- 6 days ago
Walks across Guernsey and Jersey to uncover what life was like during World War II, when these Crown dependencies were the only British soil to fall under Nazi occupation....
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00:03My walks take me to every corner of Britain, as I seek out history embedded in the landscape.
00:10In this country, you're never very far from mysterious ruins, or the shadow of unwelcome visitors.
00:19So from romantic moors, to majestic peaks, I'm really enjoying some serious walking.
00:27Each of my walks leads me through a different time and a stunning location to find the stories you can
00:34only really appreciate on foot.
00:37This time, I'm walking through two of the glorious Channel Islands and one of the darkest chapters in British history.
00:45Jersey and Guernsey have got dozens of beautiful beaches, and almost all of them have got something like that on
00:51them.
00:51An old bunker, or the remains of a machine gun post left over from the Second World War.
00:57But these weren't built by the British, they were put up by the Germans, who invaded these islands in 1940.
01:1370 years ago, the tiny Channel Islands faced a grave threat to their traditional tranquillity.
01:22Jersey and Guernsey are proudly British, but between 1940 and 1945, they were occupied by Nazi Germany.
01:32Today, in Guernsey's capital, St Peterport, it's hard to imagine German soldiers marching through British streets.
01:41But that's exactly what happened.
01:43And I want to find out how this tiny corner of the British Isles survived five long years of Nazi
01:50rule.
01:56I've planned a four-day walk exploring Jersey and Guernsey's unique wartime heritage.
02:04I'm starting inland at Guernsey Airport, where the first German troops landed on British soil.
02:11From there, it's a bracing 10-mile walk along the stunning south coast, finishing in St Peterport, where a ferry
02:19will take me the 30 miles to Jersey.
02:21On day two, I'm heading west to discover how the Germans turned Jersey's exposed coastline into an impregnable fortress.
02:31Inland, it's cross-country to visit war tunnels with a grim secret, before returning to the north coast.
02:41And on my final day, I'll follow the road to victory, finishing in Jersey's capital, St Helier, and the liberation
02:48of 1945.
02:55In May 1940, the Nazi war machine swept across Western Europe, pushing the British army back to the beaches of
03:03Dunkirk.
03:04From Belgium to the Channel Islands, British troops scrambled to escape to England.
03:09The Germans were now just 14 miles away from British soil.
03:16Today's walk in Guernsey is taking me through that chaotic summer.
03:21But before I start, I've got time for a quick look at St Peterport.
03:27In 1940, Guernsey's tiny capital was a town gripped by fear, as residents desperate to leave rubbed shoulders with refugees
03:36arriving from France.
03:38You can imagine, can't you, local people watching the refugees get out of their boats and stagger up onto the
03:46docks,
03:46clutching the few possessions that they'd managed to save, and wondering if their homes would be the next in line.
03:56German High Command was planning to invade, but the Nazis didn't realise that all British troops had retreated to England.
04:04So the Germans carried out an armed reconnaissance.
04:09On 28th June 1940, three Luftwaffe bombers flew low over the harbour and attacked.
04:18These docks were lined with trucks all the way down to the seafront,
04:22which, from a few thousand feet up, could have looked like troop carriers.
04:25But they weren't.
04:26In fact, they were stuffed full of these, Guernsey tomatoes,
04:32ready and waiting to be loaded and exported to the UK.
04:38The raid killed dozens of innocent people and heralded five years of German rule.
04:49The actual invasion started here, two days later.
04:53I've caught a lift to my walk start in a Morris 10, one of the few cars that survives from
04:59the war.
05:0170 years ago, this airport drop-off was a grassy runway,
05:04and it's where I'm meeting local historian Chris Oliver.
05:09On 30th June 1940, a platoon of German troops landed here,
05:15and to their relief, they met no opposition.
05:18The tiny British garrison had left,
05:21realising that defending the island would lead to a pointless bloodbath.
05:29Guernsey's certainly small, just 24 square miles.
05:33Many of its quieter roads serve as footpaths, too, where walkers have priority.
05:38Traffic is limited to just 15 miles an hour.
05:42Chris and I are heading out into the surrounding villages,
05:45where the invading Germans wanted to make a good impression.
05:49What did the Germans think of the islanders?
05:51They wanted it to be a model occupation.
05:53There's no doubt about that.
05:54There were so many similarities in Berlin's mind
05:58between the English and the Germans.
06:00The records actually show that the German high command were thinking,
06:05hang on a second, this is part of Britain.
06:07We actually want to think in terms of the British people
06:11being akin to the Germanic race.
06:14In actual fact, some soldiers who got here
06:16thought they were landing in the Isle of Wight,
06:17and they were really trying to be as respectful as possible,
06:20and they were having lots of people who they were bringing in
06:22amongst the armed forces who spoke English to get on with the population.
06:25The German troops, for the first time,
06:28stepped foot on English soil.
06:32Those in the British army of occupation fled or were taken prisoner.
06:36The Third Reich's propaganda machine was delighted.
