I was here in the war

Wednesday 18th March 2009, 2:59PM GMT.

From B Amy.
THE letter from John Boothman about the Occupation (JEP, Wednesday 11 March) is all wrong. I was here!

Jersey could have been defended but the local establishment was more frightened of the working classes than of Hitler and persuaded the British government to pull out. Sure enough, many of the fat cats did very nicely collaborating with the Germans.

Passive resistance was led by the Jersey Communist Party under the leadership of Norman Le Brocq. Many Russian prisoners were sheltered by working families, although some were betrayed by Nazi sympathisers. Resistance became active with strikes, non-cooperation, etc during the last year of the war and helped finish the Occupation – no thanks to Winston Churchill. All the British army had to do in May 1945 was walk in.

Yes, Mr Boothman, we were starving in the winter of 1944–45 but our spirits held up. There were not many full stomachs then and they all belonged to the ruling class.

It is a tragedy that the establishment was able to cling to power after the Liberation and has done so ever since, still kow-towing to the millionaire bankers and Whitehall. Look at Senator Terry Le Sueur’s latest capitulation on tax! It makes me sick.
Flat 12,
Clos des Ormes,
St Lawrence.

1
barry runacres

March 18, 2009 at 5:33 pm

It is absolutely ludicrous to say that jersey could have been defended. themselves.The germans would have flattened the island.Many local people would have been either killed or injured.Mr Amy’s remarks concerning Winston Churchill are an insult.He made the right decision even thought it meant an occupation by the germans.It goes without saying that many lives were saved.As for the fat cats they are everywhere both in war and peace.The strikes etc were but pinpricks and should not be blown up to suggest that they alone brought the occupation to an end.The brits were able to walk in because they with others had cleared a path to the. shores of Jersey. Had they not done so Mr Amy would be writing in another language.You see i too was there.Barry Runacres

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2
joker

March 19, 2009 at 2:33 pm

It’s interesting to contrast Winston Churchill’s decision against Thatcher’s when she decided to ‘liberate’ the people of the Falkland Islands from the same fate. Conspiracy theorists believe that apart from trying to boost voter popularity, Thatcher liberated the Falklands because someone thought they had oil reserves there… nothing changes, but whatever the reason, it certainly wasn’t for the people of the Falklands. According to history, Churchill didn’t invade because he didn’t regard Jersey to be anywhere near as an important strategic asset as Hitler, who would have bitterly defended it, so fair game considering the loss of life and collateral damage that would have ensured without any war advantage to show for it. Jersey was left hung out to dry but then Churchill did win the war so it probably was the right decision and the Jersey people who suffered can be proud of their effort and know it wasn’t in vain.

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3
Spring Heeled Jack

March 19, 2009 at 5:33 pm

Defended by whom exactly ?
The British army had lost most of its equipment in France, the RAF had its back against the wall and the Navy was stretched to its limit trying to defend an empire under attack. Not wanted to bore anyone with German military strategy but in 1940 its armed forces could be matched by no one. Jersey would have simply been cut off whilst the Axis powers dealt with mainland Europe and then been obliterated in a blitzkrieg. Deaths amongst army and civilians would have been enormous – look at how many Japanese civilians were killed by the Americans in pre invasion bombardments in the pacific. In fact look up French civilian deaths in the run up to D-Day.

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4
alexa

March 20, 2009 at 6:59 pm

My mother was a young child in Jersey during the whole of the occupation. Her educatation and health suffered and she has had health problems ever since. Understandably she feels that Jersey was abandoned by the British and that anything could have happened to the islanders. They could have all been rounded up and shot- anything could have been done to them and they were after all British. Meanwhile my father-a Jerseyman was a young soldier fighting for the British Army along with lots of other Channel Islanders.

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