Jersey
under the Swastika!

Page 10 - Philip Frederick Le Sauteur

CHAPTER TWO (SECTION 3)

Offences against the curfew regulations were punished by a night in the cells, and a fine the following morning.

The German authorities made a serious attempt at encouraging dancing among the population, and these dances were entirely free of cost. Then, after a period all public dances were temporarily banned. Originally it seems to have been given to give the German troops an opportunity to meet the local people on a more friendly basis and in a more friendly atmosphere. In some instances specific invitations were given to business men, and these included free transport as well as drinks.

There were very little response, however, and the only ones who embraced the opportunity to fraternize with the German troops were the "brighter" section of the female population who, ever since the first day of the occupation, had been thrilled to bits and ready to throw themselves at the heads of the Germans. As a result, the dances had degenerated into furniture-smashing brawls. Hence the banning order.

About this time the rationing of gas on a quota basis was introduced. There was also a report about the escape of a party of people by means of a fishing boat, and this from Rozel.

The attitude of the German authorities was not uniformly based on commonsense, basic factors being ignored. In view of the fact that a German film had not arrived in time, West's cinema put on an English film which they had by them in stock. The German film arrived a day or so later, and the manager naturally declined to take off the English film, as this had been duly advertised for showing. The German attitude here was certainly out of tune with reality, for the cinema building was closed for a period.

During the long months when the attention of the Luftwaffe was wholly directed against London, very few aircraft were to be seen over Jersey, the main exceptions being the few elderly reconnaissance planes which were stationed on the Island itself. It was a matter of great surprise to note how varied were the German airforce crews. This applies equally to the German army as we saw it then. The troops seemed to be representative of every age between 15 and 65, many of them wearing thick spectacles, and exceedingly few indeed being of a type which, in England, would be classified by the Army Medical Booms as fit for general service — A 1. The exceptions were the Tank Corps, Paratroops, and the shock-troops of the Wermacht, who all appeared to be hand-picked and very tough in character.

During mid-September, there were considerable movements of troops, as well as a spate of air activity. There was also a big and heavily camouflaged convoy of ships at anchor in St. Ouen's Bay. This stretched its peak by the 16th of the month, and lorries loaded with fully equipped troops and cyclists with rifles, shovels and full kits seemed to be dashing about everywhere. We cannot be blamed if we had a feeling as if the moment for the invasion of England had arrived, for the troops, instead of their usual tuneful if rather mechanical singing, were indulging in shouting and cat-calling, as if they were indeed primed for a great adventure.

During the night, however, a heavy gale arose, and whether this caused the abandonment of the venture — or whether the troop movements were merely a bigger version of those which had been taking place regularly — no one knew.

Unconfirmed American radio reports some while later indicated that, at about this time, a considerable number of transports en route for the English coast had been sunk, and several Dutch barge skippers later averred that the attempt had actually been made, and that in the course of the venture many thousands of Germans had lost their lives.

Towards the close of September, the first Red Cross enquiries began to arrive.

And during this period, a number of people were undergoing punishment for such "breaches" as being offensive in their behaviours or attitude towards the German forces.

On the night of Monday, 23rd September, the first R.A.F. English leaflets were dropped. The German authorities immediately threatened to sentence offenders — and this meant anyone caught spreading such propaganda — to a term of 15 years' imprisonment. Nevertheless, in spite of this ultimatum, everyone in Jersey knew the contents of the leaflets before the end of twelve hours!

These leaflets contained the latest news items, as well as a photograph of their Majesties in front of the damaged part of Buckingham Palace — in addition, there was a message from the King to the Islands.

It seemed that the British Government believed — as was anticipated in the Islands — that listening to the B.B.C. news would be banned.

However, the leaflets were very welcome, if only as a reminder that the Islands were not forgotten, and as a proof of the presence of the R.A.F .

A constant stream of troops of all categories was being moved to and from the Islands, some of them only remaining for a day before being moved on to Guernsey for a day — and hence back to France. To us spectators it appeared that the Islands, the first (and only) British territory to be occupied, were being shown off to the German soldiery — a sort of exhibitionism! With the exception of these "day trippers", each unit brought its own equipment, so that there was an almost perpetual stream of heavy trucks, lorries, armoured cars, field kitchens, and guns to and from the piers, and barges were coming and going all of the time.

During the first six months of the occupation, the average number of the garrison seemed to be in the region of 1,500 to 2,000, though it was naturally very difficult to form a definite idea as to numbers.

An announcement that clocks would be put back an hour for the winter was cancelled, and the whole of this and the subsequent winter, were spent two hours in advance of G.M.T.

A successful escape from Guernsey brought the threat that a repetition would result in the whole of the male population being transferred to France. The town was also continually being decorated with posters in French, German and English, announcing the "fusillation" of various saboteurs.

The Germans apparently were alive to changing conditions in the way of shopping, and orders were issued regulating the conditions of employment in, and hours of opening of, the shops generally — the hours of opening were restricted to 4½ hours daily. Furthermore, all shoe and textile shops were required to close for a period of ten days, this in order that a stocktaking might be made, as well as a rationing system based on the recorded stocks might be prepared for the authorities.

On October 10th, a second batch of leaflets arrived "from the air'. This was the last dropped by the R.A.F., probably because it was learned from the Guernsey escapees that there was no ban on radio reception.

Quite often, however, copies of the French leaflets landed on the Island, and they were regarded as being a sign that Islanders were not forgotten.

Raids over the west country were again beginning from the airport in the Island, though they were not on such a big scale as hitherto. One of the raiders, on the night of October 12th, got into difficulties, most probably having been damaged, and baled out his bomb load about midway between Victoria College House, the Headquarters of the Commandant, and the Government House, where he was staying. All the bombs landed in the fields, and, beyond windows and other minor damage, they fell harmlessly. The plane eventually managed to reach the airport, but it crashed in landing, and was completely burn out.

Incidently, and like other similar happenings, this event was absolutely ignored by the German-controlled press.

The following German proclamation was issued on October 14th:

  By reason of acts committed in the Island of Guernsey against the safety of the German Army, the following provisional registration has been necessitated to serve as a warning to the whole of the inhabitants of the British Channel Islands:

All male British subjects between the ages of 18 and 35 inclusive, living in the Island, shall report immediately for official registration. Those concerned shall state whether they have or have not served in the British Army and also whether they are or are not on the Reserve of the British Army.

In relation to Jersey, the Bailiff is charged with the execution of this order, and with the issuing of instructions necessary for this purpose. Should further offences against the safety of the German Army occur in any one of the British Channel Islands, further and more severe measures must be expected.

The Field Commander,
Schumakker, Colonel.

This registration was a first regarded as a preliminary to the deportation of men of military age, but subsequent inaction showed that it was only intended as a threat.