by Peter King
However, even if his orders were required to be published by the Germans, there was no reason why he should not have taken greater care with some of the words. In August 1941 he referred to escapers as being from 'enemy' forces, and on another occasion offered a reward of £25 for information about the chalking of V-for-Victory signs. Frank Falla said he knew of at least one case when this reward was claimed, and as a result an elderly and crippled man, Xavier de Guillebon, who chalked the signs on German bicycle seats was sentenced in July 1941 to a year in prison. Nor did the Island authorities complain when John Martel, his defence counsel, was excluded from the trial. It would have been better if such orders had been published under the commandant's signature alone.
Ambrose Sherwill was placed in charge of the controlling committee on the advice of Guernsey's attorney-general. He was dismissed and then imprisoned in October 1940 for his involvement with the concealment of four British agents, but was allowed to resume his former post of attorney-general, and from July 1942 to attend the controlling committee once more. A few months later he was among British subjects deported to Germany where he became camp leader at Laufen. Sherwill, a Devonian, had obtained his entry into Island ruling circles by his marriage to May Carey. He became attorney-general in 1935. The way in which he was punished in 1940 in spite of his encouragement to agents to surrender, his complete backing for obedience to German rule, and his broadcast on Radio Bremen may well account for Sherwill's persistent determination thereafter to see the Germans in the most favourable light. He told the police chief, 'I can see no way of avoiding' conformity with German wishes. In the background, too, was the fear that his son John with intimate knowledge of the Island, might be used in a subsequent raid.
But his willingness to co-operate brought him some reward in September 1942. The deportations were supposed to include all British-born subjects on the Islands, and very few exceptions were made even among the elderly and sick. Knackfuss asked Milller if women and children should be included, and was told no exceptions could be made, but von Aufsess in the Kommandantur deliberately left Sherwill's wife and sons off the list. May and the two boys continued to live at Havclet House in a flat while the upper part of the building was given over to billeted troops who in this case, unlike so many others, behaved 'with perfect consideration'. Although there were other cases in which the Germans relented, like that of Doctor McKinstry, the favourable treatment given to Sherwill and other members of the Island governing class was yet a further example of double standards.
Another prominent member of the Guernsey government exempted in 1942 was the man who succeeded Sherwill in charge of the controlling committee, the Reverend John Leale, formerly financial adviser to the committee until his permanent appointment in January 1941. Although Leale was a Methodist minister of cultured tastes, he was also an extremely rich man. From the first he argued 'there must be no thought of any kind of resistance', and strongly condemned sabotage as foolish. He adopted the line that both sides were bound by the Hague Convention which forbade any actions by an occupied people against their occupiers and after the war he said he could not recommend anyone for honours who had helped escapers or damaged the Germans because it would violate the convention. There was no validity in this argument, as a resistance news-sheet pointed out in June 1942, because while the Germans could not point to any major violations of the convention by the people, they had broken it whenever it suited them to reduce rations, confiscate property, or enforce labour.
Jersey was better governed than Guernsey. The bailiff, Alexander Coutanche, was an able and ambitious member of an old Jersey family, and had been a deputy for St Helier since 1922. Called to the Jersey bar, he rose to be attorney-general and bailiff in 1935 aged only 43. He had been closely involved in developing the tourist trade, and in the opening of a new airport at St Peter's. Von Aufsess found him congenial company, but also remarked on his "coolly calculating' nature. His bland memoirs say nothing about his personal views or role in the occupation. Although he is on record for complaining about various measures like deportations, or ration reductions, it is clear he endorsed the policy of co-operation. He told Norman Longmate he did not believe they could have done anything else to help 'the general cause'. When questioned about anti-Semitic orders he claimed there was nothing they could have done to help, that the significance of these and other measures was not then appreciated.
Charles Duret Aubin, the attorney-general, was probably the second most important figure in Jersey Island government. A large and rather ponderous man in speech, von Aufsess nevertheless saw him as a modest and intelligent person, and the two got on sufficiently well for von Aufscss to tell him about his dislike of Hitler, and his intention to escape. The bailiff's secretary was Ralph Mollet who faithfully supported the co-operation policy. On one occasion he was in church at St Saviour's when the clergyman, Canon Clifford Cohu, asked the congregation to sing the National Anthem. This was strictly forbidden and. although Germans present made no objection, Mollet reported it to Duret Aubin who in turn told the Dean who warned Cohu to be more careful.
Could this group of men have done more to distance themselves from German policies and encourage resistance? After he had stayed with Carey and Coutanche Herbert Morrison did not think so, and his report to the cabinet said, 'the Island officials had discharged their difficult responsibilities during the Occupation in exemplary fashion'.
