Ukrainian POW Chapel
Step inside to see what lies hidden behind the outer walls of this relatively unassuming pre-war building.
Early on the morning of 27 May 1947, between 420 and 450 Ukrainian prisoners of war arrived at Glasgow docks from a POW camp near Rimini in Italy. Unlike German and Italian POWs who were repatriated, the Ukrainian POWs could not return to the Soviet Union for fear of reprisals by the Communist authorities.
After a short stay at Happendon Lodge, they were then taken by train to Lockerbie on the morning of 6 June 1947 where Ukrainians marched through Lockerbie to Hallmuir Camp. Of the 40 huts that were home to the Ukrainians, only seven now remain. The Ukrainian POW's quickly adjusted to life in the local community and the landowner at the time was Sir John Buchanan Jardine kindly donated one of the huts to the Ukrainians so that they could use it as a chapel. At first the chapel was very plain but with a lot of hard work and devotion, the simple timber and plaster board chapel was transformed and decorated to become the inspirational place it is today.
It is the first Ukrainian chapel of its kind in Scotland and is still in use to this day. Services are still held on the first Sunday of every second month. The Garden of Remembrance for the Lockerbie Air Disaster is situated 3 miles from the chapel.
Contact
Family
Pufkyi
Muirhill
Lockerbie
Dumfries & Galloway
DG11
Scotland
Tel: +44 (1576) 203069
Tel: +44 (7932) 438817