06:40This German newsreel painted a picture of British life,
06:44supposedly carrying on as normal under German rule.
06:47The life of the island population proceeds orderly
06:50under the protection of German weapons.
06:53The local papers, though, revealed a few telling details.
06:57The clocks went forward to Berlin time,
07:00and the pound was pegged to the Reichmark.
07:03When they arrived, the following day,
07:05in the newspaper, front page, orders of the commandant,
07:07and it said,
07:08the curfew, 11 o'clock till 6 o'clock.
07:10Gradually, islanders were not allowed to go out fishing,
07:13but they were allowed to do other things.
07:15They were allowed to sit in church
07:17and pray and offer prayers up and hymns up
07:19for the royal family.
07:21And why did they do that?
07:22Well, arguably, it's because, really,
07:24the Germans were on a high in 1940,
07:27thinking,
07:28we are Gangan and England.
07:29We're going to England,
07:30and we're going to win the war.
07:35The surrender of the Channel Islands
07:37was a humiliating blow to British prestige,
07:40and Churchill insisted that the empire must strike back.
07:45The islands were once part of Normandy,
07:47and there's still a strong French feel about them.
07:51But the islanders are among the most loyal
07:54and long-standing subjects of the crown.
07:56They've been fighting alongside the King of England
07:58since the days of William the Conqueror.
08:05This is Petit-Beau Bay,
08:07which I think you'll agree is pretty flipping lovely.
08:12And behind me, this beach defence tower
08:14was built in order to repel invaders from the continent,
08:18although at the time that was put up,
08:20it wasn't the Germans they were trying to chase off,
08:22it was the French.
08:27In July 1940,
08:29these popular little tourist coves
08:31became the island's secret back door.
08:35And I'm heading eight miles along the coast
08:37back to St Peterport to find out how.
08:43The steep cliffs are tough going,
08:48but hugely rewarding.
08:51God, it gets better and better.
09:02Churchill was determined to strike back
09:04after the Germans had landed.
09:05He decided that Guernsey would be the perfect place
09:09to try out a new elite unit of the British Army.
09:12He said that their job was to develop a reign of terror
09:16down the enemy coast.
09:17They were called the Commandos.
09:22London planned a daring raid.
09:24Special forces would seize the coastal path
09:27and head inland to attack the airport.
09:31But first they sent in a young lieutenant
09:33called Hubert Nicolle to gather intelligence.
09:36He landed here at Icar Point.
09:41To us nowadays,
09:43Lieutenant Nicolle's daring raid
09:44seems like boy's own stuff.
09:47But back in 1940,
09:48it was deadly serious.
09:50As he scrambled up the path
09:52from that beach down there
09:54with his heart in his mouth,
09:55he knew that if he was captured,
09:57he'd be shot as a spy.
10:00But Nicolle had grown up in Guernsey.
10:03He knew this island like the back of his hand
10:05and he discovered
10:06that only a handful of Germans
10:08had captured over 25,000 islanders.
10:12It seems incredible,
10:14but he managed to find out
10:15the exact number of Germans on the island.
10:18469.
10:21Nicolle had exposed
10:22just how weak the enemy was.
10:25140 commandos
10:26now crossed the channel
10:27to capture and kill
10:29as many Germans as possible.
10:31It would be one of the first
10:32commando raids in history,
10:36but it ended in complete failure.
10:39One boat ended up
10:41on the island of Sark
10:42over there in the distance.
10:44Two capsized,
10:45one crashed into a rock.
10:47Only 40 men
10:48from number three commando
10:49finally made it here,
10:50exhausted and soaked.
10:52and when they got here,
10:54they couldn't find
10:55a single German soldier.
10:59The commandos survived,
11:01but for Britain,
11:02the war was going
11:03from bad to worse.
11:07Germany was getting ready
11:09to invade England.
11:10Along the coast
11:11at Clarence Battery,
11:13machine gunners watched
11:14as German planes
11:15crossed the channel.
11:19Just a few weeks
11:20after the invasion
11:21of the Channel Islands,
11:22the Battle of Britain
11:23began in the skies
11:24of southern England
11:25over there.
11:27To many people
11:28living here
11:28under German rule,
11:29the result
11:30must have seemed
11:31like a foregone conclusion.
11:38That's certainly
11:38what the Germans
11:39told people
11:40as more and more
11:41troops appeared
11:42on the streets
11:42of St Peterport
11:43in August 1940.
11:49Many islanders
11:50were frightened
11:50at the prospect
11:51of any contact
11:52with the enemy troops.
11:56Molly Behae grew up
11:58on Canisher Street
11:59during the war.
12:02What was your family's
12:03reaction like
12:04when the Germans
12:04finally did arrive?
12:06My mother
12:06was really terrified.
12:08She was frightened
12:09and she didn't want
12:11to meet any Germans.
12:12She was scared
12:13of what they looked like
12:14and what they would do
12:15and she just wouldn't
12:17leave the house.
12:18There was weeps
12:20that she didn't want
12:21to move.
12:21She didn't want
12:22to see any Germans.
