Guernsey Then and Now.....

Guernsey then and now!!

As I have been reading this month’s book I have been wondering what this place, this Guernsey Island looked like. If you are like me you get an image in your head of what a character or place in a book looks like, and it can shape how you feel about either that person or place. Well knowing that this island was an actual place I decided to do some investigative work and see what it looked like during the war and today. So without further ado...

 “Guernsey then”:

On 15 June 1940, the British government decided that the Channel Islands were of no strategic importance and would not be defended, but did not give Germany this information. Thus despite the reluctance of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the British government gave up the oldest possession of the Crown "without firing a single shot”. The Channel Islands served no purpose to the Germans other than the propaganda value of having occupied some British territory. The "Channel Islands had been demilitarized and declared...'an open town' ".

The British Government consulted the islands' elected government representatives, in order to formulate a policy regarding evacuation. Opinion was divided and, without a policy being imposed on the islands, chaos ensued and different policies were adopted by the different islands. The British Government concluded their best policy was to make available as many ships as possible so that islanders had the option to leave if they wanted to. The authorities on Alderney recommended that all islanders evacuate, and nearly all did so; the Dame of Sark, Sibyl Mary Hathaway, encouraged everyone to stay. Guernsey evacuated all children of school age, giving the parents the option of keeping their children with them, or evacuating with their school. In Jersey, the majority of islanders chose to stay.

Since the Germans did not realize that the islands had been demilitarized, they approached them with some caution. Reconnaissance flights were inconclusive. On 28 June 1940, they sent a squadron of bombers over the islands and bombed the harbors of Guernsey and Jersey. In St Peter Port, the main town of Guernsey, some Lorries lined up to load tomatoes for export to England were mistaken by the reconnaissance for troop carriers. Forty-four islanders were killed in the raids.

While the German Army was preparing to land an assault force of two battalions to capture the islands, a reconnaissance pilot landed in Guernsey on 30 June and the island officially surrendered to him. Jersey surrendered on 1 July. Alderney, where only a handful of islanders remained, was occupied on 2 July and a small detachment travelled from Guernsey to Sark, which officially surrendered on 4 July

The German forces quickly consolidated their positions. They brought in infantry, established communications and anti-aircraft defenses, established an air service with mainland France and rounded up British servicemen on leave.

The Germans built four concentration camps in Alderney. The camps were sub camps of the Neuengamme concentration camp outside Hamburg and each was named after one of the Frisian Islands: Lager Norderney located at Saye, Lager Borkum at Platte Saline, Lager Sylt near the old telegraph tower at La Foulère and Lager Helgoland in the north west corner of Alderney. The Nazi Organization Todt operated each sub camp and used forced labor to build bunkers, gun emplacements, air raid shelters, and concrete fortifications. The camps commenced operation in January 1942 and had a total inmate population of about 6,000.

The Borkum and Helgoland camps were "volunteer" (Hilfswillige) labor camps and the laborers in those camps were treated harshly but marginally better than the inmates at the Sylt and Norderney camps. The prisoners in Lager Sylt and Lager Norderney were slave laborers forced to build the many military fortifications and installations throughout Alderney. Sylt camp held Jewish forced laborers. Norderney camp housed European (mainly Eastern Europeans but including Spaniards) and Soviet forced laborers. Lager Borkum was used for German technicians and "volunteers" from different countries of Europe. Lager Helgoland was filled with Soviet Organization Todt workers.
In 1942, Lager Norderney, containing Soviet and Polish POWs, and Lager Sylt, holding Jews, were placed under the control of the SS Hauptsturmführer Max List. Over 700 of the inmates lost their lives before the camps were closed and the remaining inmates transferred to Germany in 1944.

During June 1944, the Allied Forces launched the D-Day landings and the liberation of Normandy. They decided to bypass the Channel Islands due to their heavy fortifications described above. As a result, German supply lines for food and other supplies through France were completely severed. The islanders' food supplies were already dwindling, and this made matters considerably worse - the islanders and German forces alike were on the point of starvation.

Churchill's reaction to the plight of the German garrison was to "let 'em rot"; even though this meant that the islanders had to rot with them. It took months of protracted negotiations before the International Red Cross ship SS Vega was permitted to relieve the starving islanders in December 1944, bringing Red Cross food parcels, salt and soap, as well as medical and surgical supplies. The Vega made five further trips to the islands before liberation in May 1945.
Although plans had been drawn up and proposed in 1943 by Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten for Operation Constellation, a military reconquest of the islands, these plans were never carried out. The Channel Islands were liberated after the German surrender.

