Tag: Food

PODCAST SPECIAL – USE OF THE LOCAL LANGUAGE GUERNÉSIAIS, A FORM OF NORMAN FRENCH, DURING THE OCCUPATION.

Nick had a brainwave that it might be fun to explore the use of the local language, Guernésiais, Pronounced ‘JEHR-nehz-yay’, it is also known as ‘Guernsey French’ or ‘patois’. It is a form of Norman French, which evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken in the region when it was part of the Roman Empire.

There was only one man for the job of coming in for a chat about this subject that man was Yan Marquis. A local tour guide and heavily involved in promoting the language. Nick has known

We chat about the Guernsey language #guernesiais and its use amongst the Guernsey occupied and evacuees during WWII. Challenges they faced included: incomprehension, suspicion, adaption, isolation & linguistic disconnect. Fascinating chat about how the language was a benefit to those occupied and also a problem for those evacuated, that returned unable to speak it.

We also talk about some stories that people have told Yan over the years about their time during the occupation.

For more information on the language go here.

For details of Yan’s tours go here.

You can also listen to Walter Brehaut who we mentioned in the podcast and Yan in conversation here. There is a translation!

If you want to hear more of the language following our podcast you can find it hear along with translations. https://soundcloud.com/user-348870745

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog post.

I also co-host a podcast with Keith Pengelley in which we talk about the occupation of the Channel Islands month by month using first hand accounts, diaries and our research in the archives. You can find us on all the major podcast services. Just search “Islands at War” or visit our podcast page here.

You can also follow the blog on Twitter at @Fortress_Island where I share other information and photographs. If you prefer Facebook I also have a page there.

If you would like to receive email notifications of future blogs, you can sign up to the right of this blog post or here. Feel free to look around the website, where I have categorised posts to make them easier to find and other resources such as tours, places to visit and films that may be of interest.

If you have questions or information to share you can contact me by email on Contact@Island-Fortress.Com.

You can also find articles, podcasts, TV appearances and other social media etc here.

I will be adding more as time permits. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please share it on social media or add a comment if you did. Feedback is always appreciated.

Also happy to be contacted with questions about the war in the Channel Islands, media appearances, podcasts etc.

DECEMBER 1941 PODCAST – AMERICANS SUFFER POST PEARL HARBOUR, MILITARY ACTIVITY HOTS UP, A HUGE GUN, UNWELCOME GUESTS, FOOD AND MORE!

It is the December 1941 episode and we look at what Christmas was like for different families and across the Channel Islands.

We talk about food and some of the crazy prices being paid for livestock, difficulties in obtaining some some essentials.

Military activity hots up and the barrels are delivered for the huge Mirus Battery. This unfortunately causes a tragic death of a 6 year old girl who was crushed. This happened at Le Ville au Roi. In the photograph below you can see the junction itself.

Below you can see photographs of the vehicles used to pull the gun barrel.

Read more about the big guns in the article below.

BATTERIE MIRUS – THE BIG GUNS

Pearl Harbour happens and the Germans take measures against the Americans resident in the Channel Islands.

We look at various different families and how their lives were impacted so far.

We also touch on the German Officer who as a boy scout had been awarded a medal by the King of England.

Listen on your favourite podcast app or click the player below.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog post.

If you have questions or information to share you can contact me by email on Contact@Island-Fortress.Com.

You can also find articles, podcasts, TV appearances and other social media etc here.

Also happy to be contacted with questions about the war in the Channel Islands, media appearances, podcasts etc.

JUNE 1941 PODCAST IS OUT!

Keith and I can’t believe we have covered a year of the the Occupation this episode! There was a lot going on some of which was a bit disturbing to say the least.

Blackberry tea and how it was gathered and made.

Food or the lack thereof and the impact on people.

The third Jewish order is published. This is awful and we look at it in some detail. Essentially this third order was an attempt to make the local population hostile to the Jewish population. It had different impacts across the islands and Keith and I talk about that.

We talked about the build up of troops and how some were puzzled as to why they were here. Some talked of being demoralised already.