This was simply untrue. They had surrendered to pressure. The Germans warned them they would remove from office any official who failed to conform to orders from the commandant. If an official did not obey orders he was entitled to have charges in writing submitted to him, and to a hearing at which he could put his case. No official availed himself of this procedure. The removal of Sherwill and others in 1940 had been sufficient warning for most. Doctor McKinstry, who was critical of German policies was threatened with deportation in 1942, as was Doctor Symons in 1944. The Germans also threatened general action against the administration. Carey told Mrs Cortvricnd that one reason why he had issued the reward notice about V-for-Victory signs was because the Germans threatened to deport some of the jurats to Germany. When the Bulletin of British Patriots criticized the Germans, ten members of the States were briefly imprisoned as hostages.
Administrators and lawyers are experts at creating delays and smokescreens, and Island officials could have used their outdated procedures and legal niceties to create endless difficulties. They must have realized the Germans valued their signature on orders, and their public pronouncements against escape, or sabotage. This fruitful co-operation benefited German military occupation and could have been made into a bargaining counter. The Island rulers knew they were treading on dangerous ground. When they signed the anti-Jewish orders it was agreed that only the preambles should be published over their signatures rather than specific details of anti-Jewish measures.
Apart from a handful of individual cases, and a number of delays in implementing measures, their complaints were ineffective even in the palmy days before June 1944, and none after that date. They denounced escapers as foolhardy, and sabotage as pointless. Several times they urged Islanders to act as informers. The Germans imposed collective penalties illegally after the Nicolle-Symes landing, cable-cutting sabotage, the commando landing on Sark, and the publication of the Bulletin of British Patriots. They threatened to take hostages and to deport people, and did so in certain cases. They confiscated bicycles, cars, motor cycles, cameras, and wirelesses among other goods. When the Island governments objected to confiscations in May 1942 their protest was ignored. Reductions in food rations were carried out illegally as a reprisal and when Sir Abraham Laine. who had a good record of complaining, used the word 'reprisal' Dr Kratzer reprimanded him. Coutanche and Carey published the order making the reductions stating 'it is no sense a punishment against the civil population'. Forced labour was demanded for the fortifications and nearly 200 Islanders conscripted. Leale complained that this violated the Hague C
onvention. The labour was used, and then in August the Germans replied and agreed not to take any more 'to perform fortification and entrenchment work' after they had used what labour they needed.
What made the policy even more regrettable was the degree of goodwill towards the Germans in personal relations. Although Coutanche said that there was no 'social intercourse', there was in fact a good deal as von Aufsess' diary shows, and von Schmettow himself broke off cordial relations late in 1944. Sherwill, Carey, Hathaway, and Leale all spoke of courtesy and consideration between themselves and the Germans. In one speech Sherwill said of relations: 'These are not merely on a correct basis, but they are cordial and friendly. It is most important that they should remain so. Let no one jeopardize this by unseemly or unruly conduct."
This sort of relationship had a number of results. For breaking laws, like sheltering British agents or listening to the wireless, which sometimes led to death and long imprisonment for other Islanders, they received minimal punishment. Although some of them or their relatives were deported others were granted exemption. Small though such kindly gestures as not digging a trench across Coutanche's lawn, or getting Hathaway's glasses repaired might be, they were privileges not extended to others, and a constant reminder that withdrawing co-operation would render their lives as unpleasant as those of most Islanders.
In October 1944 a case involving Deputy E. Le Quesne, chairman of the labour committee and a member of the Jersey superior council, highlighted the situation and its inequalities. The Feldpolizei arrested him for listening to a wireless. The police had not consulted the Platzkommandantur so Le Quesne was tried, and given seven months for an offence, which in other cases had led to deportation to a German prison. Von Aufsess intervened, and then a 'foolish blunder' was made because after only two weeks Le Quesne was released. Such behaviour on their part, said von Aufsess, 'leads to the accusation that we have one law for the highly placed and another for the ordinary citizen".
Well-off Islanders who fraternized with Germans inviting them to their houses, dining with them, lending them books, riding and playing sport with them, were assured of favourable treatment. Von Aufsess wrote as late as September 1944 that 'there are still many rich people' in Jersey. Mrs Hathaway admitted to entertaining Germans from all three Islands. Von Aufsess often visited Miss White at Samarez Manor who lost only two valuable items during the occupation. Another of his friends was Mrs Riley of Rozel Manor where in April 1945 they ate cakes of pre-war quality, while Mrs Tremayne was writing the same week, i don't think there are any potatoes or bread, it is slow starvation'. Was it callousness or indifference to people in another class that allowed Mrs Riley to entertain a German in this way?