12:23But then,
12:24we children
12:25got used to them.
12:26We didn't like
12:27the look of them.
12:28They looked very,
12:29very stern.
12:31Always a helmet
12:32and guns and guns
12:33and big boots.
12:35But so we...
12:36I suppose we just
12:38got used to them
12:38and didn't really
12:40realise the fear
12:42that the grown-ups...
12:43But suddenly
12:44your whole life
12:45was changed.
12:46Definitely.
12:47Definitely.
12:5027,000 German troops
12:52were to descend
12:53on the islands,
12:55almost half in Jersey,
12:57which is my next destination.
12:58Have a lovely trip.
13:01Should be in Jersey
13:02in about an hour.
13:041940 had been
13:05a traumatic summer.
13:07But the focus
13:08of the war
13:08was about to shift
13:09because that September,
13:12the RAF won
13:13the Battle of Britain
13:13and the Germans
13:15were forced
13:15to put their invasion
13:16of England
13:17on hold.
13:19By the end of 1940,
13:20it was clear
13:21that the Channel Islands
13:22were the only bit
13:23of British soil
13:24that Hitler
13:24was going to be able
13:25to get his hands on,
13:26at least for the moment.
13:28The German war machine
13:29was ordered
13:30to transform these islands,
13:32even tiny little
13:33Herm and Sark
13:34over there,
13:35into island fortresses
13:37with the islanders
13:38trapped behind
13:39a curtain of guns,
13:40bunkers
13:41and barbed wire.
13:43But how are they
13:44going to be able
13:44to do that?
13:45I'll be finding out tomorrow.
13:59I've arrived in Jersey
14:01to continue a walk
14:02through the Channel Islands
14:03wartime history.
14:07This morning,
14:08I'm treating myself
14:09to an al fresco breakfast
14:10at St. Obin's Bay.
14:13It's a lovely place
14:14to have my fried egg
14:16and bacon sandwich
14:17if you think about
14:18the rest of the day.
14:2070 years ago,
14:21it would have looked
14:21very different around here.
14:23That cafe, for instance,
14:24wouldn't have been a cafe.
14:25It was a German bunker
14:27called Resistance Nest 3
14:29and it didn't house
14:30a cappuccino machine
14:31but a 10.5 centimetre gun.
14:38Today, I'm finding out
14:40how Hitler's fixation
14:41with the Channel Islands
14:42transforms their appearance.
14:46This leg of my journey
14:47will take me west
14:48from St. Obin's Bay
14:50to the heavily fortified
14:51headland at La Corbiere.
14:54I'll then turn north
14:56for five miles
14:57along St. One's Beach
14:58before ending my day
15:00at a clifftop stronghold
15:01in Les Landes.
15:03A 15-mile journey
15:05in glorious sunshine.
15:09In the summer of 1940,
15:11the German army
15:12had quite literally
15:13strolled into Jersey.
15:15British troops
15:15had abandoned these beaches
15:16without a fight.
15:20But when the RAF
15:21won the Battle of Britain,
15:23Hitler feared Churchill
15:24might try to reclaim
15:25these islands.
15:28Hitler was obsessed
15:29with holding on
15:30to the Channel Islands.
15:31The image of jackboots
15:33striding up and down
15:34British streets
15:35was a fantastic propaganda
15:37victory for him.
15:38So he decided
15:39to turn the whole place
15:41into an impregnable fortress.
15:48The islands became part
15:50of the Atlantic Wall,
15:51a network of fortified bunkers
15:54stretching from Norway
15:55to southern France.
15:58Building the wall
16:00took an estimated
16:0117 million cubic metres
16:03of concrete,
16:04well over a million of which
16:05was used here
16:06in the Channel Islands.
16:11At the far end of the bay,
16:13the Germans modified
16:14an old railway line
16:15to carry ammunition
16:16and material.
16:19Today, the line
16:20of the old tracks
16:21is my route
16:21to the west coast,
16:22four miles of beautiful
16:24shaded walk
16:25through the island's interior.
16:30You can see how the Germans
16:32altered the island's infrastructure.
16:34Look, you've got this lovely
16:35old Jersey brickwork
16:36here and then suddenly
16:39wham!
16:40German concrete
16:41to support this bridge
16:43so that the big trucks
16:45can go past overhead.
16:47The railway walk
16:48is maintained
16:49as an arboretum.
16:51It's a refreshing change
16:53from the heat of the beach
16:54and the canopies filled
16:56with traditional oak trees,
16:57palms and sycamores.
17:01The railway line
17:03terminated here
17:04at Corbiere Headland,
17:05one of the island's
17:06best-known landmarks.
17:11Corbiere's lighthouse
17:12was built in 1874
17:13and was the first
17:14in the British Isles
17:15to be made
17:16of reinforced concrete.
17:19But the Germans
17:20now built
17:21new concrete structures
17:22right next to it.
17:27look at this bunker.
17:29Look at this bunker.
17:29Those walls
17:30are around about
17:31two metres thick.
