnership with The Space and Museums and Heritage Highland.

Voices from Scapa Flow was produced by Adventurous Audio

Voices of Scapa Flow © 2026 by Scapa Flow Museum is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Find out more about Scapa Flow Museum and our collections

Orcadian John Muir, now in his 90s, tells the story of the world-famous Italian Chapel on Orkney. The chapel was decorated by a prisoner of war from Moena in Trentino called Domenico Chiocchetti and John talks of his life-long friendship with the Chiocchetti family which lasts to this day.

Voices from Scapa Flow is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.

It is delivered in partnership with The Space and Museums and Heritage Highland.

Voices from Scapa Flow was produced by Adventurous Audio

Voices of Scapa Flow © 2026 by Scapa Flow Museum is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Find out more about Scapa Flow Museum and our collections

Tina Smith and Shona Linklater share the heartwarming story of their parents’ wartime wedding in Orkney, taking turns to read their mother’s words.

Voices from Scapa Flow is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.

It is delivered in partnership with The Space and Museums and Heritage Highland.

Voices from Scapa Flow was produced by Adventurous Audio

Voices of Scapa Flow © 2026 by Scapa Flow Museum is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Find out more about Scapa Flow Museum and our collections

Voices From Scapa Flow is a brand new collection of personal recollections from Scapa Flow Museum sharing stories of life in and around one of the world’s greatest natural harbours during the World Wars.

From heartwarming love stories, to extraordinary accounts of a childhood lived under the threat of attack. People who’s lives were shaped forever by their wartime experiences and friendships.

Personal accounts exploring what it was really like for people living on the Orkney Islands during the world wars.

Voices from Scapa Flow is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.

It is delivered in partnership with The Space and Museums and Heritage Highland.

Voices from Scapa Flow was produced by Adventurous Audio

Find out more about Scapa Flow Museum and our collections

Voices of Scapa Flow © 2026 by Scapa Flow Museum is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/