Sumburgh Head

Lovely afternoon down at the south end of Shetland, picture taken from the top of the Fog Horn tower.

The finishing touches continue to be added to lighthouse and visitor centre - since my last visit (on Friday) more information boards have appeared including one about the East Radar Hut.

The hut has been renovated to show how it would have looked on 8th April 1940, when the radar installation played a key role in what might have been a similar attack to the one on Pearl Harbour.

The relatively new radar installation at Sumburgh spotted a huge fleet of Luftwaffe aircraft who were intending to attack the British fleet at anchor at Scapa Flow in Orkney. The 25 minutes warning that Sumburgh was able to give the anti-aircraft batteries on Orkney ensured that the attack was repulsed. The sound of the anti-craft guns was, apparently, so loud that it could be heard in Lerwick (25 miles from Sumburgh, and 125 from Scapa Flow).

And in other news, later on in the afternoon at Sumburgh Head, saw my first puffin of the season. :-)

1351/3393