Propaganda film
These pictures are stills taken from a German propaganda film, clearly intending to portray St Helier as a busy town in the wake of the 1940 invasion. The film probably dates to later that year, or early 1941, because buses became a much more infrequent sight on island roads as fuel supplies ran short.
A Jersey 'Bobby' talks to German soldiers outside the Town Hall
The same policeman and soldiers strolling up King Street
A JMT bus in The Parade ...
... the bus has passed Tantivy Motors buses which appear to have been using the area as a town terminus
A JMT double-decker passes Bichards grocery shop at Charing Cross ...
... and continues into Broad Street, past a horse and cart and a German soldier on a motor cycle
Family photographs
Photography was banned from the earliest days of the Occupation, except for a very few islanders given special permits. Those who did have cameras and film either had to process the film themselves or keep it safe until the Occupation was over. This means that very few pictures of ordinary family life during the war were taken, and even fewer still exist. Very few were processed to a high enough standard to allow the picture quality to survive over 80 years. These two images are a welcome exception. They were sent to us by the family who have preserved them since they were taken in 1942. Unfortunately we do not know the names of the young people pictured, nor the location of the beach on the left. The picture on the right was taken on the coast in Grouville Bay, showing Gorey and Mont Orgueil Castle in the background. Perhaps the photograph was taken outside one of the family chalets which lined the coast and had yet to be demolished, as all eventually were. That seems the only explanation for the substantial table and chairs which, with private use of cars no longer permitted, could hardly have been transported any distance
July 1942
31 May 1942
Restricted areas
A map showing coastal areas which were off limits to islanders during the Occupation</div>]]
Islanders were not allowed on the deserted Esplanade</div>]]
Rationing
Queuing for pet food at the Animal Shelter
A queue for rations in Halkett Place
Queuing for skimmed milk
An Occupation ration book
Children collecting firewood
Communal kitchens helped keep islanders alive
Queuing for bread in 1944
Potato clamps at St Mary
Announcement of potato rationing in 1944
Ration books
A book of coupons for a child's clothing ration
The page of coupons
Befriending the enemy
Friends at L'Etacq
Tar issued as fuel was frequently used to daub houses of alleged collaborators
A marching band was guaranteed to draw a crowd for a German photographer
A Jersey 'bobby' with a German sailor
Numerous pictures survive of German troops accompanied by local policemen
Pictures of islanders and German troops together were usually staged for the camera
A Jersey policeman in King Street
The Weighbridge
It is impossible to tell whether these two images are genuine photographs of a German soldier befriending a local family or whether it was staged for propaganda purposes. The latter seems more likely
Red X messages
Islanders were not completely out of touch with relatives in the UK during the Occupation years. Thanks to the Red Cross brief messages could be sent
The system also worked for members of the services, as these letters from members of the Le Var family illustrate
Red Cross messages kept islanders and evacuees in touch
Le Var family Red Cross message from 1942
Le Var family Red Cross message from 1942
Le Var family Red Cross message from 1942
More Red Cross messages,
Letters from France
Jersey was not entirely isolated for most of the Occupation. Although there was no postal service with the UK - Red Cross letters were the only means of communication between islanders and friends and family on the other side of the Channel. But letters could be received from France, also Occupied by the Germans until after D-day in 1944. Here are some examples, as well as one sent from occupied Netherlands, which had been opened and re-sealed by the German censors
1942
1943
1943
1943
1943
Permits
Islanders were subject to all manner of controls during the Occupation, as evidenced by these permits and orders
The first German orders
Another set of German orders
A German order issued in 1944
Deportation notice
A fishing permit
An Occupation curfew pass for a night worker
A travel pass permitting the holder to travel to the Normandy coast in 1940
German proclamation
German proclamation
Driving permit
A permit for carol singing
Requisitions
Whatever the Germans wanted, they took, often without any, or adequate, compensation. Their bureaucracy ensured that requisitions required much paperwork
A notice warning of an evacuated property in St Peter
