A gallery of photographs of German troops at work during the Occupation of Jersey

From Jerripedia

German troops on duty

This is almost certainly the largest collection of photographs of German soldiers, sailors and Luftwaffe on duty in Jersey during the 1940-1945 Occupation.
Most were taken by official German photographers, and these have largely come from the Berlin Bundesarchive and other German collections.
A number, however, including amateur snapshots taken by the men themselves or clandestinely by Jersey photographers, are in a small number of private collections which have been put at the disposal of Jerripedia.

A detachment of German troops marches through Charing Cross in 1940

A formal march through the Parade
German reinforcements at St Malo, on their way to Jersey
A sentry at Elizabeth Castle
A German sentry with St Ouen's Bay behind him
German troops parade on a beach
Members of the St Malo garrison who escaped by sea to Jersey
A machine gun emplacement in St Ouen's Bay
St Ouen's Bay
At Elizabeth Castle
German tanks at Les Quennevais
Operating a rangefinder
A machine gun post at Bouley Bay
German funeral
Manoeuvres at Les Quennevais in June 1944
Motor cycle patrol
Weapons storage
Troops on exercise
Troops march past the Bagot Inn
Snow Hill
Todt workers under guard
Snow Hill in 1940
Gorey harbourmaster with a German soldier
St Ouen defences
St Ouen defences

There is a stark contrast between these two pictures taken only a few months apart. The picture on the left shows the Royal Jersey Militia marching through the streets of St Helier in 1939. Not many weeks had passed before the island had beeh occupied by German troops in the summer of 1940 and it was soldiers of the Wehrmacht who were marching through the streets of town. The Militia picture was taken quite openly; the second picture was taken clandestinely through curtained windows. Discovery would have incurred a severe penalty for the photographer

A parade at Havre des Pas in 1943
A funeral at St Brelade in 1943
German cycle squadron in 1943
Troops in physical training outfits in the Parade
A parade through the Parade in 1943
Troops march past Midbay Stores
An outdoor lecture at South Hill on the Harbour installations
A posed propaganda photograph of a policeman and a German soldier at the Weighbridge
A German tank in Jersey
Digging defences
On the lookout
Troops march at the Weighbridge
Pomme d'Or Hotel
A German soldier with Elizabeth Castle in the background
German troops on the march
German troops on the beach
Forced workers marching under guard
German cavalry officers
Troops at Fort Regent
On the march at Georgetown
German soldiers in the Parade
German soldiers outside the Town Hall
A picture by Leonard Skingle of German soldiers in the Parade
A German company photographed at Oakwalk, St Lawrence

A German staff car outside the churchyard at St Brelade

A German soldier on Gorey pier
Funeral of a British officer
German soldier at La Corbière
Troops arrive at the Forum Cinema
German troops in King Street
Motor cycle coastal patrol
Troops at Kempt Tower
German troops march through St Helier in a Victory parade
German Admiral Huffmeier decorates those who took part in the 1944 Granville raid
A german gun crew
German soldiers parade in Jersey
A group of German officers gathered for an official photograph
A meeting in the German Commandant's office
A gun crew at l'Ouziere in St Ouen's Bay
A 'Victory Day' parade by German troops in Jersey on 9 August 1940
The goose step march was often seen on the streets
Gorey's harbourmaster with his German 'minder'
A sentry in the harbour area at La Folie
Transport was limited later in the Occupation and troops marched everywhere
A break during a route march
A machine gunner at Kempt Tower
A propaganda picture of a German soldier at Corbiere
German troops on the march
A motorcycle patrol on the shoreline

Troops at the Airport

German military posts were manned throughout the Occupation
A naval detachment on parade
A German sentry outside the commandeered Town Hall
A giant telephoto lens in use
Germans on parade
German soldiers overlooking the harbour
A silhouetted German soldier
Ready to raise the German flag at Government House
German troops on the march through St Helier
Pictures of German troops marching in the countryside (here at Petit Port) are very rare
The funeral of a senior German officer
Guards at the entrance to Government House
German staff at Government House
Sentry
Town Hall
Troops parade at the Harbour
Troops march through York Street
An inspection of forced labourers working at Noirmont
A German soldier accompanies a patrolling policeman
German troops inspected
Soldiers at Victoria College
Troops parade at Havre des Pas
On the march
Building defensive installations

