Jersey
under the Swastika!

Page 27 - Philip Frederick Le Sauteur

CHAPTER NINE (SECTION 1)

1941

1941, for Jersey, began with a "blaze". The house occupied by the Feldkommandant at St. Saviour's was completely burnt out on the night of January 5th. Curious to relate, the Fire Brigade was not called for until the fire had too good a hold to prevent a total loss. At the time of the outbreak the Commandant himself was absent in France, and his second-in-command, von Stein, took it upon himself to alter the time of the curfew to 10.0 p.m. for St. Helier and 9.0 p.m. for the country districts. This alteration did not last for any length of time, for, on his return a fortnight later, the Commandant ordered the curfew to be put back to 11.0 p.m.

A very interesting order was issued about this time — an order for the destruction of all pigeons!

It was intriguing to observe that none of the so-called "other ranks" of the Wermacht and Luftwaffe appeared to possess greatcoats, although those doing guard duty wore them. It was naturally inferred that a small stock was specially kept for that particular purpose. Neither did any of the troops possess the knitted gloves, scarves and other comforts considered indispensable in the British Army. Even in matters such as these "points of view" existed.

Local clubs bearing the appellation "Service" were ordered to close for a while, others being allowed to carry on providing they handed to the German Authorities a triplicate copy of their Rules, List of Members and a Declaration that the club would only be used for the purposes set out in the Rules.

Anti-Semitism has constituted a vexed problem throughout the centuries, and every now and then it asserts itself in deviously bad ways, sometimes in an ultra-catastrophic manner. It did so in World War II, Germany being the vile conspirator against all Jews and everything Jewish. Millions of otherwise innocent people perished under this terrible outburst.

The problem only affected the Channel Islands very mildly, probably only a matter of fifty being resident therein, Jersey accounting for ten.

It might be regarded as a foregone conclusion that this very small fraternity would not entirely escape from some form of oppression by their Nazi masters. Registration was the initial approach by the German Authorities, each member of the Jewish faith being required to record his name. If he possessed a business of any kind, his premises must bear the yellow and black insignia JEWISH UNDERTAKING.

Further encroachments on the liberty of these people followed, and such businesses had to be sold to Aryans. In the Island of Jersey three such sales were effected.

Coutanche, Jersey's esteemed Bailiff, came up against a difficulty when it was decreed by the Germans that every Jew should wear a yellow star on his back, to indicate his racial origin, but he manfully stuck to his guns, successfully resisting the latest foolish order. The very small number of this unfortunate race negatived any real purpose in this "outward and visible sign".

Whether Hitler's diabolical gas chambers destroyed any of the Islands' Jewish population is not known, although it is known that there were several deportations from the Islands.

Sundry loud bangs during January proved to be from mines which had broken adrift from their moorings, and, drifting ashore, were being exploded by the German forces. One of these mines was recovered by a young man, who took it from the beach in a handcart and started playing with it. Then, realizing that it might be a mine, he put it back on the cart and replaced it on the beach before reporting the find to the Authorities. Despite all the irresponsable handling which it received in the meantime, this particular mine behaved itself well, and did not explode!

For a time the Islands were a veritable rest camp for the soldiers, and very little training was done excepting for a period prior to the intended invasion of England. Again during January, however, intensive training foreshadowed further military operations. The troops engaged all seemed to be very young, and it was noteworthy that precious 1ittle time was wasted on the parade ground type of drill. Battle practice was unquestionably the order of the day.

It was during January that the German Authorities focused their attention on other phases of life in the Islands. One of their really pet "hates" was Freemasonry, and this was tackled with its total destruction as the objective. All of the Craft's regalia was confiscated. That which was of no intrinsic value was destroyed. All the various "secret" benefit societies were closed down.

Even the Salvation Army did not escape the venom of the occupying forces. This was "outlawed". Apparently the characteristic militancy of this Christian organization, with its uniformed members and staff, was too "military" a spectacle for the Germans. The only militancy and uniform respected by them seem to have been their own!

The month of January came to an end with the news that a St. Ouen's man had been shot and killed while attempting to evade capture in the military zone after hours.

A serious shortage of fuel oil for the electric Power plant resulted in an order banning the use of lights after 11.0 p.m., and of all fires, irons and cookers. The difficulty of securing fuel oil resulted in the laying of a pipe line from the Gasworks to the Power Station, with the intention of operating the generators by gas. However, the machinery necessary for the change was a long time in arriving, and it was many months before the system could have been put into operation, by which time there was a shortage of gas itself!

The Jesuit Training College was moved en bloc to France — reason believed to be because of food shortage.

A new order demanded that all used rubber tyres and tubes to be produced for purchases, no doubt to be used as scrap for war purposes.

In common with all the finest houses in the Island, lovely old St. Ouen's Manor was occupied by the German troops, and during the early days of March was partially destroyed by fire. As usual, the Fire Brigade was not called to the scene until several hours after the blaze had started, and one wing was completely destroyed.

On the morning of March 10th, soon after the first Commando raid in Norway, there were signs of a general alarm amongst the garrison. Double guards were placed on every place having a conceivable military value, and there was considerable activity everywhere. It was reported — though never, of course confirmed — that some unidentified ships had been sighted off Guernsey in the early hours of the morning — the garrison was certainly anticipating a spot of bother!

Orders issued during March included the relaxation of the curfew in the Military Zone to 9.0 p.m. instead of 8.0 p.m. the banning of public telephones, an permission to applaud at the cinema. As for the latter, this was reserved for applause to popular heroes and comedians!

A matter of some real interest to philatelists — of which there are many in all walks of life and in all parts of the globe — came into the picture about this time, Jersey issuing the first postage stamps, a red penny value. Both of these issues were of simple design, embodying the Jersey Coat of Arms, along with the words JERSEY POSTAGE.

Incidentally, Guernsey had already had to issue stamps of both denominations. Prior to this, the Island had been using English stamps halved diagonally.

The land mines which had been laid in various places within the Military Zones were all in areas clearly defined from the land side, but not from the sea direction. This difference, whilst it may have been done from the defence angle by Germans, presented difficulties with otherwise innocent people. A woman and two children were unfortunate when they walked into a mine-eld, for they accidentally exploded one of the mines resulting in serious injuries to all three of them.

The problem of "escape" was ever-present with the inhabitants, and all sorts of devices were resorted to with a view to getting away from the Germans. Many tried to escape, but not all by any means succeeded in their ventures. This might be expected, for whilst there may be abundant courage amongst those in difficult situations, there isn't always a like amount of either skill or right thinking. Sometimes the attempt to unravel oneself makes the holds more secure — not the reverse. Thus, many failed, and the resultant position was usually more irksome for the unfortunates.

Escape, always is fraught with danger — sometimes fatal danger, too. The risks entailed are uniformly great. One isn't always aware of what lies ahead, even if he thinks there is danger ahead.

A party of young Frenchmen, being gifted with a great deal more courage than skill, actually managed to get away from France, their prime objective being to join General de Gaulle. Theirs was one of the unfortunate types of escape, for they lost their way, landing in the Island of Guernsey, being under the impression that they had landed in the Isle of Wright. There was a serious ending to this courageous attempt, for on March l7th, one of the party, a young man of 21 years of age, was arraigned for espionage and sentenced to be shot at St. Ouen's Manor. The other members of the party were given sentences of imprisonment up to fifteen years. The story goes that the young Frenchman who was given the death sentence was taken to St. Ouen's in the same lorry as his coffin, and that he died singing the Marseillaise — and without the traditional bandage over his eyes. A very brave young man!