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Working for the Guernsey Essential Commodities Committee

Mrs Irene Gosset interviewed by John Gaisford and Rosie Mere
Transcribed and edited by John David 25-26/3/2005 from audio and video recordings

I don’t remember if the Post Office contacted me or if I contacted them, we were not on the phone, but I got a message to report at the Essential Commodities, because with the arrival of the Germans there was no possibility of any telegrams being sent, but I remembered that before this happened, it must have been in 39, end of 39, early 1940, I took a telegram from the Lieutenant Governor’s office, and it was in connection with the internees that were apparently being interned at the fort at Houmet, Vazon, and they were being moved, and I thought, afterwards, how slack our security was, there was I, a sixteen-year-old girl at the time, taking really quite a vital bit of information, but I didn’t think much about it at the time. Anyway, to get back to the Occupation, I was sent up to the Essential Commodities, which then was in St Paul’s, where there are gardens now, I wasn’t there very long, I was transferred to the Grange, to the Ladies’ College premises in the Grange, which is opposite the Grange Lodge hotel, where the Germans had made one of their headquarters. The local States I think put us in the Ladies’ College premises to save them being taken over by the Germans. There was shoes, milk, bread, clothing I presume, the Food Office I was in that was for general food. I was counting ration coupons. I expect they had the same thing in England. The Essential Commodities covered everything to do with food, clothing, petrol — must have been only a doctor would have had any petrol — I was in the food office, and every week we had all these little coupons from the ration books, and it depended on how many coupons if the shops could have a permit for the next lot. Being one of the youngest, with a couple of my other colleagues, we were the tea girls, the tea of course was bramble leaves, or acorn coffee, I don’t recall us making any coffee, it was tea. But we would go and make for all the staff. Sir Abraham Lainé was the one in charge, but I was with a Mr John Griffiths. Now I think — I don’t know if you have met Lieutenant-General Caldwell, Griff Caldwell, well this was his uncle, and he was in charge of the office I was in, there was quite a group of us youngsters in our teams, so, we had quite a bit of fun.

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