17:32You can see
17:33why the Germans
17:34would have wanted
17:35to put up
17:35such impressive
17:36fortifications here.
17:39From up here
17:40you can see
17:41almost the entire coast.
17:45It's pretty lovely,
17:46isn't it?
17:46And you see that tower?
17:48It's called an MP2.
17:49It's where rangefinders
17:51used to be able
17:51to direct fire
17:53onto enemy ships.
17:55Well, that's what
17:56they used to do
17:56in the war.
17:57Now it's a holiday home.
18:01These bunkers
18:02are now part
18:02of the tourist trail
18:03but historian
18:04Paul Saunders
18:05says their construction
18:07left the islanders
18:08with a terrible dilemma.
18:09the Germans
18:11demanded men
18:11to help build them
18:12but the local
18:13island authorities
18:14refused.
18:16How could they do that?
18:17Under the Hague Convention
18:18an occupier
18:20is not allowed
18:20to force people
18:22to work against
18:23their own country.
18:24So the Jersey
18:25authorities
18:26made it very clear
18:27to the Germans
18:27that for certain
18:29types of work
18:29they wouldn't
18:31oblige.
18:32They said that
18:33we can get people
18:34for you who will
18:35work on building
18:35airports or
18:36building bridges
18:36or infrastructure
18:37work that's not
18:38immediately war-related
18:39but we're not going
18:41to help you
18:41building your gun
18:42emplacements.
18:43It's a nice
18:44moral stand to make
18:45but I would have
18:45thought that the army
18:46could go over the
18:47bridges and go past
18:48the gun emplacements
18:49somewhere else.
18:49That's the dilemma
18:50again.
18:50Here we go,
18:51catch-22.
18:52But it's still
18:53a fairly elegant
18:54way out of this dilemma.
18:56The civilian authorities
18:58walked a dangerous
18:59tightrope between
19:00protecting their own
19:01people and helping
19:02the enemy.
19:03They're kind of
19:04caught between a rock
19:05and a hard place
19:06very much so.
19:06There's always the
19:07slippery slope
19:08waiting for you.
19:09You can accede to
19:10German demands on
19:11some issue and then
19:13they take your hand
19:14and they want the
19:15whole arm at the
19:16end of it.
19:17The Germans held
19:19most of the cards
19:20but they did have
19:21something to lose.
19:23They wanted to build
19:25an empire that was
19:26somehow similar to
19:27the British Empire.
19:28So by getting hold
19:29of the Channel Islands
19:30it was like they got
19:31a little slice of
19:32Britain.
19:32Exactly, yeah.
19:33So if they dealt
19:34well.
19:34Gave them a kick.
19:35Yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:35Having...
19:36So if they dealt
19:37well with the
19:38Channel Islanders
19:38it would...
19:39Hey guys, this is
19:40what will happen
19:41if we take over
19:41Britain, we'll be
19:42fair with you.
19:44Yeah, it was a
19:44charm offensive here.
19:47I'm now turning
19:48north, heading up
19:49St. One's Bay
19:50which stretches
19:51for five miles.
19:53As the tide goes out
19:55Jersey grows in size
19:56by about a fifth
19:57making beaches like
19:59this the perfect place
20:00to land an enemy
20:01army.
20:02This is a panzer
20:04mound, German word
20:05of course, panzer is
20:06the German word for
20:06tank.
20:08It's up to 20 foot
20:08high, curves at the
20:10top, the foundations
20:11are covered in about
20:13six feet of sand and
20:15the reason that the
20:16Germans were prepared
20:17to invest so much in
20:18the defences here was
20:20because it was this
20:21open west coast where
20:23they thought the
20:23British would attack.
20:27But the Allies never
20:28had any intention of
20:30taking Jersey back by
20:31force.
20:32St. One's anti-tank
20:34barrier was nothing
20:35but a huge drain on
20:36German resources.
20:38And it wasn't the
20:39only one.
20:41I'm leaving St. One's
20:42Beach and continuing
20:43north to Leilande,
20:44Jersey's largest
20:46maritime heathland and
20:47home of another
20:48serious fortification.
20:52Granite cliffs dominate
20:54this part of the island
20:55and gazing out across the
20:57Atlantic Ocean is one of
20:59the most complete World
21:00War II gun batteries in
21:01existence.
21:07This is battery Maltke, which
21:09is maintained by volunteers from
21:11the Channel Islands Occupation
21:13Society.
21:13Hello, Tony.
21:14Hello, Tony.
21:16This is a beautiful gun, isn't
21:18it?
21:18Absolutely superb, yeah.
21:19Does it have a name?
21:20Yes, it's a 15.5cm K418F
21:24French field gun.
21:25It was quite a serious piece of
21:27defence, wasn't it?
21:28Absolutely, yes.
21:29Battery Maltke was the first
21:30heavy battery to actually come to
21:32Jersey in March 1941.
21:34This fearsome gun had a range of
21:3712 miles.
21:39It was one of four captured from
21:41the French and garrisoned by a
21:43hundred German soldiers.
