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My first recollection was that news came through that the Germans had bombed the White Rock in St Peter Port. I was working at La Villiaze loading trucks with tomatoes. When the raid started people were told not to deliver the loads of tomatoes to the White Rock. Of those who did — some were not so lucky as to return. As a result of the raid some people had started to sleep outside at night rather than risk being in their houses in case they were bombed. Some people moved to the thatched house on the hill overlooking Rocquaine Bay.

People were asked to go to congregate in the playground of St Peter’s School. From there buses would transport them to the harbour where they would be evacuated. I had decided to stay in Guernsey to look after my elderly parents so I took my wife Naomi and three children to the playground to be evacuated. Unfortunately by the time we got there we were told that there would be no further buses into Town so we all stayed.

The German soldiers arrived one Sunday lunchtime.

Those of us who had stayed behind then had to work for the Germans. We were called to unload the boats and also begin work digging out tunnels at La Vallette. There were two tunnels, one tunnel housed a tank measuring approximately 50-60 feet long, this was used to store oil for the submarines. I never actually saw a submarine but we knew they would visit at night times. This tunnel was later blocked up using the concrete pillars from the greenhouses. One night walking along towards Rocquaine I saw a large mound covered with a tarpaulin — I later found out that it was the bodies of the British submariners from the Charybdis and attended every service for many years afterward.

´óÏó´«Ã½ing hours meant leaving home before 7.00a.m every morning and had to be back before curfew which was 900p.m to 10.00p.m each night.

Unloading the boats meant moving bags of macaroni and whisky, all for the Germans of course. We did benefit a little from this work as we all wore sabots (clogs) so when we were not being watched we would break a bag of macaroni and put some in the ends of our sabots hiding the broken bag in the straw they were packed in.

The work at Les Vardes quarry at St Sampsons entailed Frenchmen unloading their trucks full of stones onto a conveyor belt. My father’s job, along with others, was to remove all the large stones by opening a trap. If they wanted a rest it was not unknown for some of the larger stones to get caught along the way. Everyone had to rest while the ‘blockage’ was sorted out. One man called Harold Le Huray was a very slow worker. He would load small stones onto a lorry using a shovel and in the end I had to tell the Germans to leave him alone as they were always shouting at him to go faster.

In charge of the working group was a German called the OT or as he became known to us ‘Ginger’. One particular time Ginger had said to take a lorry to St Sampsons and wait until he came to give further orders. However as we waited another German officer came along telling us to do something else. We refused — I then followed this German back to his office to ask him that if Hitler had told him to stop would he then listen to someone else’s orders? He then said no he would not and agreed that we had done the right thing. Another time I had words with an officer was when we were involved in building at another site. There were usually 10 workers in each group and on this day we wanted to have a rest for a sandwich. The German on duty said we were not allowed, as I was the ‘gaffer’ I then went after him into the office where I explained to the officer in charge that the boys had worked well and deserved a lunch break. Sometimes at lunch trucks provided soup often containing macaroni and spinach complete with meat of the day — maggots!! On a more serious note, I was very lucky for if you confronted or questioned the Germans you could end up being transported to France to work on farms. A Guernseyman called Nick Le Prevost plus two of his friends were transported to France although they were fortunate enough to return to Guernsey at the end of the war.

The Germans understood English but not Guernsey French so sometimes when we were having a break we would speak to them in Patois smiling as we did so. They would smile back not realising we were calling them names! It was our secret language. One of my colleagues turned up for work one morning unable to get new trousers so had sewn up the old ones with bits of rope.

Food was scarce because of rationing but sometimes on the way home I would see a field of freshly cut vegetables where only the stalks were left. A few of us would then take the stalks, peel and then eat them. My wife heard a noise in our back garden one night and opened the door to see two Germans trying to steal our pet rabbits. To scare them away she then threw a glass at them!

The Germans had very strict routines — same time every night. Trying to provide for my growing family (by the end of the war my wife and I had 5 children) one night I walked along Le Coudre at St Peter’s. So I wasn’t heard I walked in my socks waiting in a field behind a hedge to time the Germans on patrol. I crossed to another field but then had to hide as a plane came overhead and the search lights were shining. Then I managed to take enough for a bag of potatoes and quickly went home placing the potatoes under the children’s mattresses while they were in bed. In the morning it was reported that a lot of potatoes had gone missing! The field I had visited actually belonged to my Aunty but she would not sell any potatoes to me for fear of the Germans.

Once when my wife was walking back from St Saviours she saw a piece of wood. She tried to pick it up only to find that the wood was rather longer than she thought and there was a German soldier sitting on the other end. Fortunately the German soldier let her take a smaller piece of wood home.

I suppose our relationship with the Germans can be described as tolerating each other. Towards the end of the war one particular German, a little older than the rest, asked my wife to do his washing and they came to an arrangement that he would pay her for this. He admitted that he didn’t really like the war. His job was to look after the canteen and make sure it was supplied with alcohol. He came to me with 2 bottles of alcohol asking me to sell it on for him which I did to someone I knew who had a small pub. On one of the last nights I saw him before we were liberated he turned up at my door with 2 bottles of alcohol one for me and one for him to drink. We both ended up getting drunk!

Before they left the Germans destroyed a lot of our towers, one being the tower at Le Coudre. As a working party we were told to help with this. We also pulled down the big huts at Le Frie Baton. One Guernseyman Tom Le Sauvage thought he could do it better and thought he knew best. Even though he was warned of the dangers he went ahead and ended up being paralysed.

The day the British soldiers landed I remember one German officer would not surrender and in the end was taken to see one of the British Officers.

The next morning the whole family, my parents, my wife and I together with our 5 children walked into Town. Along the way a man who was on his way in from Torteval took everyone in his horse and cart. I took my father’s bike and carried the baby pram. In Town everyone was dressed in red white and blue. What a sight! Corned beef, chocolate and cigarettes were thrown from the boat. At the end of the day my parents walked from Town back to their house at Rocquaine. Something we wouldn’t dream of doing these days in a hurry!

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