On 8 May 1945 at 10 am, the islanders were informed by the German authorities that the war was over. Churchill made a radio broadcast at 3pm during which he announced that:

Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight to-night, but in the interests of saving lives the "Cease fire" began yesterday to be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed to-day

The following morning, 9 May 1945, HMS Bulldog arrived in St Peter Port, Guernsey and the German forces surrendered unconditionally aboard the vessel at dawn. British forces landed in St Peter Port shortly afterwards, greeted by crowds of joyous but malnourished islanders.
It appears that the first place liberated on Jersey may have been the British General Post Office Jersey repeater station. Mr. Warder, a GPO lineman, had been stranded on the island during the occupation. He did not wait for the island to be liberated and went to the repeater station where he informed the German officer in charge that he was taking over the building on behalf of the British Post Office.

“Guernsey now”:

Post war, tourism started to really take off and around 250,000 people per annum were visiting Guernsey. The tax rate was reduced to 20% in 1959 and a large influx of wealthy UK individuals followed. Housing controls were brought in during the 1960s to try and control the population growth but with limited success.

In the 1970s the old harbor and Victoria dock were converted to marinas for local and visiting boat owners and in 1973 Guernsey became an Associate member of the EEC. At the start of the 1980s the North Beach marina and car park were built. Today, two million visitors (largely European) treat the twenty-five square mile island as their own pretty Bermuda.

Luckily, a small but determined band of history-minded volunteers—who later formed an organization called Fortress Guernsey—decided that the past should not be whitewashed away, but instead studied and, in some cases, restored. They recognized too that the details of the Nazi invasion are little known to outsiders, perhaps in part because huge casualties did not occur.

Presently, through the efforts of Fortress Guernsey, a visitor can come to this peaceful island, enjoy all its amenities, and they can also view what many military historians consider part of one of the largest war invasion efforts. Using Fortress Guernsey brochures, booklets and maps available at the tourist offices, it is possible to visit the coastal defense works, the underground hospital and the Occupation Museum.

Richard Heaume, born after the war was over, had a fascination with the treasures he dug up as a boy: helmets, knives, bullets, guns. Today many of these items are in the Fortress Guernsey Occupation Museum he runs. "I would trade things I found with other boys. Gradually I realized it all had to be preserved. It is part of who we are." At the museum you can see a recreated St. Peter Port street, along with some of the wars oddities: a gas mask for horses; the forbidden "V for Victory" signs, and even packets of ersatz foods, such as parsnip tea and carrageen moss, that islanders ate to allay their hunger pains.

Today locally grown vegetables, including the justly famous tomato, as well as freshly caught fish and shellfish make up most of the popular meals at both upscale restaurants and fish and chip shops. French cooking means that it is impossible to get a bad meal here.

Islanders host events each year for almost every interest: kite-flying, bridge and chess tournaments, agricultural and horticultural events, Petanque (French bowling), and even a real ale and cider festival. During the month of April, people flock to Guernsey for the Annual Festival of Food and Wine. Local restaurants compete for awards, producing attractively priced menus and creating new dishes. On May 9 every year, the residents celebrate Liberation Day with fireworks, street entertainment and speeches. In September, Fortress Guernsey hosts a symposium about the events of the war and the progress of the restoration.

Sports events also bring in many visitors: horse driving shows, air shows, fun races, duathalons, triathlons, swimming, hockey, and yachting regattas. Vintage car rallies, ballet performances, jazz events are scheduled throughout the year at the attractive Saumerez Park, where you can also visit the attractive manor house and the floral gardens. Floral festivals and plantings are practically a cottage industry all over the island.

It’s obvious that even though the war is still evident on the walls and buried deep in the ground, Guernsey has dusted itself off and gained its strength. It has become a beautiful thriving community that will always remember what it went through to get to where it is.

(some text taken from wikipedia and travellady.com)

"Rain Boots" a brief history

For those of you that know my daughter Jillian you can attest to her love of rain boots. She wears them with everything, to put it plainly Jillian’s boots were made for walking and they have been a lot of places. Jillian’s love of rain boots and our upcoming “traveling rain boot” competition got me wondering. Where did thee ever so popular rain boot come from? Well I’ll tell ya......

The “rain boot” formally known as "rubber wellies" may not mean as much to more recent generations, but they were essential in transforming the way people now so effortlessly approach wet and muddy grounds. In the nineteenth century, Arthur Wellington, first Duke of Wellington, requested that his shoemaker modify a pair of Hessian boots. Hessian boots initially made of leather, eventually evolved into the effective form of rubber foot protection that we know today.

 "Wellies" soon became the practical choice during World War I because they were waterproof. They provided soldiers with suitable footwear for time spent in flooded trenches and other treacherous conditions. Both World War I and World War II sparked the creation of vast quantities of Wellington boots and soon after, men, women, and children of all ages were wearing, what we now refer to as, rain boots.

In the 1850s, a French footwear manufacturer, teamed up with Charles Goodyear to patent a rubber footwear product that would become an overnight success. Perhaps most logically, farmers took advantage of these technologically advanced shoes and traded in their wooden clogs for rubber boots.