21:46Where did they live?
21:47Where did they cook their tea?
21:48Well, they had the exterior
21:50barrack huts for everyday things
21:52like that.
21:53But when they're actually on
21:53action stations, they had
21:55the subterranean corridors and
21:57personnel shelter to hide in.
22:02Once underground, you realise
22:03how massive this battery is.
22:06Well, what's the expected of
22:07that?
22:07Well, it's something, isn't it?
22:08The tunnels have been restored,
22:10along with signs and symbols you
22:12don't expect to see on British
22:13soil.
22:16Hitler had even grander plans for
22:19this place.
22:19But the bigger guns never arrived.
22:22The men inside trained and waited
22:24for an invasion that never came.
22:28It must have been very boring
22:30being stuck here.
22:32I think they must have thought
22:33of home quite a lot, actually.
22:35Did any of them try and get
22:37away?
22:37Well, there's a few that actually
22:39tried to sign up for Russian
22:40front.
22:41There were some that really
22:41wanted to see action.
22:43They'd rather be on the Russian
22:44front than here.
22:45Some were really wanting to go,
22:47but I'm sure that some of the
22:49older ones realised that they're
22:51better off here.
22:52Absolutely.
22:55It's rather comforting that
22:57Hitler's prestige project turned
22:59out to be a white elephant.
23:03The gun platforms are now
23:04surrounded by heather, one of more
23:07than 200 plant species here.
23:10It's in full bloom during July and
23:13August, and it glows with colour in
23:15the evening light as I reach the
23:17north-western tip of the island.
23:21It's a pretty good viewpoint, this,
23:23isn't it?
23:23There's Sark, Herm, Little Brecu, Guernsey,
23:29over there, and somewhere over the
23:31horizon, Alderney.
23:34Tomorrow, I want to swap sides and
23:37find out what life was like for the
23:38islanders who lived in the shadow of
23:40these concrete fortresses.
23:42But it's getting late, and I've still
23:44got another couple of miles to go, if I
23:47don't want to spend the night in a
23:48German bunker.
23:58I'm in Jersey, on a hike through the
24:01island's wartime heritage, and it's time
24:03to find out what life was like for local
24:05people during the Nazi regime.
24:12As well as the struggles of everyday
24:14life, German rule threw up new kinds of
24:17moral dilemmas.
24:18How far should you cooperate with the
24:20Germans?
24:20Should you even speak to a German soldier?
24:23Could you or should you resist the
24:25occupation?
24:26These weren't philosophical questions.
24:28They were matters of life and death.
24:32Especially when the islanders were
24:33confronted with one of the darkest
24:35aspects of the occupation.
24:38One which exposed the brutality of Nazi
24:41rule.
24:45I'm setting off from St.
24:47One, heading south for six miles
24:49towards the Jersey war tunnels, where
24:52I'll hear stories of courage and betrayal.
24:54The footpaths disappear halfway across
24:57the island, so I'll catch a lift,
24:59continuing my walk back on the north
25:01coast.
25:02A pleasant 12-mile hike, but with some
25:06dark reminders of our recent past.
25:19Heading south, I've come to the Val de la Mare
25:22reservoir.
25:26From here, there are stunning views over the west coast, but if I'd been stood here 70 years ago, I'd
25:33have been looking down on slave laborers from Eastern Europe, being forced to build bunkers and the military railway.
25:46In 1941, the German army had launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, their advance eastward resulted in millions of
25:55prisoners, many of whom were put to work all over Europe.
25:59So, was this part of the defensive war?
26:01Dr. Jilly Carr has spent years piecing together their story.
26:06Jilly, it's hard to believe, isn't it, when you look out on that view that so much human suffering could
26:11have taken place there?
26:12Yeah, it's true. I think one of the stories that isn't told enough here is the story of the slave
26:16workers and force workers. I mean, the Germans brought about 16,000 workers to the Channel Islands.
26:23What's the difference between a forced worker and a slave worker?
26:26You get paid if you're a forced worker, and you don't get paid if you're a slave worker. The forced
26:30workers are people who came from Western Europe, but also the Spanish Republicans as well, the people who were fleeing
26:37Franco in Spain. Germans had the Spanish Republicans use them to help build the Atlantic Wall in France, and then
26:43brought them over to the Channel Islands.
26:44The slaves were mostly Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war. Over 3 million Soviet POWs died at the hands of
26:52the Germans during the war, but 3,000 were brought to Germany.
26:56These are the sort of people that the Germans are treating really badly, giving very little food. They're kicked, they're
27:02beaten.
27:02When you read accounts in people's diaries, it was shocking, and some Channel Islanders tried to intervene to stop these
27:08people being beaten and kicked and generally treated like dirt.
27:11What conditions did people live in when they were working here?
27:14We know there are labor camps across the Channel Islands. There were 12 labor camps in Jersey alone, so I
27:19guess we should picture wooden barricuts.
27:21Larger Immelman would have been down there. It was a Russian slave worker camp, and if we were living during
27:28the war, we would have been able to see that from here.
