Book details

Domenico Chiocchetti was a quiet, kindly man, an Italian artist caught up in a war that would change his life forever. When he and his friends and fellow prisoners of war arrived on the tiny Orkney island of Lamb Holm in January 1942, they found a freezing, windswept wilderness and a seemingly impossible task Â- to build giant causeways in the sea to protect the British Navy. It was a life seemingly without hope, until the arrival of Padre Giacomo. When the Padre arrived he brought a new hope for the future and helped Domenico persuade the British to allow him to build a chapel. Little did they know the extent of Domenico's extraordinary vision. And for the men of Camp 60 it was a story of triumph over adversity as, far from home, this small group of soldiers created a remarkable legacy Â- a masterpiece in plasterboard and scrap metal Â- and a lasting reminder of the true strength of the human spirit.

For the last twenty-five years Philip Paris has worked in journalism and public relations.  His quest to tell the story behind the Italian Chapel began in 2005 when he went to Orkney on honeymoon. During more than four years of research he has tracked down ex-POWs from the World War Two camps on Orkney as well as descendants of the key artists involved in building the chapel and those involved in running Camp 60. He lives in the Scottish Highlands.