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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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Tree Felling for the States during the German Occupation of Guernsey

by Guernseymuseum

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Archive List > Childhood and Evacuation

Contributed byÌý
Guernseymuseum
People in story:Ìý
Mr Donald Board, Margaret le Cras.Mr Le Parmentier, Mr De Putron.
Location of story:Ìý
Guernsey
Background to story:Ìý
Civilian
Article ID:Ìý
A5821454
Contributed on:Ìý
20 September 2005

Mr Donald Board interviewed by Margaret le Cras.
Edited transcript of tape recording of the interview

I went tree felling. The States had formed tree felling gangs
I………. And which trees did you bring down, then?
Mr Board. Well, from the Câtel Hospital there’s a valley runs up, to Le Parmentiers that was a farm, and that was one place where we cut trees down
I………. There would have been a lot of trees round there
Mr Board. Yes, but there was a Mr De Putron who was the boss of all the tree-felling gangs, he’d come around and he’d mark the trees, the ones to be brought down. And when you go up St George, on the left at the top there’s a driveway goes up to a very very big house, and there were trees there — actually the Germans occupied that house, in the end, - but there were various places.
This was 1940 now, the Germans were here, and I was on the tree-felling, and already, people were feeling the effects of the rationing. And there were communal soup-kitchens opened up in various parishes, and we were at the Câtel, and there was a soup kitchen inaugurated down at the Deslisles, opposite the Deslisles Church in the schoolroom, an there was a soup-kitchen in there, and we used to walk down the lane from where we …
I………. From Beaucamps
Mr Board. Yes, from that way, from Mr Le Parmentier’s farm that was, wherever we were cutting trees, we’d walk down, have some soup, because it was hard work, with the two of us on a cross-cut saw, or down below a hedge with a big axe, cutting at a tree, and so one day, my work-mate and myself, we were great friends, we said, look, the other people, they were having food in the German kitchens. So we decided to go to Grange Lodge - I think it was just the Commandants office was in there, - and there was a chap there who was their interpreter, he was a Swiss, he was married to a Guernsey girl, very nice chap, and he signed us up.

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