THE BRITISH CHANNEL ISLANDS UNDER GERMAN OCCUPATION ‒ 00 Channel Prelims Fp Change 8/4/05 11:31 Am Page Ii
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00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page i THE BRITISH CHANNEL ISLANDS UNDER GERMAN OCCUPATION ‒ 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page ii Maurice Gould attempted to escape from Jersey with two teenage friends in a small boat in May . Aged only , he was caught and imprisoned in Jersey, then moved to Fresne prison near Paris before being transferred to SS Special Camp Hinzert. Brutally mistreated, Maurice Gould died in the arms of his co-escapee Peter Hassall in October . Initially buried in a German cemetery surrounded by SS graves, his remains were repatriated to Jersey through the efforts of the Royal British Legion in , were he was reinterred with full honours. 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page iii THE BRITISH CHANNEL ISLANDS UNDER GERMAN OCCUPATION ‒ Paul Sanders SOCIETE JERSIAISE JERSEY HERITAGE TRUST 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page iv First published by Jersey Heritage Trust Copyright © Paul Sanders ISBN --- The right of Paul Sanders to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act . All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purpose of review, no part of this publication may be recorded, reproduced or transmitted by any means, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher. Printed in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page v Mr F L M Corbet MEd FRSA Sir Peter Crill KBE Mr D G Filleul OBE Mr W M Ginns MBE Mr J Mière Mr R W Le Sueur Jurat A Vibert 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page vi The Jersey Heritage Trust and the Société Jersiaise are most grateful to the following for providing financial support for the project. Sir Philip Bailhache Mr Michael Bell Mr Frederick Cohen Brenda, Lady Cook Sir Peter Crill KBE Jurat John de Veulle Mr Bill Dolan Advocate Richard Falle Mr David Goar HSBC Private Bank, Jersey Jersey Evening Post Mr Philip and Jurat Sally Le Brocq Advocate David Le Cornu and Mr Barry Pickersgill Mr Richard Miles Mr Michael Munz Jones Mr Leslie Norman Mr Terry McBride Mr Clive Poole Advocate Anita Regal Sir James Knott Trust States of Jersey Liberation Committee Mr Mark Unwin 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page vii Contents Expert panel list v List of sponsors vi List of subscribers viii Foreword by Sir Philip Bailhache, Bailiff of Jersey ix Preface by Francis Corbet xi Acknowledgements xiii Introduction by Paul Sanders xv Chronology xix I Occupation Economics II Collaboration? What Collaboration? III Resistance, Repression and Persecution IV The Culture of Survival V The Visitors VI The Practice of Modern Slave Labour VII Epilogue: The Disposal of Occupation VIII Conclusion Sources Bibliography Index 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page viii The Jersey Heritage Trust and the Société Jersiaise are most grateful to the following for supporting the Subscribers’ Edition. Jurat Geoffrey Allo Advocate Jacques P Labesse Mr G Amy Deputy Carolyn Labey Mr Phil and Mrs Jacky Austin Advocate Christopher G P Lakeman Mr John Averty Mr John Francis Lane Sir Philip Bailhache Mr David Langlois Mr Michael Bell and Mrs Nola Bell Mr Philip Le Brocq Advocate F J Benest Jurat Sally Le Brocq Mr Michael Birt Advocate Timothy and Mrs Ruth Le Mr John Le Cras Bisson Cocq Mr Warwick J R Blench Mr Leslie and Jurat Mazel Le Ruez MBE Advocate Graham Boxall Advocate Guy and Mrs Gemma Le Sueur Mr Greg Branch Mr Kevin R Leech Jurat and Mrs Roy Bullen MBE Advocate Raoul Lemprière C I Traders Limited Leslie Norman & Co Channel House Trustees Limited Mr Terry McBride Mr Adrian M Chapman Meridian Asset Management (C.I.) Mr Frederick Cohen Limited Concrete Evidence Productions Moore Management Brenda, Lady Cook The Mongoose Settlement Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Crill Mr Bernard Aubin Morris Advocate Patrick F Cubitt Sowden Connétable Daniel J Murphy Mr Robert Cubitt Sowden Jurat Barbara Myles Jurat John de Veulle Miss C M Newcombe Mr Bill Dolan Mr Michael Nicolle Mr Leslie R Edwards Mr John C Norman OBE Mr and Mrs Michael P Ethelston The Ozouf Family Mr Robert J Gallichan Mr Robert J Parker Jurat and Mrs D H Georgelin Mr Barry Pickersgill Mr David Goar Mrs Susie Pinel Advocate Julian G Gollop Mr Clive Poole Mr Billy Goode Mr Richard Price Ms Sue Groves and Mr Jo Mitchell Jurat Arthur and Mrs Mollie Querée Advocate Simon J Habin Philip, Beryl and Yvette Querée Mr and Mrs Warren Hobbs Advocate Anita Regal HSBC Private Bank, Jersey Jurat and Mrs M A Rumfitt Mr Ian James Mr Leigh Sebba