READER LETTER: Christmas during the occupation

Friday 22 December 2023

Nick Le Huray shares his research into the occupation during Christmas:

In the run up to Christmas I have been thinking about the experiences of those that were here in the Channel Islands during the occupation, those that were exiled in the UK and those that were deported to Germany.

I guess it must be just that I am getting older and thinking about my relatives' experiences and the experiences of others too.

This has prompted me to do some research into what life was like for islanders. The experiences of islanders were very different at various stages of the war and dependent upon where they were.

The easiest way to explain it is to deal with it year by year and by where people were.

Christmas 1940 was six months after the arrival of German forces in the islands. Festivities were not too different from the pre-invasion Christmases except that there were a multitude of regulations to comply with, and already there were some food shortages and rationing. Tea had stopped being supplied in November, but a ration was authorised for Christmas. That said the rations were increased for Christmas and supplemented for some by them not having handed over some of the food that they had had in their larders at the start of the occupation. This was risky as it was in defiance of the German regulations, for which they could have been severely punished. Some also risked the slaughter of animals as not all had been declared to the Germans at this stage.

Radios had been confiscated but were returned in time for Christmas so at least islanders were able to enjoy broadcasts from the BBC.

For those that had been evacuated to the United Kingdom they spent Christmas with better rations but wondering what was happening to their friends and family living in the islands under occupation as no communication was possible at this stage. The British Government organised parties for evacuated children and ensured that they received presents. This continued throughout the war.

Christmas 1941 was more difficult for islanders. Whilst there were additional rations of tobacco for men the women received no extras. Reverend Douglas Ord noted in his diary that he felt that this was most unfair as the women were not to receive anything extra despite their hard work to keep their families fed and looked after. He also noted that deaths due to starvation were a continual occurrence.

The shops had nothing to sell, and gifts were only homemade or things that could be grown in the garden. Their only “Christmas box” was the news from the BBC of British victories.

In Jersey things were much the same and Philip Le Sauteur noted in his diary that there were no sweets, except for a few handed out to school children, but that despite rationing his mother had managed to concoct a Christmas Pudding of sorts despite the lack of many traditional ingredients. They also had a German corporal billeted on them with whom they had had to spend Christmas. They had a lively exchange of views and had he not been such a good-tempered fellow then Le Sauteur could have been in trouble.

In England the WVS and Scouts arranged parties for evacuated Children as had been done in the previous year. At least this Christmas they were able to receive the brief Red Cross messages. Although these took months to come through.

1941 didn’t end without incident in Guernsey however, when on New Years Eve the Germans got drunk and started firing their weapons around midnight. Unfortunately, a gentleman living in Collings Road, went outside to see what was going on and was shot dead.

By Christmas of 1942 islanders were unable to listen to the BBC on their radios as they had been confiscated in the summer. Only those with an illicit crystal radio were able to listen. Some traditional Christmas entertainment was available in the form of a ‘Dick Whittington’ play being performed at the Little Theatre.

As food was becoming scarcer the cost of a Christmas Turkey had escalated from £2 17s 6d at auction the previous year to £25 on the black market. At the time of writing this in December 2023 £25 is the equivalent of £1,452 and the equivalent of the 1941 price is £156.

This was the first Christmas for those deported in September 1942 to Biberach, Wurzach-Allgau, and Laufen. Red Cross parcels had not yet started to arrive at all of the camps, so they were on meagre rations of watery soup twice a day and a one kg loaf between five people each day.

For those in exile in the United Kingdom life continued as in previous years since their arrival.

By 1943 it was very difficult to obtain potatoes in the Channel Islands. Despite this an extra ration was issued for Christmas which had the unfortunate side effect that islanders were not able to obtain potatoes until the following April.

The BBC broadcast Guernsey children singing on Christmas morning; although given the lack of radios it is unlikely many living under occupation would have heard the broadcast. It was popular with listeners in the UK, so the choir sang again the following year.

Life for those that had been deported was somewhat better as they received regular Red Cross parcels, one per person per week, and sometimes parcels from relatives in the United Kingdom.

1944 saw the worst Christmas of the entire occupation. Electricity and gas were very limited, and it meant that, for some, cooking had to be attempted in the fireplace with whatever they could get to use to make a fire. In reality most spent their Christmas in cold dark homes.

The Guernsey authorities had argued with the Germans and succeeded in being allowed to issue six ounces of beef, six ounces of rice, a little cheese and some cooking fat. A typical Christmas Day meal in many houses consisted of some fried potatoes for breakfast followed by a meal with some meat and a pudding fashioned from some apples and rice for lunch. There was no milk to use in the pudding. A pudding in these times was a luxury. Bramble tea substitute was the drink that was typically had.

The Taylor family Christmas Day lunch, for example, consisted of one dog biscuit, an apple, some seaweed and a tiny portion of meat from their ration for each of them.

Islanders did get a late Christmas present in the form of the arrival of the Red Cross ship ‘Vega’. The ship arrived in Guernsey on the 27th December with parcels for the islanders before sailing on to Jersey on the evening of the 30th December. The parcels contained many items which had not been seen since the occupation started.

Those in camps in Germany received the last of their parcels in December 1944 after which the German transport system collapsed so they were unable to be delivered.

Having read this you will probably be feeling, like me, extremely grateful for the Christmas you are about to have compared to that experienced by those during the occupation. We will be surrounded by friends and family with as much to eat and drink as we want. Swapping presents, not worried about being bombed, and able to go about our business as we please.