A German staff car - a commandeered local vehicle - passes through King Street

Corbiere
A formal inspection
German troops at St Ouen
German troops in St Ouen's Bay
Luftwaffe march
German officers in Kensington Place
A German band in La Motte Street
A German band in the Parade
German soldiers march through Bath Street
La Motte Street
West Park
On parade at the Harbour
Infantry troops exercising with a tank
Troops parade on the Albert Pier
An anti-tank unit in 1944
A Kriegsmarine MP3 crew in 1944
A detachment of Kriegsmarines at Elizabeth Castle
German soldiers were billeted at Brabant, Trinity
Town Hall
British Hotel
Charing Cross
A soldier on the rocks at La Corbiere - probably a propaganda photograph
These soldiers had been carrying out exercises at Les Quennevais as late as 1944 when they were photographed
Unloading equipment on the Victoria Pier in 1941

1940 band parade

On patrol in St Ouen's Bay
Artillery units parade at Westmount
Technicians work on German equipment
A soldier on duty on Victoria Avenue
Troops embark for Jersey at St Malo
At Victoria College
Westmount
In Fern Valley
At Mont Cochon
A German soldier at Fliquet Tower in 1944
Inspection at Noirmont
Officers in summer uniform
Signallers
St Ouen's Bay
Training in St Ouen's Bay
Heinrich Bakker (right) and comrade at Strongpoint Corbiere in 1944
Heinrich Bakker
Heinrich Bakker
Field exercise at Strongpoint Corbiere in 1944
Horst Hermann in 1943 ...
... and on a return visit to Strongpoint Corbiere in the 1990s
Portelet
Portelet
Portelet

A well laden troop carrier in New St John's Road in 1944

Marching on St Aubin's Road
Drill practice on the beach
St Brelade's Bay
St Brelade's Bay Hotel
Tabor Lane
Vehicles unloading on Victoria Pier
Colomberie
The Esplanade
The Esplanade
Members of the Kriegsmarine parade at the Weighbridge
Target practice at La Pulente
Marching drill
German troop reinforcements leaving St Malo on ss Madali
Supplies for Jersey being loaded at St Malo in the early years of the Occupation
Troops march past Midbay in St Brelade's Bay
La Carriere
Royal Square
Royal Square
A German funeral
Funeral
Motor cycles at Coebiere
Rail track alongside St Aubin's Harbour
Inspection by senior officers of the Corbiere defences
Fort Henry

Weapons training at Portelet

Harbour entrance
Les Landes inspection
Kempt Tower
At the Weighbridge
Sentry
Corbiere, picture from German Bundesarkiv
Corbiere, picture from German Bundesarkiv
Corbiere, picture from German Bundesarkiv
Charing Cross 1941
German soldiers outside the Town Hall
At Fort Regent
Machine gun practice on Portelet beach
German troops march through St Helier in a victory parade
Machine gun practice on Portelet beach
Charing Cross 1941
At Fort Regent
Marching through the countryside
Field exercise at St Ouen in 1944
Cycle patrol in St Mary
St Martin
A sentry at an unidentified location
Collecting sea water
Unidentified location
Unidentified location
St Brelade's Bay

Elizabeth Castle 1941

A secretly taken photograph of German troops on College Field

Propaganda photographs

The Germans sent official photographers to the island on a number of occasions to take photographs for propaganda purposes.

There seems to have been no actual attempt to document the Occupation, or if there was, the pictures have been lost.

The Bundesarchiv, the German Federal Archive, has only 118 photographs taken in Jersey in its online collection. We have chosen a selection to reproduce here. Many have been ignored because they are very low quality images and even those shown below have had to be digitally enhanced to obtain a reasonable quality.

Soldiers with a coach commandeered by the Organization Todt
Machine gun training at St Ouen
Troops gather at Le Catillon, Grouville
Members of the Reich Arbeits Dienst arriving in St Helier Harbour in 1941. This was a state labour service - a type of paramilitary labour organisation for German men which was compulsory for six months. These young men were often mistakenly referred to as 'Hitler Youth' by locals. They were attached to the Luftwaffe but were put to work on the German building programme and were not armed, except for guard duties.