by Peter King
The Russians received separate treatment. Their ROA troops together with Italian troops in the Wehrmacht were evacuated on 14 May, but the Todt POWs kitted out in British battledress with a special flash were gathered at Camp Ursula in Guernsey. They were visited by Major V. Gruzdiev, one of the NKVD officers allowed under the Yalta Agreement and other agreements made by the British government, to visit 'Russian' prisoners and arrange their return. There were 273 Russians, 19 Poles and one Estonian classified as 'Russian', and they were despatched to a camp at Ncwlands Corner, near Guildford whence they travelled to the Soviet Zone of Germany, via Dover and Ostend. On arrival at Lilneburg in the British sector, the Russians placed 140 repatriates under arrest. As part of the 32,295 Russians returned to Stalin directly from Britain, the fate of some at least of this party can well be imagined.
The week before liberation was a strange one. Through wireless broadcasts the Islanders knew Hitler's Germany was falling apart, but days passed, and nothing happened. On 4 May Mrs Tremayne said 'as it gets to the end the feeling of relief is so great', but three days later she was still waiting. 'We are all strung up and terribly excited and the glad hour comes nearer, we are certainly the last to be relieved, but, oh the joy, just to think it can really be happening.'
Hüffmeier and Wulf seemed determined not to surrender. Work on military installations continued, and Sinel noticed that guards were placed as usual. Even though military discipline and health were breaking down, Hüffmeier told soldiers they must hold out because they would be brutally treated if they surrendered. Von Aufsess noticed a proclamation on 5 May stating the German authorities 'have the power' to enforce law and order and banning all demonstrations and meetings. The Island authorities agreed with this, and Coutanchc issued a statement on 6 May on Hüffmcier's orders saying, i appeal to you all to maintain your calm and dignity in the days through which we are now passing'.
The SS Vega arrived for the last time, and Coutanche said he was discussing with the Red Cross ways of improving supplies. Requisitions continued and Hathaway received demands for cattle and wood to be sent from Sark which she ignored. Hüffmeier's fanaticism went further than the Islanders knew. On Sunday 6 May he rejected a request for unconditional surrender, and planned to launch a second attack on Granville that day which had to be directly stopped by the ersatzführer Admiral Donitz. According to Ramsey, the last military execution on Jersey took place on Tuesday 8 May, the day when it was clear that liberation was really to take place.
It was in Julia Tremayne's diary 'A never to be forgotten day' when the press appeared uncensored, and wireless restrictions were lifted in time for loudspeakers to be put up to hear a broadcast by Churchill on VE Day. It was the day the blackout and curfew came to an end. Molly Finigan described how, 'Mum told us to get the flags out, ready to fly them across the street. With a radio getting an airing at long last, neighbours and the family got together in the street to listen to our dear Winston Churchill giving his famous speech.'
As Islanders gathered at their wirelesses the crowds cheered and waved their flags. Churchill said: 'Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight tonight, but in the interests of saving lives the "cease fire" began yesterday to be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today.' The cheering grew louder, and in the Royal Square, St Helier, Coutanche spoke from the court house to tell them the Germans had informed him a 'commission' was on its way, and, to even greater cheering, that the Royal Navy was approaching the Islands. He reminded them the King was to speak at nine that evening. A school holiday was announced.
But Churchill was wrong. The Islands were not quite free. The Task Force Operation Omelet group had sailed from Plymouth at ten that morning, Brigadier Snow in HMS Bulldog, accompanied by HMS Beagle. The ships carried two small parties each with two officers and 20 men who were to go ashore to test the situation. At midday the British met Hüffmeier's representative four miles south of Les Hanois lightship as a minesweeping trawler approached HMS Bulldog bearing Lieutenant-Commander Arnim Zimmerman. Hüffmeier had only empowered him to negotiate an armistice, and Snow had to make it clear there could only be unconditional surrender. Zimmerman had the audacity to warn Snow his ships could still be fired upon.
