Jersey
under the Swastika!

Page 44 - Philip Frederick Le Sauteur

CHAPTER TWELVE (SECTION 5)

1944

Seven or eight ships came in from St. Malo on August 5th, bringing more troops and a few American paratroop prisoners, some of whom were wounded. In weather perfect except for a light haze, air activity over the Bank Holiday week-end was on an ever-increasing crescendo.

A naval engagement. between Jersey and St. Malo on the 6th was confirmed by the B.B.C., the only local signs being the sounds of very heavy gun-fire. ln addition, the sound of heavy bombing was heard from the south-ward. The day following, what must have been hundreds of planes passed over the haze. There was heavy flak during the forenoon when a few planes approached the harbour area, and the passage of three more over the Island was followed by an explosion of such intensity as to suggest a bomb on the Island. Most probably it was a sort of super-bomb which bad been dropped on some part of France.

In the early evening of the same day eight more planes passed in two wing-tip to wing-tip formations, and a little later two heavy bombers circled St. Aubin's Bay before going off south. Throughout the evening and night, and again the following morning, terrific bombing on France shook the Island, being partly explained by the B.B.C. report of the 1,000 heavy bombers in operations south of Caen.

Another radio item of local interest was the service conducted by Mr. J. H. Grummit, later of Victoria College, in which the Islands were prayed for during their last "few" days of trial.

 On August 8th, the considerable air traffic, with intermittent bombing, continued. One big machine — or a close formation — came within range of the batteries during the evening, some fifty rounds being sent up, and the following morning there was another naval engagement so close in that the coast batteries at St. Brelade's joined in, as a result of which some damage was done to property in the neighbourhood. In this action, it was reported that two ships were sunk and others were damaged, whilst a British E-Boat was sunk.

A hospital ship brought several hundred wounded from St. Malo, whilst a number of men and a quantity of materials were brought from Alderney and Guernsey. This was said to have been due to the more difficult food situation in the other Islands.

On August 10th a blazing ship was seen to be approaching the Island, but she sank before she reached the harbour. That same night, and for severa1 following evenings, big fires at St. Malo and Dinard, forty miles distance, could be seen, the flames reflecting through a pall of smoke which must have risen to a very considerable height.

The order under which cinema shows were banned was now completely relaxed, and all of the three cinemas operated as usual. At the same time the telephones were once again in general use between the hours of 8.0 a,m. and 8.0 p.m.

There was a "demonstration" in town on the morning of the 12th of August, when a rumour started that two American prisoners had been taken under escort to a Germanite barber and, of course, a large crowd promptly gathered to have a look at the Yanks. The news spread like wildfire, and at one time it seemed as if his windows would be pushed in. The local police were powerless in their attempts to disperse the crowds, until the Gendarmerie came along and took Identity Cards, as a result of which many fines were imposed. The whole incident was, of course, a hoax, and on a level with a previous rumour of several Americans in a dinghy at Grouville, and who had shouted encouraging messages to the people.

One of the wounded prisoners died, and was buried in the War Cemetery, together with two American sailors whose bodies had been washed ashore.

Acclaimed by the B.B.C. as the opening of the direct  assault on the Channel Islands, the noise of Alderney's two and a half hours' bombardment by H.M.S. RODNEY came through very clearly.

The German troops were having their difficulties with food no less than the general population, and for several weeks their meat ration bad been horseflesh, and they had already killed off most of their heavier animals. They now began to commandeer civilian horses, loading out their own younger and lighter animals to those whose older beasts were taken for slaughter.

Other cuts in the German ration were — no butter (only lard) and 3½ lbs. of bread weekly. One result of this shortage was a furtber step-up in black market prices, especially that of butter, many farmers taking full advantage of the German's willingness to part with his dud Marks for anything in the food line, much to the detriment of tbe civilian population. There were many who could not — or would not — see that by belping the Germans to keep well fed and comparatively contented, they were appreciably lengthening the period of the occupation.

The coastal batteries were again in action on the night of August 13th against unknown targets, and the rumble of gun-fire and air bombardment was almost continuous. There was a daylight naval action off the coast on the 19th, with the Navy harassing a convoy coming from Guernsey or Alderney all the way from Grosnez (and prior to that) until it got into St. Aubin's Bay, and close enough inshore for the coast batteries to take a hand. No definite account of the results was obtainable, but of the escorting minesweepers came into harbour fastened abreast of each other and towed by a tug, their antics suggesting that the steering of one was deranged, whilst increasing smoke as they approached the pier clearly suggested that one of them was on fire. During this action one of the shore guns was exploded by a premature use, causing casualties to the crew and some damage to the neighbouring houses.