27:34This aerial photograph, taken in 1943, is thought to show where Larger Immelman once stood, a circle of six huts
27:42surrounded by barbed wire.
27:48Some of the Soviet prisoners living in the camp were marched to work many miles away, and I'm heading east
27:55to see what they built.
28:03This entrance was carved out of the rock by slave workers, and there's not just one tunnel down there.
28:11These are the Jersey War Tunnels.
28:17They were intended to be an underground invasion shelter, but there's nothing comforting about what went on here.
28:32I find this really disturbing.
28:35It's an unfinished tunnel, and it gives you a very vivid sense of the dreadful conditions in which the slave
28:41laborers worked.
28:43You can't go any further even today because of the risk of falling rocks.
28:49We'll never know exactly how many prisoners died from exhaustion, starvation and beatings, but some are still buried here.
29:04Many islanders were so appalled by the treatment of the Russian workers, they risked their lives to help them.
29:11Louisa Gould ran a local shop in St. Juan, and in 1942, she offered refuge to a prisoner who had
29:18escaped from nearby Larger Immelman.
29:21He was Feodor Polikarpovich Burich, a Russian pilot shot down in 1941.
29:28Bob Lesur, who's 93, remembers them both well.
29:33What kind of woman was Louisa Gould?
29:35She was a splendid individual, and she had only just recently received a Red Cross message to say that her
29:46elder son had been lost at sea.
29:50And her words to me were, I had to do something for another mother's son.
29:59Feodor became known as Russian Bill, and he stayed hidden at Louisa's house for 18 months.
30:06But in 1942, Louisa was betrayed.
30:09Russian Bill managed to escape, but she was arrested and sentenced to two years in a German prison.
30:16And this is where you come in?
30:18I came in because I already knew him.
30:22I put him in the filing room of my office, and it must have been either Easter or Whitson.
30:30It was a long weekend, and so I had an extra day to find somewhere, which was first a lock
30:38-up garage, then a garden shed, then the flat of a crusty old bachelor,
30:43then the quite luxurious home of the crusty old bachelor's girlfriend.
30:50And he survived in Jersey till the end of the war?
30:53He survived in Jersey with two young men sharing a flat until the liberation.
30:59Why did you do it? Why do you think Louisa did it?
31:02I think, in most cases, it was common humanity.
31:07I think that was why I was doing it.
31:20The war tunnels have been turned into a museum, and it reveals how the occupation brought out the best and
31:28the worst of people.
31:30One of the most chilling exhibits for me in this entire museum is this little collection of three letters,
31:38all written to the Germans by Jersey citizens, in which they denounce their neighbours.
31:46Look at this one. It's written to...
31:49If I can find the envelope. Yeah, it's that one.
31:52The Commandant.
31:54And it says,
31:56Please search Brampton Villa, St Union Road, for at least two wireletters, hidden underneath floorboards, loft and cellars.
32:07It is a lodging house.
32:09And it's all in capitals, so that no-one will be able to identify who wrote it.
32:14And OK, this stuff is horrible, it is disgusting,
32:18but in a strange kind of way there's an upside, isn't there?
32:21Because it shows that there was resistance going on, there were acts of defiance, there was some kind of secret
32:28heroism.
32:30But bravery came with a high price.
32:33250 people who broke the German rules were sent to prison on the continent.
32:3829 of them never returned.
32:41Louisa Gould died in Ravensbrook concentration camp, just a few months before the end of the war.
32:55From the war tunnels, I'm picking up the trail towards the north coast,
32:59where there should be a view right across to France.
33:03It's a pleasant walk along more of those walkers' roads.
33:08They take me past the Museum of Country Life in Hampton.
33:13In 1941, Islanders fought a daily battle against hunger.
33:18The basic rations would later provide everyone with just 1,000 calories a day.
33:24Everyday items became luxuries.
33:28I've arranged to meet Islander Marion Rossler for a coffee.
33:32Except this is a cup of wartime coffee.
33:35Brewed by chef Sean Rankin, but made with parsnips.
33:40It does smell a bit like coffee.
33:42It does, it does, doesn't it?
33:43Grated some parsnips, dried them out, cooked them in the oven for around about 20 minutes,
33:46and I was going to put them in a pestle and mortar, grind them up,
33:48and then see if we can try some coffee.
33:52For Islanders like Marion, substitute food became the norm.
33:57Look what you're going to have to drink.
33:59Thank you very much.
34:00You're welcome.
34:02Right, let's have a taste.
34:06It's not that much like coffee, but it's like those old chicory coffees that you used to have.
34:11What was it like for you as a child, having to eat all this wartime food?
34:15I didn't know any different.
34:17I suppose you didn't.
34:18That's what you would have always remembered.
34:20Do you ever remember being hungry as a little girl?
34:22Yes, I do.
34:23I do remember being hungry.
34:25We were very lucky in that we lived near the sea, which was good for fish.
34:31Bread was something very special, and I can remember my brother and I found a loaf
34:37that was the week's supply for four of us, and we ate the lot.
