Holiday Greetings from Shetland, 1942

It depicts a road roller being driven underwater by a diver. A tug, the Vic 6, tows a tender, the Draught Spray, where two men operate a pump to provide air to the diver. All of the men in the cartoon are in military uniform except the tug captain and the diver. The Ward of Bressay can be seen in the far distance. At the bottom of the cartoon is the caption, “The Problem of How to Transport the Road Roller from Lerwick to Bressay is Solved”.

Our records for this artwork indicate it was commenting on a real event, about a road roller being transported by boat which went overboard and into Bressay Sound. Did this accident really occur?

Following the April 1940 invasion of Norway, British troops were sent to Shetland to form a garrison. Camps were established in Lerwick, Sumburgh and Graven to house initial troops. By 1942 the military presence had expanded considerably. The Sumburgh and Scatsta runways were under development for full RAF operations and anti-aircraft batteries, radar stations, and coastal batteries were being built throughout the islands.

The excessive troop movement and military construction took a toll on Shetland’s roads. The County Road Dept. monitored traffic for seven days in December 1940, showing an increase between 200 and 900 percent over normal summer traffic. The Ministry of War Transport offered grants for improving county roads damaged by traffic used for building military infrastructure and the Council took advantage of this opportunity. The 1941-42 Annual report of the County Road Surveyor states that £22,300 would be spent on maintenance, and that “all works carrying on despite difficulties”. The grants from the military paid for 93 percent of the works, the Council paying the remaining 7 percent. The work allowed under the grants were for strengthening and surfacing roads, and runways at aerodromes, bridge building and demolition.

It may be safe to say that Shetland’s roads in 1940 were considerably unprepared for the increase in wear caused by military heavy goods vehicles. Most roads were single track and unpaved. A few years before the war the main roads still had grinds in place. In 1938 a proposal was approved by Zetland County Council to remove gates and replace with modern grids, at an estimated cost of £12,000. By 1941 this work was still not completed and although some crofters thought livestock might injure themselves trying to cross grids, they also complained that the military kept leaving road gates open. The photographer Jack Peterson noted that the grinds were “a source of constant annoyance to travellers”, but were not “seen in that light by small boys and girls, who found them a source of holiday pocket-money”.

In addition to funding, the County Roads Dept. had to ensure enough road workers were available to carry out improvements. Many men had been or would be called up. It was decided to form a Road Construction Company of the Home Guard. As Home Guard service was now compulsory, they would include current County roadmen until they were enlisted, and other civilians now in the Home Guard. The men in uniform in the cartoon may be from this newly formed Home Guard Company.

The artist, R. F. Buckley was a Lance Sargeant with the Royal Engineers and was likely involved in the development of the military installations. We do not know very much about him, except that he exhibited numerous artworks while stationed in Shetland. At an arts and crafts exhibition in June 1942, billed as a Magnificent Display of Soldiers’ Handicrafts, he shared a stall with another member of the Royal Engineer’s drawing office, showing his “striking entries” that included water-colours of local landscapes. That Christmas he sold Christmas cards with his drawings of Shetland views at Messrs Stove & Smith. The following May he displayed paintings and an architectural cartoon at Shetland’s ‘Wings for Victory’ Week.

Did a road roller really fall overboard into Bressay Sound? I could find no mention of it in the Shetland Times for 1941,1942 or 1943. But there was effort put in to improving roads in Bressay at this time for the construction of two Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) batteries built in north Bressay. The site at the Hill of Cruester had four concrete 3.7-inch gun emplacements, a command post, huts and light anti-aircraft positions. A second, similar battery was built on the summit of the Hill of Setter, to the east of Cruester. In 1942 it was supplied with two pre-war 3-inch guns. Both emplacements formed part of the defence of Lerwick. Their installation and continued manning would have required regular road traffic, for which Bressay may have been ill-prepared.

The County Roads Dept. selected sections of unclassified roads throughout Shetland in early 1942 for improvement. While Lerwick was estimated to need £300 and Tingwall £400, the cost for Bressay was expected to be £600. The money was to be spent for upgrading including “tar patching and grouting”. A steam-driven road roller like the one drawn by L. Sargeant Buckley was registered by Zetland County Council Road Surveyor John Sutherland in April 1925. It was finally broken up in the 1950s at Girlsta and certainly was put into service during the war. It was made by Aveling & Porter and weighed 8 (long) ton, 6 cwt. Transporting such a road roller across Bressay Sound would have been a challenging undertaking.

We would be grateful if anyone has further information about this possible accident to get in touch. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy safe journeys this holiday season.