The gathering of wood was illegal and people were prosecuted for doing so. One afternoon von Aufsess came across a mother and daughter gathering kindling. He helped them carry it home, a fire was made, and soon 'we were all sitting round the glowing hearth ... like friends'. They shared the contents of Red Cross parcels, and although fraternization had now been banned by von Hüffmeier, Mrs Fielding and her daughter, were allowed by von Aufsess to visit him at Linden Court 'making a discreet entrance through the back door'. This happened in February 1945. On several occasions Mrs Tremayne indulged in outbursts in her diary about the friendliness of people towards the Germans which made her 'positively sick'. On Guernsey. Mrs Cortvriend described the atmosphere of denunciation and betrayal as 'revolting' referring particularly to anonymous letters about people breaking regulations by listening to the wireless, or obtaining more food. 'When the existence of traitors among us became commonly known [she wrote] we learnt to tread warily, to look over our shoulders when passing on the news, not only from fear that the Germans might overhear us. We began to avoid certain people and to be cautious of our remarks before any of whose trustworthiness we were in doubt, and this feeling was to many of us one of the most repellent experiences we had ever known.'
No one had done more to denounce collaboration and encourage resistance in Europe than Churchill, and after the war he paid tribute frequently to European resistance. In spite of all attempts to stop it there had been resistance and sabotage on a small scale in the Islands unaided by those in positions where help would have been invaluable, or by organizations specifically set up by Churchill to help such resistance, but this small band of British resistance heroes and heroines was left unacknowledged. It would surely have been natural for him to visit the only part of the British Isles to suffer occupation.
The Guernsey Liberation Council, an unofficial body, wanted to ask Churchill to visit the Channel Islands, but the governor turned down their request in March 1946 saying someone equally distinguished had already been asked. In November 1947, Churchill again refused to visit the Islands and made no promise about any future visit. As Prime Minister in direct contact with Sir Stewart Menzies of MI6 receiving details from their European agents, MI9 agents, SOE operatives and MI5 vetting of escapers from the Islands, Churchill must have known a good deal about the ruling class who in many cases had run occupation government and were fully restored to their former power. A war office summary of information provided by escapers up to October 1944 pointed out that there was widespread discontent among ordinary citizens with the conduct of state officials and many wanted the Islands to be incorporated in England after the war as an ordinary county. Such demands were still being made in the summer of 1945 to the British military government. The report said that many officials were accused of passivity, inefficiency, overwillingness to co-operate with the Germans, and profiting from the black market. Even though, as the report said, ordinary citizens could not know all the circumstances surrounding Island government activities, evidence of such activities may have influenced Churchill's decision not to visit the Island.
Part 3
Collaboration
The Forces of Law and Order: The Black Market
Although no specific attempts were made by British Intelligence to find out what was going on in the Channel Islands, reports filtered through in other ways from escapers or people on the Continent in contact with the Islands able to convey information to SOE or MI9 operatives. Among such reports was one on Jersey in 1944 dealing with collaboration among ordinary people which seemed to be on a widespread scale.
The report referred to dealing in the black market which 'is due to the meagre rations issued and is practically universal from the highest to the lowest. Jurats, Deputies etc. are not above it and are some of the worst offenders. Farmers are making large sums of money by holding up supplies and then selling them at very enhanced prices to those who can afford to pay. Those who have any stocks of unobtainable commodities are selling what they have at exorbitant prices.' The report highlighted, secondly, the work of informers described as 'quislings' assisting 'the Gestapo' by 'informing on their fellow citizens. Among their activities is informing about people who have kept wireless receiving sets. It is understood they are paid by the Germans for each person they hand over.' The report said Irish and Italian hotel workers were particularly prone to informing. Finally the report gave details of fraternization by local women who had been 'prostituting themselves with the Germans in the most shameless manner', some of whom had become informers.
Collaboration by ordinary people is much more understandable than by those in authority. Had they passed over opportunities to help the Germans they were the most likely to suffer retaliation from the German law and order forces. It is important to remember that law courts, police, and prisons were subordinated to the German will, and alongside them appeared some of the apparatus of the police state inaccurately referred to as "the Gestapo' in contemporary accounts although that particular force was not permanently on the Islands. To Islanders all German police are the same, so that when some arrived on Sark after the commando raid in October 1942 Mrs Tremayne commented that, 'the Gestapo are still here, questioning everyone about the landing of the British'. Some understanding of the forces of law and order, and the laws
themselves is
necessary before looking in more detail at civilian collaboration with German rule.
There can be no doubt that the legal position of the Island courts and police as far as their conduct is concerned is unassailable. Given the decision by the Island governors representing the King to co-operate, and the home office request to Crown civil servants to continue at their posts, the Royal Courts had to continue functioning, and apply the law under the terms of the German occupation as well as dealing with ordinary crime as before.
Similarly the police as Crown servants continued to function as before and this inevitably involved them in house searches, acting on information received, and carrying out laws punishing people for a wide range of 'resistance' and other activities under the ever widening network of German regulations. Although there were cases in which the police appeared overzealous in enforcing German regulations, and other occasions when they profited from their privileged position, the force seems by and large to have acted fairly. In a few cases they secretly opposed the Germans, and two policemen, Inspector Albert Lamy on Guernsey, and Sergeant T.G. Cross on Jersey were among the few-Islanders given occupation honours after the war.
