The Channel Islands At War (37 page)

One of the saddest of the camp stories concerns a father and son, Peter and Peter C. Painter, arrested in 1943. Betrayed by an informer for listening to a wireless, the Germans took a serious view of the matter because Mr Painter had not turned in a First World War souvenir pistol. The two of them were sent to the Chcrche Midi, and eventually ended at Natzweiler concentration camp in Silesia. Nothing more was heard of the Painters until after the war when Mrs Painter received an account of their end from a French prisoner. They had to work in the bitter winter of 1944-5 for Krupps and on a canal. Peter got pneumonia and died in his father's arms. Mr Painter struggled on, but the prisoners were moved west to prevent their liberation by the advancing Russians. On the third day travelling unfed in an open truck through freezing rain and snow, Mr Painter also died.

As far as is known only one Islander ended in Dachau. Marcel Rossi and his father, Jcrseymen, were interned at Kreuzburg, and transferred to Oppeln. His father last heard of him in Dachau. Among other Islanders imprisoned in German camps were the two young cscapcrs, Maurice Gould and Peter
Hassall. Gould died at Wittlich
. Herbert Gallichan spent his sentence for publishing the
Bulletin of British Patriots
at Wolfenbuttel and Peter Ozard was located at Neoufingcn Prison at Ulm and repatriated in June 1945. In France, Herbert's brother, George, served his shorter s
entence at Dijon in Fort D'Haute
ville. Clifford Querec was imprisoned there first before going on to Frankfurt and Naumburg. Cherche Midi in Paris contained 17 Islanders imprisoned in 1940. At Grande Caserne, St Denis, there were a number of British prisoners said to include eight Channel Islanders. Among those known to have been imprisoned there were A.L. Tardiff, a Guernsey policeman, and Mr P. Healy William, deported from Jersey in January 1943.

There are also a number of prisoners whose place of imprisonment is not given. Jack Soyer, sentenced for listening to the wireless, managed to escape from a French prison, joined the resistance, and was killed fighting for them. Mr Ogicr and his son were deported for making insulting remarks about the Germans. Mr Ogier died in a camp somewhere in 1943. Harry St Clair Dean was deported from Guernsey in 1944, and repatriated in May 1945. Edward Peter Muels sentenced to 15 months hard labour was removed from Jersey in May 1944.

Through the summer months of 1945 those who had survived came back, and gradually news filtered through. Frank Falla who had seen the deaths at Naumburg wrote bitterly about the aftermath of these events. As far as the Islands were concerned nothing happened. There was no memorial. There were no honours in December 1945. Above all the Island governments gave no compensation, or pensions, and these had to await the settlement between Britain and Germany arrived at in June 1964. The agreement excluded all POWs, internees, and those imprisoned in ordinary prisons in France. These people were told by the Foreign Office their claims would have to await a final peace treaty with Germany. The Island authorities appointed no officials to help anyone put in their claims which had to be handled individually. It is true some of the prisoners had been convicted of genuine offences, but others were clearly innocent, and none of those who died had been convicted of capital offences.

Airey Neave
noticed the British government like the Island governments would not contribute to memorials to the victims. It seems as if both governments simply wanted to forget the past. Forgotten by the authorities, Falla described how on the last Saturday in April each year he and a slowly dwindling band of camp inmates
- Legg, Duquemin, Dexter, Laine,
Domaille, and Bill Symes, would meet in a hotel to toast 'Absent Friends'.

Epilogue

The Liberation Days

After a meeting on 26 March 1944 when it was decided the Channel Islands would not form part of the D-Day operation, the formation and maintenance of a task force for liberating the Islands took a back seat in military considerations. Task Force 135 was seen as a pool from which troops could be removed for other tasks such as guard duty at Sandringham over Christmas, and early in 1945 the main infantry component of the force was sent to Germany. It was replaced by the 312th Brigade.

The plan o
f liberation was Operation Neste
gg, and was to be preceded by a reconnaissance called Operation Omelet in which ad
vance parties would see
if resistance was offered before the main force came within range of German defences. The operation had two main purposes. The first was to remove the German and Todt presence from the Islands. The second was to restore the life of the Islands to as near normal as possible, and to enquire if any action needed to be taken against collaborators, informers, and fratcrnizcrs.

When they landed, Task Force 135 found there were 26,909 German POWs to be processed and removed to camps in Britain. They brought with them the staff of two British POW camps, set up filtering centres, and then concentrated the Germans at Les Blancs Bois in Guernsey and St Peter's Barracks in Jersey. With the exception of those needed for other purposes the Germans began to leave on Sunday 13 May. Disarmament left the British force responsible for masses of military hardware including 50,000 tons of ammunition. 600 machine-guns, 400 mortars and flame-throwers, 100 anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank and field guns by the score, and more valuable materials like lorries and wireless equipment. Some was taken to the United Kingdom, but the rest was destroyed by being sunk at sea or melted down, sealed into tunnels, or sold for scrap. Even more difficult was the question of what to do with 1,623 fortifications of one kind or another. Some were retained where they had civilian uses like sea walls, electricity, and water supplies; others like bunkers and railways were destroyed where they blocked communications, and as much camouflage and wooden superstructure as possible was demolished. Scrap merchants moved in to destroy the larger guns. Here serious mistakes were made in deciding what to preserve and what to destroy even thou
gh, as early as September 1945,
the new lieutenant-governor of Guernsey was writing to the war office to suggest, that the Island authorities might be agreeable to having some of the interesting gun emplacements, control towers etc., left intact for publicity purposes and as historical relics to be shown to tourists.

By far the most important element in disarmament was the removal of 177,925 mines located fortunately in 305 marked mine-fields. Two field companies of Royal Engineers accompanied the task force; 259 for Jersey and 618 for Guernsey, Alderney and Sark, and they were assisted by 3,200 German POWs, at least seven of whom were killed.