The September issue of fuel, following no ration at all during that summer, was one cwt. wood and half cwt. coal-dust-cum-tar — the latter being the last coal to be issued. This did not help tbe position very much. An indication of the urgency of the fuel situation, and of tbe devaluation of money in relation to essential commodities, is given in  the price paid for the timber from demolished buildings — £l8 per ton being given for half-rotten wood, and by the time it had reached the consumer in the form of kindling wood, this price was at least trebled.

The electric current was now being supplied from the steam plant at St. Peter's Valley, and the numerous restrictions were designed to keep the consumption within the modest output of the station. The original Queen's Road power station had only enough oil for three weeks, and this was being kept in reserve against a breakdown of the other plant. In addition to the many restrictions on its use, the current was regularly cut off for the varying periods to avoid any overloading, and quite frequently because of minor breakdowns. The gas supply finally ceased on September 4th.

During the first three weeks of September, the R.A.F. regularly dropped news leaflets printed in the German language, as well as other propaganda material. No doubt, in order to combat this, and to bolster morale, several meetings were held at the Forum, when the troops were addressed by the Naval Commander from St. Malo, as well as other speakers.

Many civilians were sentenced to short terms of imprisonment for being in possession of the leaflets dropped by the R.A.F., they being ardently sought as souvenirs. It was curious to note that the planes which dropped the news sheets were never fired on by the garrison.

The cessation of this leaflet "service" coincided with a runour to the effect that an Allied officer had visited Guernsey under a flag of truce, and that General Schmettow had declined to see him. The result of this refusal is probaby contained in the radio announcement of October 4th which quoted Mr. Eden (now Sir Anthony Eden), replying to a question in Parliament, as saying — "The garrisons in Jersey and Guernsey have been given the chance to surrender, but have refused. There is nothing to show that they are not treating civilians properly".

A single big plane was greeted with heavy flak on the evening of September 5th, but a group of some fifty later on, and a similar number the following morning, were allowed to pass unmolested. The air activity during this period, most probably planes on their way to and from Brest, was considerable, but there was very little flak from the German guns.

The idea of "escape" was still uppermost in some of the Islanders' minds, and an atttempt, the first of a series, was made on September 9th, this time from Le Hocq. Three young men put out to sea in a beach boat. They reached a point near the Ecrehos before the tide swept them westwards, and they were picked up and brought ashore under military arrest. The next attempt was made on the 16th, when a young girl and a Dutch barge skipper got away from Havre des Pas — also on a beach float — after two days afloat they, too, were discovered and brought back. The third attempt was made on the night of the 19th, again from Le Hocq. Three of the men lost their float, and managed to get ashore with a struggle, only to be arrested. It was believed, however, that there were other floats which managed to get away that night, although, of course, their safe arrival in France was a matter for conjecture only.

The German official attitude towards these attempted escapes was a notice in the press on the 20th September, which read as follows:

Latterly inhabitants of the Isle of Jersey have endeavoured on several occasions to leave the Island and escape to the mainland. Their attempts have, however, failed, and they had to be rescued as shipwrecks by the German Forces.

Attention is again drawn to the fact that desertion to the enemies of the German Forces is forbidden and will be severely punished as espionage. Furthermore, it is announced that in future these deserters can no longer count on being rescued as shipwrecks by the German Forces.

This tirade had no effect, notwithstanding, and it was reported that a group of about twenty Kriegsmarine decamped in a patrol boat, whilst two batches of civilians, one of five and the other of six men succeeded in getting clear of the Island on the nights of the 28th and 29th.

There was a little "panic" on September 10th, when the Germans made a house-to-house search at St. John's, supposed to be for paratroops suspected of having been dropped during the night.

The body of another American airmen was washed ashore at St. Ouen's and buried on the 30th.

Clocks reverted to ordinary summer time October 2nd.

A party of several people escaped from Rozel, an apparently impossible locality, on the night of October 8th, whilst another party got clear from Le Bourg the following night. An attempt on the 10th, however, met with disaster. Apparently the outboard motor of the boat broke down — or failed to start — after they had succeeded in getting clear of the shore, and the four men in her paddled into Anneport. The remainder of this tale of pluck and misfortune is told in the following notice in the press:

"Between five and six o'clock on the morning of October 11th the Commander of a patrol in the eastern part of the Island noticed a dark moving object on the beach about 250 yards from the coast. In the flare of a very light which was sent up it was possible to make out four or five people who were busy with a boat, and who took cover from the flare of the light. As no answer was given to the challenge and the persons tried to escape, they were fired at. A civilian was killed and the other three captured and arrested. They proved to be local young men who were trying to escape from the Island.

"Attention is again drawn to the notice by the Fortress Commandant of September 20th, 1944. giving warning against leaving the Island. Anyone aiding an escape, such as supplying a boat or allowing a boat to be taken by a lack of precaution is also liable to punishment. Anyone gong on the beaches round the coast during the darkness of night is playing with his life. He risks being fired  upon without warning.