It was a futile postponing of the inevitable. The ships put to sea for a time, but at midnight returned to the rendezvous point when, out of the darkness, came an armed German trawler from which put out a white-painted cutter rowed by eight men. In the stern sat Zimmerman accompanied this time by Major Siegfried Heine, looking every inch the arrogant German. Talks began which lasted two hours, during which it was pointed out that Hüffmeier could not meet every condition because he had, for example, begun to destroy papers some time ago. However, the surrender was agreed, and 'At 7 a.m. a table was placed on the little quarterdeck. Brigadier Snow took his place at one side of it and the other members of his staff grouped around him. The German general was summoned, and hesitating, almost tottering - he is a man in late middle age - he came to the table. Eight times he signed his name on copies for Britain, Russia and America. The Brigadier signed and that was the end ...The time was 7.14 a.m.'
So on the same day that Bornholm Fortress surrendered to the Russians in the Baltic, and the Germans holding out in L'Orient, St Nazaire, and La Rochellc gave up the Channel Islands were liberated, among the last places to be freed, for there was only Dunkirk to surrender on 11 May, and Crete on 12 May.
At 7.45 on Wednesday 9 May, Lieutenant E.G. Stoneman and Colonel H.R. Power with 20 men of the Royal Artillery, bayonets fixed, landed at St Peter Port to be greeted by a sergeant and a policeman, the Island rulers being still in bed. 'There behind the dock gates was a seething, cheering, crying mob of men, women and children. Over them the church bells of St Peter Port were clanging tumultuously ... Then the crowd broke through the dock gates. In one second those gunners were marching like Guardsmen; in the next they were torn from the ranks, kissed, hugged.
cheered ... Somehow the soldiers reformed. Two girls with great Union Jacks led them into town.' When they reached the court house, Carey and others had arrived with Leale still in his dressing-gown. Stoneham was kissed on the steps, and Power's hat was knocked off. 'One could hear a sob from the crowd, then rising to a great volume of sound they sang "God Save the King". They then stopped, looked up again and cheered -that to us seemed the real moment of the liberation of Guernsey.'
The strength of emotion released is some indication of the sense of oppression five years of German rule had brought. Molly Finigan roamed the streets all day with the milling crowds. A sailor gave her an orange, and she flung her arms round him in gratitude.
Power rang up Coutanche in Jersey to tell him to be ready to go with General Wulf to HMS Beagle to which Brigadier Snow had transferred for the military surrender. It proved difficult to locate Wulf, but by twelve he and two of his staff were ready. Coutanche was annoyed at the presence of three Germans and said he would take Durct Aubin and Cecil Harrison as well. On board, the Jersey party were welcomed by Rear Admiral C.G. Stuart in command of the British naval forces, and by Colonel W.V.A. Robinson. They went below to enjoy gins, have their Island tobacco replaced by the real thing, and enjoy a wash with tablets of soap. Coutanche was able to enquire about his son, Midshipman John Coutanche, and it was a wonderful birthday message for him to receive news that he was safe, and applying for leave. Wulf proved obstinate at first, but Snow spoke sharply to him, and the surrender was signed. On 12 May Hüffmeier, Wulf, von Aufscss and other German officers embarked on HMS Faulknor for Plymouth before being sent to POW camps from which the last of them was released in 1948.
Meanwhile excitement was building up in St Helicr as HMS Beagle rounded Noirmont Point and anchored beneath Elizabeth Castle. The honour of being first ashore that afternoon went to the Royal Navy when Lieutenants Milne and Macdonald with four seamen came ashore, 'amidst roar after roar of delirious cheering". It was now safe for the rest of the flee
t to approach the Islands, and that evening parties of 200 soldiers landed on Guernsey from HMS Campion and on Jersey from HMS Cosby. Their first task was to disarm the Germans who were told to surrender in half-mile zones radiating from the centre of the town bringing their arms to the Arsenal at St Lawrence in Jersey. Bouchens and some of the local lads had got on quite well with the anti-aircraft battery at Grecnfarm, Maufant, and had played cards with the blue clad Luftwaffe men. 'Within a few hours our Flak Company had assembled on the paths which connected the huts. At the command "In gleischritt marsch" the gunners marched out of our lives, and into Jersey history leaving the gunsite still and quiet.'