Since their creation, rain boots have accumulated quite the collection of nicknames as they have found their place in countries and cultures all across the world. South African and New Zealand natives refer to rain boots as "gumboots". Older Australians refer to these boots as "Blucher boots" and "Gummies", while Irish statesmen have coined them "top boots".

In the United States you can still find a bright yellow version of "wellies", but most British residents typically don green-colored rain boots. No matter the color rain boots have become an essential part of the dress code for young children, as well as for fashionistas and trend-setters as they step out for a cup of coffee on a sunny day.

From practical protection to puddle jumping to surging fashion trends, rain boots have evolved into much more than a simple piece of footwear. Today, rain boots have effectively created and established a name for themselves that appeals to audiences ranging from parents to style gurus and everyone in between.

As you can see rain boots have traveled the globe, coming a very long way from where they started. Where will yours turn up?

I look forward to seeing all your rain boots in action ladies. Get those cameras ready; remember I’m looking for the most unusual/unique pictures of your boots!!!!

(portions of this post were taken from a paper written by Avand Amiri)

Meeting Re-caps

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “If we encounter a man of great intellect, we should ask him what books he reads”

Well I can’t say whether or not the books we’ve read thus far have aided us in our search for a higher intelligence; but they have been entertaining.

February~

During the months of January and February we read “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. The book spoke of “a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands”

It is because of this very vivid expression of love between two magicians that I decided to do a secret Valentines gift exchange at our meeting. The exchange had a few hiccups along the way but managed to meet my expectations and gave a little peek into the “likes” of some pretty great women. I was amazed at how many of you guessed who your secret Valentine was.

The mood for the evening had been set and so had the dining room table, in beautiful shades of pink. The guests were arriving and the discussion would soon begin. From the book’s cover we had been told that:

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.”

As a group we were very eager to jump head first into this work of fiction, and yet afterwards left on opposite sides of the fence, divided by our love or hate for the characters and the books ending. Even though our first book of the New Year left some of us with a bitter taste in our mouths we overall enjoyed the night’s activities and were excited for what adventures awaited us in the weeks to come.

March~
To me March is the month for GREEN. Green food, green clothes, green plants and good old fashion green with envy books. It also happens to be the month for St. Patrick’s Day and a great excuse to dress like a complete lunatic, which I had every intention we do.

The invitations (beautifully crafted by the wonderful Mrs. Alissa) clearly outlined this month’s green activities and cleverly encouraged everyone to come in their best green attire.

The winner of said best green attire contest would win thee oh so awesome super top secret Mary Poppins bag of green goodies. And the Winner is……Mrs. Debbie. You looked fabulous my dear, I think the green plastic hair is what sent you soaring into the winners circle lol!!!

I’m not sure this month’s book “The Queen of Babble” by Meg Cabot, left us feeling all that envious, unless it was envious of Lizzie’s ability to speak her mind no matter what the outcome, or possibly of Andrew’s red leather break dancing jacket complete with epaulets; but it did give us a great laugh. From the moment we turned the book over and read the synopsis we knew we were in for quit the story and possibly a green with envy ex-beau:

“Lizzie Nichols has a problem: she can't keep anything to herself, and when she opens her big mouth on a trip to London, her good intentions get her long-distance beau, Andrew, in major hot water. Now she's stuck in England with no boyfriend and no place to stay until the departure date on her nonrefundable airline ticket. Fortunately, Lizzie's best friend and college roommate, Shari, is spending her summer catering weddings in a sixteenth-century château in southern France. Who cares if Lizzie's never traveled alone in her life and only speaks rudimentary French? She's off to Souillac to lend a helping hand! One glimpse of gorgeous Château Mirac—and of gorgeous Luke, the son of the château's owner—and Lizzie's smitten. But thanks to her chronic inability to keep a secret, before the first cork has been popped Luke hates her, the bride is in tears, and Château Mirac is on the road to becoming a lipo-recovery spa. Add to that the arrival of ex-beau Andrew, who's looking for "closure" (or at least a loan), and everything—including Lizzie's shot at true love—is in la toilette . . . unless she can figure out some way to use her big mouth to save the day.”

The majority of the group loved this book. Loved the characters (although some of us stranger ones that other “Alissa”) loved the wonderfully beautiful European back drop and loved the super corny chick flick aspect to the love story. This book made for a great group discussion and the room was full of light hearted laughter.

After seeing everyone’s willingness to join in my fun and totally random activities this month I became very excited to pass out the ever so cute rain boot invitations for April’s meeting.

Remember ladies you must take your rain boot strange and unusual places and photograph it. I can’t wait for everyone to see the very unique way in which I plan to use them…..

With that I say until next time happy reading, I hope you all enjoy your photo session, your hunt for brown bag items and the extraordinary club that is “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”

Sincerely,

Lydia Mistress Book Club Wench!