34:40My poor mother, what could she do for the rest of the week?
34:43But that's the way it was.
34:46It's probably down to their diet that by the end of the war,
34:49Channel Island children were on average one inch shorter than they should have been.
34:58From Hampton, it's mostly roads until I reach the north coast.
35:03So I'm getting a lift on what's known round here as a Jersey van.
35:09In the early days of the German occupation, many islanders had their vehicles requisitioned.
35:14But by 1944, fuel shortages meant that even the Germans had to get around by horse.
35:23By this point, though, Germany was losing the war on all fronts.
35:30The Allies were on the offensive in Russia and the Mediterranean,
35:35and their next target was Jersey's closest neighbour.
35:41There's Normandy on the horizon, just 19 miles away.
35:44And in June 1944, the Allied invasion over there gave the islanders hope that they too would soon be free.
35:52Liberation did come for them, of course, but not until May the following year.
35:56And tomorrow, I want to try and find out why it took so long.
36:08Some of the 11,000 planes that opened the path through the so-called impregnable Atlantic Wall.
36:17On the 6th of June 1944, more than 100,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy.
36:27This was D-Day.
36:29The liberation of occupied France had begun just 15 miles from Jersey.
36:38Here in the German-occupied Channel Islands,
36:40people didn't need to hear about D-Day on their hidden wireless sets.
36:44They could see and hear it for themselves.
36:48The final morning of my wartime walk has brought me to St Catherine's Bay on the east coast.
36:55To see how the occupation came to an end,
36:58I'm heading along the sprawling sandy beach of Grouville Bay and across into St Helier,
37:04where liberation finally arrived in May 1945.
37:12The fighting in France put the Germans in Jersey on high alert,
37:17and their commander, a proud professional soldier,
37:20ordered his men to dig in at places like Victoria Tower.
37:24Where I'm meeting historian Ian Ronayne.
37:28They placed an anti-aircraft gun on top of it.
37:30There's famous pictures you'll see of a German and a gun pointing up.
37:34The Germans realised to their horror that despite their mighty Atlantic Wall,
37:38their defences on this side of the island were inadequate.
37:42Must have been an incredible psychological shift,
37:45both for the Germans and for Jersey people,
37:48once all that land was back in Allied hands.
37:51I think for the islanders, it was a time of real mixed emotions.
37:54You know, firstly, they could see the fighting going on and hear the fighting going on,
37:58and therefore there was an elation about, we may be liberated soon,
38:01but progressively they realised that actually the Germans were going to remain here
38:05and they were isolated and cut off.
38:06Why didn't Churchill try and take the Channel Islands back after D-Day?
38:12I think Churchill, quite frankly, would have taken them back at any time if he could have done,
38:16but leveler heads were saying, look, you know,
38:18this would be such a catastrophic loss of life potentially.
38:22So they made that decision to isolate the Germans here and let them starve.
38:27And, you know, Churchill said it, let them wither on the vine.
38:29The downside of doing that, of course, is the locals starve alongside them.
38:34In August, all supplies stopped.
38:38In nearby Montalgay Castle, hungry Germans watched
38:41as the Allies cut off their lifeline to France.
38:46Churchill tried to persuade the occupiers to surrender,
38:49but in reply, the Germans asked the Allies to send the islanders food aid
38:54to make their own rations go further.
38:58Everyone on the island was competing for the same dwindling supplies
39:02and all faced starvation in the coming winter.
39:12I'm pressing ahead along the Royal Bay of Grooville,
39:15which in 1944 was heavily mined, so couldn't be fished.
39:20Hungry islanders couldn't even exploit traditional sources of food.
39:26Those black things, they look like invasion craft, don't they?
39:30But they're not.
39:31They're for farming oysters.
39:35You'd get a lot of oysters out of one of them, wouldn't you?
39:38Lovely.
39:42Walkers have to be a bit careful here.
39:44The tide can come racing back in at more than six miles an hour.
39:48That's probably faster than most people can run.
39:51But after D-Day, several young islanders were willing to risk
39:55not just the strong currents,
39:56but also the German patrols in order to escape to France.
40:01I'm calling in on John Floyd and his wife, Corette.
40:04In November 1944,
40:07John took part in a daring attempt to sail away
40:10and join the British forces in Normandy.
40:12How old were you when you escaped?
40:14I was just 21.
40:16And you two were courting at that time?
40:19Yes.
40:20Why did you decide to escape?
40:22Was it patriotism, adventure?
40:24Well, it's a bit old-fashioned now, isn't it?
40:26I don't know.
40:27It was.
40:28I was brought up that way.
40:29We were sort of left behind
40:31and our sort of brothers and elders
40:33were all fighting the war,
40:35which we heard about, of course.
40:37So naturally, we felt out of it
40:41and wanted to join them.
40:43How did you feel about him escaping?
40:45Oh, not very pleasant.
40:47I didn't enjoy the fact that he was going.
40:49So many things went wrong,
40:51you couldn't believe it was actually going to work.