Amidst the rejoicing Colonel Power sounded a few sombre notes. The police force had lost considerable credit in the eyes of the public, he said, and 'needs assistance from the military at the moment'. He referred to an incident on 11 May when a woman 'cornered like a mad beast, dishevelled, torn and bleeding', was threatened by a crowd calling out, 'Throw her into the harbour', and had to be rescued by troops. Power's civil affairs unit received information from the Jersey Loyalists, and the Guernsey Liberation Society about quislings over which, in the Woods' words, "a bland legalist blanket' was quickly drawn down. Power noticed, too, that war had led to discontent with the pre-war system of government, some radicals wanting constitutional change finding support among those angry at the war time conduct of the Island governments. On 4 June Power wrote to the war office: 'there is a danger that discontent of the Islanders with their pre-war system of government which differs considerably from the method of government in the United Kingdom, may be so increased after the return of Islanders now evacuated to this country as to lead to internal disturbance.'
It was necessary to establish military rule and then to resume the old method of government as quickly as possible. It was on 12 May that Brigadier Snow landed at St Peter Port at 10.45 in the morning to receive Hüffmeier's formal surrender, and then in front of Elizabeth College at 2.00 p.m. to announce the formation of the military government. Snow then crossed to Jersey and the ceremony was repeated at the Royal Court where he read out a proclamation from George VI making clear that they would 'resume as soon as possible your accustomed system of government'.
Military government continued until 25 August when the former system of government was restored with the appointment of lieutenant-governors. On Jersey, Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Grasett proved a popular choice and remained for ten years while Guernsey had as its new governor Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Neame, who had spent most of the war in POW camps after capture by the Italians in April 1941. When reform had to be considered, therefore, it was the old governing class that put forward the initial proposals late in the year. A home office committee chaired by Chuter Ede, the home secretary, discussed them, and limited reforms of voting and membership of the states and appeals in the courts were introduced in 1947. A second committee considered Alderney where the position of 'Judge' was abolished, and the Island given two scats in the Guernsey States in 1948.
Sark had watched while these events took place, and various naval craft passed her shores. As soon as Hathaway heard of VE Day in Europe, she ran up the Union Jack and Stars and Stripes and lit a bonfire, and for ten days was in effective control of the Germans on the Island. The Island Commandant refused to answer calls from Guernsey, and so towards evening on 10 May a naval tug took Colonel Allen, two other officers, and 20 men from St Peter Port to Creux Harbour. They were escorted to the German headquarters at Le Manoir and after much knocking on the door, the commandant emerged, and went next door to Rosebud Cottage to sign the instrument of surrender. The Germans left on 17 May taking with them their motorized vehicles.
On 11 May at 3.45 the main bulk of the task force consisting of 57 ships set out from Plymouth, and arrived off the Islands, Rear-Admiral Stuart being responsible for Guernsey and Commander L.A. Freeman for Jersey. The fleet was escorted by a number of British, Canadian and American destroyers, and one Polish vessel. It was preceded by seven minc-sweepers, but most fascinating of all to the Islanders were the ten Landing Ship (Tank) vessels and the Dukws which were amphibious. The LST disgorged at St Aubin's Bay, Jersey and L'Ancresse, Guernsey with long awaited stores, and then took back POWs and materials which the military had decided should go to England. Mrs Cortvriend described the scene at unloading. 'The manoeuvering of an American LST through the entrance of the inner harbour seemed miraculous to us, and we watched with wonder as its bows suddenly swung open to disgorge motor lorries laden with food, bicycles, motor-trucks and military equipment of every description. A steel track was laid over the mud and the vehicles were instantly driven across it to the road.'
Maugham rejoiced that privation was over at last, and the day after the LSTs arrived, Julia Tremayne made the last entry in her diary: ‘I go into church every day and hold a little service to myself and thank God for all His goodness to me.'
Alderney was left alone for a week giving Schwalm ample time to burn or drown any incriminating evidence. On 16 May, Brigadier Snow and Rear-Admiral Stuart approached the Island to land at Braye Harbour where they were met by Schwalm, and a group of Islanders and Russian prisoners. Frank Oselton gave them glasses of milk, and George Pope accused the Germans of killing a thousand people pointing at them as killers. It was a claim he was unable to substantiate. A German medical officer told Snow that Todt and SS records had been removed, and Schwalm would obviously have destroyed his the previous week.