Task Force 135 was commanded by Brigadier Alfred Snow of the Royal Artillery and he had under his command about six thousand men. It was accompanied by Civil Affairs Unit 20 commanded by Colonel H.R. Power whose unpleasant task was to investigate possible crimes or treachery during the occupation, and whose more congenial role was to preside over the operation to restore normal life. This ninety day task was successfully performed. The first requirement was to double the dietary level to 2,750 calories a day and 500 tons of food were brought ashore. Clothing rations equivalent to 15 months issue in Britain were made available and free gifts of chocolate, cigarettes and tobacco were made.

Islanders watched as the Germans left their billets for the POW encampments, and inevitably looting had begun. Some of it was entirely justified as Islanders reclaimed their furniture or cars; much of the rest was inevitable after years of suffering. It was particularly galling to see vast stores of German equipment laid out in special compounds, and there was much theft of motor vehicle parts. Later there were auctions of German goods organized by the ministry of supply at which all manner of items were picked up, not least barbed-wire for agricultural purposes. John Boucherc' described how he went into St Helier where: 'Small groups of ill-clad citizens, equipped with hessian shopping bags, wandered about opening cupboards, turning out drawers, gathering up folding chairs, and unscrewing lamps and other electrical fittings in the hotels.'

A postal unit restored postal and telephone services on 18 June. Special medical packs were brought over for the hospitals. The currency which by liberation consisted entirely of Reichsmarks was restored. On board the ships in strong boxes was a million pounds for the banks. The e
xchange rate was fixed at 2s 1½
d to the Reichsmark, and people had to exchange at this rate by 20 June. The stability of the Island government's finances was secured by giving Jersey £3,750,000 and Guernsey £3,250,000 to discharge debts incurred as a result of lack of tax revenue, and the costs of occupation, although Sark and Alderney received no such grants.

A third task awaiting the liberating forces was to deal with those in camps on the Islands. There were the Allied POWs among whom the Americans were the first to leave on 11 May after a liberation concert in aid of the Red Cross. The Todt Organization withdrew on 14 May, and the task of dealing with some 900 remaining displaced persons began. Spanish prisoners could not be returned to Franco's Spain, and came to Britain. The rest of the miscellany of nationalities left on 7 July for Granville with two exceptions. The French Africans were immensely popular in Jersey which they left on 15 June with other French citizens for Cherbourg.

The Russians received separate treatment. Their ROA troops together with Italian troops in the Wehrmacht were evacuated on 14 May, but the Todt POWs kitted out in British battledress with a special flash were gathered at Camp Ursula in Guernsey. They were visited by Major V. Gruzdiev, one of the NKVD officers allowed under the Yalta Agreement and other agreements made by the British government, to visit 'Russian' prisoners and arrange their return. There were 273 Russians, 19 Poles and one Estonian classified as 'Russian', and they were despatched to a camp at Ncwlands Corner, near Guildford whence they travelled to the Soviet Zone of Germany, via Dover and Ostend. On arrival at Lilneburg in the British sector, the Russians placed 140 repatriates under arrest. As part of the 32,295 Russians returned to Stalin directly from Britain, the fate of some at least of this party can well be imagined.

The week before liberation was a strange one. Through wireless broadcasts the Islanders knew Hitler's Germany was falling apart, but days passed, and nothing happened. On 4 May Mrs Tremayne said 'as it gets to the end the feeling of relief is so great', but three days later she was still waiting. 'We are all strung up and terribly excited and the glad hour comes nearer, we
are
certainly the last to be relieved, but, oh the joy, just to think it can really be happening.'

H
ü
ffmeier and Wulf seemed determined not to surrender. Work on military installations continued, and Sinel noticed that guards were placed as usual. Even though military discipline and health were breaking down,
Hüffmeier
told soldiers they must hold out because they would be brutally treated if they surrendered. Von Aufsess noticed a proclamation on 5 May stating the German authorities 'have the power' to enforce law and order and banning all demonstrations and meetings. The Island authorities agreed with this, and Coutanchc issued a statement on 6 May o
n Hü
ffmcier's orders saying, i appeal to you all to maintain your calm and dignity in the days through which we
are
now passing'.

The SS
Vega
arrived for the last time, and Coutanche said he was discussing with the Red Cross ways of improving supplies. Requisitions continued and Hathaway received demands for cattle and wood to be sent from Sark which she ignored.
Hüffmeier
's fanaticism went further than the Islanders knew. On Sunday 6 May he rejected a request for unconditional surrender, and planned to launch a second attack on Granville that day which had to be directly stopped by the
ersatzf
ü
hrer
Admiral Donitz. According to Ramsey, the last military execution on Jersey took place on Tuesday 8 May, the day when it was clear that liberation was really to take place.

It was in Julia Tremayne's diary 'A never to be forgotten day' when the press appeared uncensored, and wireless restrictions were lifted in time for loudspeakers to be put up to hear a broadcast by Churchill on VE Day. It was the day the blackout and curfew came to an end. Molly Finigan described how, 'Mum told us to get the flags out, ready to fly them across the street. With a radio getting an airing at long last, neighbours and the family got together in the street to listen to our dear Winston Churchill giving his famous speech.'

As Islanders gathered at their wirelesses the crowds cheered and waved their flags. Churchill said: 'Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight tonight, but in the interests of saving lives the "cease fire" began yesterday to be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today.' The cheering grew louder, a
nd in the Royal Square, St Helie
r, Coutanche spoke from the court house to tell them the Germans had informed him a 'commission' was on its way, and, to even greater cheering, that the Royal Navy was approaching the Islands. He reminded them the King was to speak at nine that evening. A school holiday was announced.