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Missed the boat — stuck in Guernsey

Jack Ross

Video recording of Jack Ross interviewed by John Gaisford made on 12/3/2005
Edited transcript by J David 23/9/05

At the Occupation of Guernsey I was twenty-seven. I have vivid memories of the evacuation — ships going away empty — and literally missing the boat, I’d got my wife away, she was pregnant at the time, my son was born over in England, I was in St Peter Port when the air-raids took place, and before that I also remember noticing a lot of banners and stuff around the Town in yellow, yellow background, urging people not to be yellow and leave the island. They were panicking. There was bound to be panic, after all. I’m not criticising them at all. I had panic, I wanted to get my wife away, having done that I was more at ease. I didn’t agree with, because I was waiting to go myself, if I could, I could not go with my wife, but I got her on the ship, I walked on the ship with her,. The air raid, my sister-in-law was living in the High Street, had a flat over the High Street, I went there and looked out of the window, the mailboat was pulling away from the Jetty, and I thought “Oh dammit, I’ve literally missed the boat again”. So that was that. I got stuck then, I had a suitcase already packed, so I missed the boat. Anyway, that's preliminary to the Occupation and deportation. I wasn’t in the services, because I was entered for Britannia when I was thirteen, in those days you went in as a little snottie when you were thirteen. I was kitted out, all ready to go, and I contracted rheumatic fever and that was the end of it, and I had a chip on my shoulder ever after that, and 1939 we were over on holiday, with John’s mother, and I tried to join the navy then, “don’t you think you’d better go home? It’s all going to collapse, you know.” I still had my A & B, certificates from the CCF, ….The OTC. What I did join, though — he said “You could join the RASC”. “Army? Pff” My family were all naval, (except my father, he was a disgrace, he was in the Royal Horse Guards!) — talk about round pegs in square holes, he was terrified of horses, I loved them — but I did join a territorial unit, the Royal Gloucester Yeomanry, they were mounted, you see, mounted troops. I only joined them for free horses. And the fun of going to Gymkhanas and fêtes and that. Showing off with our spears and that, for sticking the pigs. And all that sort of stuff. I quite enjoyed it, but they disbanded. But they reformed sometime later, I’d resigned my commission, and that was that. I was never put on a reserve list, a Territorial officer, not on a reserve list.

Jack Ross

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