Within a short time Snow initiated an enquiry by military intelligence led by Major Sidney Cotton. During May and June detailed interrogation of the remaining Germans, Islanders, and inmates was carried out, and the committee looked for 'material witnesses who had drifted further afield'. The final report and the evidence for this investigation was missing in 1982 when Steekoll investigated the matter, and he was told that need for storage space had led to their destruction. Evidence collected by the committee was offered to the Russians on Jersey who were holding their own investigation, no trace of which has been found.
From 22 May to 23 August 1945 the possibility of war crimes trials for events on Alderney was under consideration. The foreign office officials concerned were anxious to carry out every last detail of the agreements with Russia to return all Russians in British hands to Stalin. Patrick Dean wrote, that 'if victims were solely Russian, the Germans should be handed over to the Soviet government since their victims were Soviet citizens.'
The war office knew, as a result of interrogations, and from the miscellany of races on the Island in May 1945, that there were Jews and other groups in the Alderney camps. Dean said on 30 June I think it would cover our action, if we now proceeded to try the staff of the concentration camps [sic] in Alderney by Special Military Court, provided, however, that the victims of these guards were not solely Russians.'
On 11 July, Brigadier Henry Shapcott, the deputy judge advocate-general was approached by the foreign office saying the treasury solicitors needed to be very clear that groups other than Russians were involved.
Shapcott was asked specifically if Russians were mistreated in the concentration camp, and 'whether there were other nationalities than Russian among the victims'. His reply to Patrick Dean a few days later was highly confusing. After stating Russians were also mistreated in Todt camps, he replied to the second question, 'none other than possibly Germans', although he also admitted French Jews were in the camp for a time, adding in a subsequent letter 'that no atrocities were committed against the French Jews'. Either Shapcott had not bothered to enquire, or failed to pick up a telephone to speak to Major Cotton, because if he had he would have been told that the prisoners included French Jews, and that they were mistreated. The foreign office was surprised, and one of their officials said he had thought it more likely 'the German guards would be accused of war crimes against persons of various nationalities', but before long they contacted Sir Thomas Barnes, the treasury solicitor, stating, 'we have now learned from them that all the victi
ms of the alleged war crimes were Russians who worked for the Todt organisation, or were prisoners in a concentration camp on the Island.' Under these circumstances, the foreign office preferred to hand over any accused Germans to the Russians. Barnes replied 'I therefore assume that there is nothing further for me to do", and the matter was dropped during the next month. No Germans were in fact handed over to the Russians.
Clearing up Alderney was one of the most difficult tasks facing the military government. After most of the Germans were removed in five LSTs on 20 May some 500 remained, and until some preliminary mine-clearance had been achieved worked without British troops. A German crew was also left in the Casquets lighthouse for a time. Judge French and Snow, made a preliminary visit after a week to assess the damage, and teams of WVS personnel were brought in to clean up the properties. Early in December some preliminary parties arrived, and on 15 December the first of the Islanders returned. Eventually 685 of the pre-war citizenry returned to the barren and broken-down Island.
Unfortunately Judge French, due as much to his former Indian service as to an ulcer, was unable to provide any leadership. Quarrels broke out when atlcmpts were made to restore property to its rightful owners. Communal farming was tried, and proved a failure, and once the military left, relations between French and the people deteriorated until the home office had to retire him.
Naturally a feeling of tremendous elation followed years of repression as people gave themselves over to public ceremonies, and making allied troops welcome. From the mainland came visitors, but not Churchill. On 15 May, the home office party arrived led by Herbert Morrison accompanied by Lord Munster, Sir Frank Newman, and Charles Markbreiter whose voice Sherwill had heard on the telephone the evening when St Peter Port was raided. Morrison was received by those responsible for affairs during the occupation who lost no time in letting him know their side of the story. Coutanchc described the scene in his house after the nine o'clock news when, 'we went on sitting round the table for several hours while they asked questions and I did my best to answer them. Eventually we got up and went to bed, I suppose at around two o'clock in the morning.'