WW1 and life in Jersey – 11 Prisoners of war
Life in Jersey
during the Great War:
Prisoner-of-War camp
A chess game for two prisoners at Blanches Banques
This is one of a series of articles on various aspects of life in Jersey during the 1914-1918 war which is based on newspaper reports and archived documents. We acknowledge the valuable resource of a weekly series of articles by historian Ian Ronayne which was published on the Jersey Heritage website from 2014 to 2018 to mark the centenary of the conflict
The first that most islanders knew about plans to hold German prisoners of war in a camp in Jersey were newspaper advertisements in September 1914 asking building firms to tender for contracts.
War Office land
The camp was to be built on War Office owned land on sand dunes at Blanches Banques in St Ouen's Bay. Many of the huts were to be built in the UK, but local contractors would be used to assemble them after arrival, for the ground works at the camp, building the security fence and towers and constructing the ablution blocks and other communal buildings.
The camp and the prisoners it housed were to feature in the headlines quite frequently throughout the war:
In December 1914 a gazette notice was inserted in the Evening Post advising of a road closure for drain laying, bearing the signature of Major Naish, who was in charge of camp construction. The Constable of St Peter complained in a strongly worded letter to the Lieut-Governor that the notice should have had his signature, and the public had been placed in danger because they would ignore what was not an official notice.
General Alexander Rochfort reminded the Constable that under the Defence of the Realm Act the military had an absolute right to close any road, with or without notice, and that is was not Major Naish who was being discourteous.
Prisoners arrive
The arrival of the first prisoners in March 1915 had ben anticipated by islanders and crowds gathered to watch around 1,000 disembarking at the harbour over two days and being taken to the west of the island on foot and by train.
Many locals were quite envious of the facilities the prisoners would enjoy, having heard that they had well-equipped kitchens, washrooms and laundry facilities, heated huts with good quality bedding and electric light. These were things most islanders could only dream of.
The row between the camp and parish authorities simmered on. In May it was reported that the Army had made it quite clear that they were in charge of policing roads in the area of the camp and keeping inquisitive sightseers away, but they would appreciate the co-operation of the Honorary Police in arresting anyone who tried to approach the camp.
Attempts to raise money to buy a piano for the camp and buy cigarettes for the inmates, probably by people with a German background, did not go down at all well with islanders.
Interest in the camp remained high and one enterprising company organised motor bus tours to the camp from St Helier. When a prisoner died locals lined the route of his cortege from St Peter's Barracks to the parish church.
Escapes
Allied successes on the battlefield in July 1916 led to the arrival of another 450 prisoners, having been moved from camps in the UK to provide room for those taken prisoner in the new offensive. Perhaps, inevitably, with some 1,500 prisoners now housed in the camp, there were escape attempts, and two prisoners managed to get away during October 1916, but were not at large for long before they were recaptured.
In July 1917 there was further excitement when it became known that nine prisoners had escaped from the camp through a tunnel, but they were only at liberty for a few hours before they were spotted in St Brelade's Bay, recaptured by St Brelade Honorary Police and sent back to the camp .
The prisoners were assessed from time to time by Royal Army Medical Corps staff with a view to an exchange with the enemy of prisoners judged medically unfit.
The prisoners could not be required to work, but they could volunteer if employment was offered. The Lieut-Governor was keen to see some of them working on farms to free local labour to join the Forces, but the farmers were not prepared to pay the rate demanded by the UK authorities and the States blocked the scheme.
So in February 1917 the bulk of those held at Blanches Banques were sent to England where terms had been agreed for them to work on farms. Of the nearly 2,000 men who had been living in the camp, only a small batch would remain to work at the docks during the potato season.
They were transported backwards and forward daily by train and islanders, particularly women, already banned from the area around the camp, were prohibited from going anywhere near where they were working at the harbour.
The farmers changed their minds in 1918, having lost so many of their workers who had been conscripted into the Army. The number of prisoners was increased again to about 2,000 and they worked on farms for 5 shillings an hour over a ten-hor day
The occasional funeral following the death of a prisoner attracted public interest throughout the time the camp was in use. In August 1915 a young sailor died and the camp commander agreed that his body could be taken on a carriage from St Peter's Barracks to the parish church, accompanied by 50 of his colleagues. Curious locals lined the route to catch a view of the cortege.
