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From a nurse to a Bailiff's secretary and a German commander... The experiences of islanders living through the final days of the Occupation have been brought to life in a new series of video diaries.
The first of Jersey Heritage's 'Mémouaithe: a Liberation journal' project videos will be published on Christmas Eve, paying homage to the Red Cross's SS Vega's arrival on 30 December 1944 – and more will follow in the lead-up to the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day next year.
Reading the 80-year-old diary entries was described as "more moving than anticipated" by the heritage organisation.
Jersey Heritage's Head of Programmes, Vic Tanner-Davy, explained that each diary entry had been carefully selected to give a different perspective on what life was like as the end of the Occupation was in sight and the countdown to freedom began.
Pictured: Exhibitions Curator Lucy Layton reads the diary of Alice Bonney, a former nurse.
“These special diaries are a key part of our collections and help us to share the story of one of the most significant periods in the Island’s history," he said.
"Reading the words of someone who lived and breathed the Occupation years is a powerful way to understand what they experienced and how they felt at the time. All our readers found the experience of playing a diarist more moving than they had anticipated.
“We chose Christmas Eve to begin our series as this was an especially difficult time for Islanders and only days before the Red Cross’s SS Vega arrived with its lifesaving cargo on 30 December 1944. Five months later, Islanders were liberated and we hope that everyone will engage with these daily videos to follow the diarists’ stories as we begin the build-up to Liberation 80.”
The authors behind the diaries include a former printer of the Express' sister publication Jersey Evening Post, a nurse, farmer and a former Bailiff's secretary.
There are also entries from a superior in the German Field Command and a woman deported to a German internment camp who wrote about her experiences there.
"Mémouaithe: a Liberation journal’" is being sponsored by Insurance Corporation,
Michelle Steele, an executive at the firm, said: “Preserving and sharing our Island’s unique heritage is vital to understanding who we are and ensuring future generations appreciate the resilience and spirit of our community. This partnership allows us to contribute to a meaningful project that not only highlights Jersey's rich history but also encourages connection and engagement with audiences far and wide. At Insurance Corporation, we believe in investing in initiatives that strengthen our community and celebrate the stories that define us.”
Wife to Victor and mother to two sons, Philip and Brian who remained at boarding school in England during the Occupation, her diary is a form of long letter to them after in August 1943, when she had to write that Victor had died.
The manager of a timber merchants at the start of the Occupation, he was left to look after the shop when his boss was evacuated to the UK. By the time of the diary entries, the timber had all but gone, and Mr le Sauteur had time on his hands which enabled him to use his practical knowledge to make ingenious devices, like a water wheel generator, and to get involved in rackets, like sourcing illicit meat and wirelesses for people.
After serving as a nurse in the First World War she went back to her profession at the start of the Occupation and was widowed in 1934, with a daughter, Margaret, and two sons, Frank and Clem,who were both deported to the Laufen internment camp because they were born in London. Frank was repatriated to Jersey and then escaped the Island following D-Day, joining the Merchant Navy.
Pictured: Alice Bonney lived through both World Wars and became a widow in 1934.
A printer working for the Jersey Evening Post. In that position, he was privy to official information on a daily basis, which he recorded diligently in his diary. Mr Sinel's diary remains the most comprehensive and definitive first-hand account of the Occupation and Liberation.
Ms Le Ruez was living and working on the family farm in St Peter when the Germans occupied Jersey. The farm housed eight children, Ms Le Ruez's parents and grandparents, rabbits, hens and Dolly the horse. Separated from her fiancé, Alfred, who was unfortunately out of the Island when the occupying German forces arrived in 1940, she was desperate to hear news of him throughout the Occupation. A Methodist and a committed Christian, her faith sustained her as she dealt with the separation.
The secretary to three Bailiffs over the course of 20 years’ service including wartime Bailiff Alexander Coutanche’s, he was witness to many of the major decisions made by the civil administration and the competing pressures they were under to keep Islanders safe and well in the face of German orders. He was a frequent liaison point for Baron von Aufsess, and an amateur historian, who took great pride in showing visitors around the States Chambers, including von Aufsess.
The only diarist not resident in Jersey at the end of 1944. She lived at Havre des Pas with her parents and sister, Beryl. An English family, they almost decided to leave Jersey in June 1940, but changed their minds at the last minute. In September 1942, the family were deported and interned in Schloss Wurzach, near Biberach in Germany. Her diary tells of the camp activities that staved off the boredom of imprisonment and the advance of Allied troops through Germany to the gates of Wurzach.
Head of civil affairs in the German Field Command, his role was to mediate between representatives of the islands’ governments and German military command. A Bavarian aristocrat, von Aufsess saw himself as a civilised, educated man and skilled negotiator, who could run rings around the German military commanders and the Island authorities.
Listen to an example of a diary from ‘Mémouaithe - a Liberation journal’ below...
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