Requisitioned cars on the way to St Malo
Order for the purchase of a motor car
A requisition order for a St Brelade property
Another requisition order, as late as December 1944, for a Ouaisne bungalow
A wartime German order requisitioning chocolate supplies
Requisitioned tennis nets for catching fish in St Brelade's Bay
Requisitioned cars awaiting shipment to France in 1940
The Germans commandeered farmers' horses and rarely paid a fair price for them
Wireless requisition in 1941
Requisition order for a Ouaisne bungalow as late as 1944
Requisition order for land needed for the construction of a railway line
Authorised fishing vessels and boat requisitions
Military funeral
Island officials including Bailiff Alexander Coutanche attended the military funeral for Sergeants D C Butlin and A Holden whose bodies were washed ashore after their aircraft was shot down
Sundry images
A move to restart brewing in 1940
Peat left to dry at L'Etacq, to be used for fuel, photographed by Emile Guiton
At Charing Cross in May 1945
German road markings at Snow Hill
A cow arrived from St Malo
A programme for a performance at the Opera House in 1943
A post-war get-together of illicit radio listeners at Bel Respiro
A German radio with a notice restricting its use
An Occupation note printed in Jersey
Another Occupation banknote
French prisoners of war put to work
The Evening Post was strictly censored by the Germans
A cartoon depicting Superior Council members meeting a Red Cross representative
Traffic signs painted in German and English in Bath Street
Potatoes were grown on People's Park for extra food
The Jersey Electricity Company power station
Compulsory sign in a shop owned by Jews
La Pulente Hotel stripped of all wood
Bath Street
Evening Post linotype operator under supervision
A Bailiff's permit in 1940
V-signs painted on roadsigns were a popular form of dissent
A newsletter dropped by the RAF to keep islanders in touch with the outside world
Bailiff Coutanche with German commander Iselin
King Street
Overdue book at the Library
German names appeared in a hotel register in 1940
Advice on wartime communication
Some aspects of life continued little changed, as evidenced by this letter to the Pensions Office
Occupation, a board game (or rather, a sheet of paper), an amusement for islanders ...
... printed by Ashelfords, it was apparently sold by the Red Triangle Stores
An illicit wartime radio ...
... and one hidden in a book ...
... another radio hidden in a tin of tea ...
... and even more ingenious, a tiny set concealed in a walnut
Islanders were still being recruited as air raid wardens in 1942
Potato clamps at Les Peupliers, St Ouen, and another location in St Mary. The Germans ordered the lifting of some stored potatoes to be sent to France. Photographs by Emile Guiton, one of the few people licensed to take photographs during the Occupation
Pictures from Occupation scrapbooks
During the Occupation a number of islanders kept diaries, others filled scrapbooks with family memorabilia and newspaper cuttings which charted the progress of the war. The following pictures are taken from these scrapbooks
Tower demolition
Going ... going ... gone ... this coastal tower in St Ouen's Bay was one of those demolished by the Germans
There was little local news in the heavily-censored Evening Post of the time, but the Germans did allow references to the bravery of islanders in the field of battle, including this report of the award of a George Medal to John Goldsmith
Grand Hotel
Deportation order
St Brelade's Bay
Weighbridge signs
Notice about food waste
V=Bus services
Ritz Hotel
German band in the Royal Square
Islanders v Occupiers football on College Field
German banknotes
Appeal for shoes
Ration book issue
St Ouen's Manor fire report
Dance for Germans and 'friends'
Vehicle requisition
Poster regarding Francois Scornet
Beghin's clock
Luftwaffe band in the RoyalSquare
Troop quarters at the Metropole Hotel
Metropole Hotel
Black market sentence
Brandy permit
Pub notice
Requisitioned cars
Merton Hotel
Sentry box at Greve d'Azette
Air raid shelter in the Parade
Homing pigeon station at Mount Bingham
Troops march through Bagot
Excess gas use notified
Aircraft at Airport 1941-1942
Restriction on letters
Green Room Club 1942 programme
Entrance to German headquarters at College House
Compulsory registration
Junkers aircraft at Airport
British Hotel Offizier Heim 1941
Troops marching in 1941
Victoria Pier 1941
Springfield 1941
German equipment was stored all over the island. This photograph of Victoria College boys examining barrels on College Field is believed to have been taken in 1943, but we have been given no indication by its owner of what was in the barrels or who the boys were
Evening Post Liberation issues