40:55Corette helped John and two friends
40:57smuggle a dinghy onto the beach
40:58right under the noses of the German guards.
41:01The plan was for the three young men
41:03to slip away in the dead of night.
41:06A few weeks earlier,
41:07someone else had attempted the same thing
41:09and been shot dead by the Germans.
41:12But that didn't dissuade determined young islanders.
41:16We got about a mile or two out
41:18and we met the people who were leaving
41:20at the same time in a different boat
41:22and they couldn't start their motor.
41:26And we stopped to give them a tow
41:28and the water came over the back of the boat
41:31and wet the outboard motor
41:33and that was finished, then it wouldn't go.
41:37After trying and failing to restart his engine,
41:40John did eventually drift to France.
41:43He found the British Army,
41:44but Corette didn't know if he was alive or dead.
41:48How long was it before you knew he was safe?
41:51Not till the following May when the war ended.
41:54Really?
41:55Yes.
41:55And when were you reunited?
41:57End of July, beginning of August, I think.
41:59And you've been together ever since?
42:02Yeah, more or less.
42:06Escapees like John confirmed to the British authorities
42:09just how desperate conditions were for the 40,000 islanders.
42:13But help was on its way.
42:15The Allies had finally agreed to let the Red Cross in.
42:19After a 50-mile journey, I've arrived in St Helier,
42:23where, on New Year's Eve 1944,
42:26the SS Vega docked, carrying 120,000 food parcels.
42:32Liberation still took another four months,
42:35but the food kept the islanders alive through the winter
42:38and people took heart as the Allies advanced into Germany.
42:46V for victory.
42:48That started springing up all over the place.
42:57By early May 1945, Hitler was dead and the war was over.
43:04Into the harbour of St Peterport on Guernsey in the Channel Islands,
43:08steams a British warship with the white ensign flying.
43:12A tumultuous welcome...
43:13On 9th May, two British destroyers, HMS's Bulldog and Beagle,
43:18sailed into the Channel Islands
43:19and took the surrender of the German garrison.
43:24Jubilant crowds gathered in what's now Liberation Square.
43:29200 British troops marched into St Helier
43:33and received, as you can see, a rapturous welcome.
43:38The memorial at the centre of the square
43:40is dedicated to all those who made that day possible.
43:45It's now a tourist attraction
43:47and where I'm meeting Bob, Marion
43:49and their fellow islander, Leo Harris.
43:52I know the day of Liberation was incredibly important
43:56to everyone who was living in Jersey,
43:58but Marion, you were such a little girl.
44:01Do you actually remember it?
44:03I do.
44:03All I can remember was my parents being very, very excited
44:08and saying that our boys were coming.
44:11Now, I didn't know who our boys were,
44:13but I knew that friendly aeroplanes were overhead,
44:16so it must be something special.
44:18And you got some photos.
44:19I have.
44:21My mother had a brownie camera
44:23and we saw our boys coming in
44:26and these are treasured possessions.
44:29They really are.
44:31Leo, was it very different for you?
44:32Most different thing, I suppose,
44:34was the fact that my brother had just come out of prison
44:36after six months.
44:38He was taking a German army rifle,
44:39so they'd locked him up without any trial.
44:41And after we'd got over the joy of saying hello to him,
44:45we came down here.
44:46Here were these homely British soldiers
44:48speaking in Hampshire accents.
44:50Just here, actually.
44:51It was very spotless, sitting in now.
44:54Did you get a sense that things had changed very much?
44:57Two Spitfires shot over the bay,
45:01came around, zoomed over a second time,
45:05and I burst into tears.
45:09But I mean burst into tears with sobbing.
45:14Now, in those days,
45:16it was highly bad form
45:19to show any emotion of any kind in public.
45:25And I couldn't control it.
45:27But I happened to see a man of about 40
45:29standing nearby who was also in tears
45:34and I didn't feel quite so badly.
45:40It's been very moving to hear
45:42so many personal accounts of these wartime events.
45:46I'm ending my walk at Elizabeth Castle in St Helier,
45:50where many Germans found themselves staying on
45:52as prisoners of war.
45:55From here, the invaders could look back
45:58on the island they'd ruled for five years
46:00and wonder what it had all been for.
46:04Since the war, the islanders have rebuilt their lives.
46:08But they've preserved an assortment of bunkers and batteries
46:12as a reminder of their darkest hour.
46:15And now, it's beyond doubt
46:17that the occupation is part of the tourist trail.
46:21But after 70 years,
46:23it's beginning to move from living memory into history.
46:26And I think it's reassuring
46:28that it's starting to become part of the island's future,
46:32ensuring that what went on here in the war years
46:35will never be forgotten.
46:37If you want to follow in my footsteps,
46:40you can download a guide to my walk
46:42by going to www.channel4.com.
47:13www.channel4.com.
47:15www.channel4.com.
47:16www.channel4.com.
47:17www.channel4.com.
47:18www.channel4.com.
47:18www.channel4.com.
47:18www.channel4.com.
47:18www.channel4.com.
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