Jersey Evening Post Mr Alan Stevens Advocate and Mrs Richard Jeune Mr Philip W Syvret The Kelly Family Mr Darren Umney Mr Colin and Mrs Joanna Keogh Jurat J H Vint Mr John and Jurat Mrs L Jean King Mr and Mrs John Williams Senator Wendy Kinnard Mr Owen and Mrs Elizabeth Wiscombe Mr David Kirch Mr Norman and Mrs Heather Wood 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page ix Foreword O CCUPATION IS A suffocating and destructive experience. The suffocating intensity of the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands is illustrated by the fact that in Guernsey in there were nearly as many Germans as local people; even in Jersey there were more Germans per square mile than were to be found in Germany. The small size of the islands meant that there was no escape from the physical presence of the occupier. The destructive nature of the Occupation is exemplified by the undermining of the economy, the distortion of law, justice and morality, and of the suppression of freedom in all its forms. Small wonder therefore that, in the aftermath of the ecstatic joy of liberation, most islanders were inclined to bury their memories and to seek to put behind them the experiences of humiliation and deprivation which they had endured for five years. Some memoirs were published, and an important work by Dr Charles Cruickshank emerged to mark the th anniversary of the Liberation in . But, taken in the round, it was not until the th anniversary of the Liberation that the desire to record overcame the desire to forget. Since a small torrent of books and memoirs have been published and, even more impor- tantly, a huge amount of archive material has been released both in the Islands and in England, France and Germany. Some of that archive material has regrettably been abused so as to justify selective reporting and sensational analysis.The tide has however begun to turn. Some important monographs have been published, including a seminal work by this author entitled The Ultimate Sacrifice. In the foreword to that work, which I was privileged to write, I expressed the subliminal hope that it would lead to ‘more detailed and objective study of documentation now available than has yet seen the light of day.’ That hope has been fulfilled and this book is the latest attempt to record the facts and to analyse the complex nature of the occupation of the British Channel Islands between and . The author is well qualified to conduct this analysis. He is a polyglot historian who has been able to study all the relevant archive material in its original language. He is also an historian who has written other important studies on the Second World War including the Histoire du marché noir, an account of the black market in occupied France. Paul Sanders has 00 Channel prelims fp change 8/4/05 11:31 am Page x x written a book of impressive scope and scholarship. It is an historical account of aspects of the Occupation and an examination of the chemistry of relationships between the occupier and the occupied. Both are equally stimulating. This book is no whitewash. From an insular perspective it does not always make comfortable reading. No one could however reasonably describe the author’s rigorous and principled examination of the actions of the islands’ authorities, from the Bailiffs downwards, as being anything other than legiti- mate. Yet those actions are always placed in their proper context. What does ‘collaboration’ really mean against a background of overwhelmed and isolated small communities largely denuded of young men of fighting age? With a small number of dishonourable exceptions, collaboration in the Channel Islands was something quite different from collaboration in the rest of occupied Europe. What does ‘resistance’ mean in small territories where there is no strategic purpose in armed insurrection and where melting into a remote hinterland is impossible? In fact the many recorded instances of different forms of passive resistance and, more significantly, sheltering forced and slave workers who had escaped their masters, testify to the considerable courage of many local people. The author lays bare the moral dilemmas which pervaded the lives of islanders subjected to enemy rule. A number of tales of heroism emerge from these pages; so do instances of less admirable conduct. The vast majority of people however concentrated on the business of surviving until the day of liber- ation came. Channel Islanders have waited a long time for a fair and balanced account of this troubled period of their history. Paul Sanders has provided such an account. This book is an important addition to the historiography of the German occupation of the Channel Islands.