# The Guns Of Vementry



## bobblehead (Dec 23, 2016)

Vementry is an uninhabited island off the North West coast of the Shetland mainland. It took a 5 hour car journey and an overnight ferry to get to Shetland. Then some more driving. Then one of these - 







Then some walking. After about an hour, we could see these on the skyline - 






Then, after even more walking, we finally got there - and it was worth it - 






This is the site of a World War One gun battery. It was built to protect the approches to a naval anchorage at Busta Voe. The guns came from HMS Gibralter which was then used as the depot ship in the anchorage. The guns wernt reused in WW2 and have stood rusting in the elements for almost 100 years.





















Underground magazine






The remains of a shell trolley is still in the magazine






Observation post with guns to the rear


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## Wrench (Dec 23, 2016)

That is bloody chuffing brilliant, nice pics and cracking history.
Added to my to do list, you may get a mither in the distant future about this. 
Thanks for sharing.


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## bobblehead (Dec 23, 2016)

Glad you like - it was a brilliant day and worth the effort to get there


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## smiler (Dec 23, 2016)

I wasn't expecting that, hell of an effort to get there but more than repayed you I feel, I Loved it
Triple Gold Star and a minced pie, Many Thanks


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## krela (Dec 23, 2016)

I really enjoyed that, thanks!


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## caiman (Dec 23, 2016)

That's amazing. I don't think there's many of a similar era in-situ in the UK?

Lovely clear photos also.


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## Mikeymutt (Dec 23, 2016)

QI really like that.a lot of time as been put in to see these.most people would not bother with these.but it's such an important part of our history.


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## night crawler (Dec 23, 2016)

That was good, well worth the trouble visiting. Shame they could not keep them in better condition


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## Sam Haltin (Dec 23, 2016)

And all the guns were, to this day still pointing out to sea. I knew these guns were there but a bit of a hike to get there. But you did it and well done.


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## HughieD (Dec 23, 2016)

Great find. That's really history that is.


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## oldscrote (Dec 23, 2016)

Well impressed by this,very much worth the effort,thank you


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## Zorg2006 (Dec 24, 2016)

What a fantastic report and photos, well worth visit, great to see it's not been damaged and is untouched, just looked at island on google maps and looks like a few remains scattered about, be great to stay on island for a few nights to explore in summer though &#55357;&#56832;


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## Dirus_Strictus (Dec 24, 2016)

Very nice set of images. Sadly the site, like all of the gun installations in the islands have been well cleaned up or had numerous visits from the metal monkeys. My father was stationed in the Orkneys and Shetlands during WW2 in the RAOC and in charge of maintenance and repair of the guns protecting the anchorages and the site looks vastly different since my first visit in late '59. Then there was plain evidence of the WW2 AA battery that was located in and around the old emplacements. Apart from the fact that the guns were well outdated and had a very poor range, the main reason why the weapons were not used in WW2 was the fact that the ammunition had become unstable due to poor storage conditions in the magazines. The bagged propellant charges were falling apart and it was not considered cost effective to disrupt the supply of charges for the more modern weapons defending these anchorages. Whilst the defences of Scapa Flow were modernised as required, this anchorage's fixed land defences were not seen as that important, attack from the air or submarine being the major concerns if the anchorage became heavily used.

Go explore in mid summer and have '24' hours uninterrupted daylight to wander about in!


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## flyboys90 (Dec 24, 2016)

Well done for all the effort to get this report,and what a superb location.Thank you so much for this amazing report.


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