We talk about one of the first concrete and extensive gun batteries in Guernsey. Batterie Strassburg up at Jerbourg is a complex of 64 different positions around the Jerbourg headland. You can see some of them here.

We talked about the Doyle Monument being demolished. You can see it here and you can probably see what the problem was.

There are some excellent books on fortifications. If you take a look on your favourite book shop, Festung or here

NICK TALKS TO HISTORIAN DR PHILIP BLOOD ABOUT THE GERMAN OCCUPATION OF THE CHANNEL ISLANDS.

Nick was delighted to be invited to talk to the well known historian and author Dr Philip Blood about the German occupation of the Channel Islands during the Second World War. Phil has written a number of books and contributes to the Fallout Sub stack. Please do go and take a look at the Substack site and if you like the content subscribe.

It was an absolute privilege for Nick to be invited to speak to Phil. Phil has a great amount of knowledge about life in the occupied territories of mainland Europe including the Channel Islands and how it was different to the mainland Europe experience.

We had a great chat about resistance and how it was different from mainland Europe, collaboration, food and much more.

Watch the YouTube video or listen to the podcast here.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog post.

If you have questions or information to share you can contact me by email on Contact@Island-Fortress.Com.

You can also find articles, podcasts, TV appearances and other social media etc here.

Also happy to be contacted with questions about the war in the Channel Islands, media appearances, podcasts etc.

MAY 1941 PODCAST IS OUT! FISH FURY, A SINGSONG IN SARK, A MAD IRISHMAN, SEIZED LAND AND MUCH MORE!

May 1941 and there is a lot going on!

We start off with controversial suggestions as to rationing of Fish which caused a fuss in the Guernsey Evening Press. Jurat (and later Sir) John Leale headed up the controlling committee after Ambrose Sherwill was arrested, see our podcast episodes September 1940, October 1940, November 1940 and December 1940 if you want to understand that saga!

The Chamber of Commerce really didn’t like the rationing options and wrote an open letter to the government in the Guernsey Evening Press and Leale responded. It really was a complicated situation which caused quite a kerfuffle! As you can see from the below.

We then talked about compulsory use of land and the notice.

We talked about Oberst Schumacher who was Feldkommandant in Guernsey. Essentially it was a branch of the Kommandantur 515 which was headquartered in Jersey. So he was the senior German Officer in Guernsey.

Then we were on to the orders about selling goods to Germans. A copy of which is below.

Next up it was photos for ID cards.

Revised curfew announced.

Talked about cameras being banned and we immediately thought about this photo!

We then talked about a couple of tours that are going on if you live in Guernsey or are visiting!

You can find Tim’s tour in Sark on the link below. Nick has been on it twice it is excellent!

https://www.visitguernsey.com/experiences/events/autumn-walking-festival/the-wwii-commando-raids-and-lancaster-bomber-crash

We also talked about a tour that Nick is contributing to with his friend and tour guide Jo May. It is a brand new tour. You can book online if you fancy learning about incarceration. fortification and escapes!

NEW TOUR – Incarceration, Fortification & Escapes | Visit Guernsey

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog post.

If you have questions or information to share you can contact me by email on Contact@Island-Fortress.Com.

You can also find articles, podcasts, TV appearances and other social media etc here.

Also happy to be contacted with questions about the war in the Channel Islands, media appearances, podcasts etc.

APRIL 1941 PODCAST OUT -A HURRICANE PILOT, SHOTS FIRED, TRAGEDY IN SAINTS BAY, RATIONING, AND MUCH MORE.

It is April 1941. The Channel Islands are in their tenth month of being occupied by the German forces.

A look at the impact of rationing, an influx of German forces, a proposed raid to take back the islands and much more. You can listen on your favourite podcast app or listen on the player below. Se below for photos as well of things we refer to in the podcast.

In this episode we cover the Hurricane pilot Sgt Robert Stirling who bailed out of his Hurricane and landed on the small island oof Lihou. As mentioned in the podcast there is an excellent documentary called “Stirling’s War” which you can find here and watch for free. Tim Osborne who produced it was also mentioned in the podcast. You can find details of his guided walks here.

There was a tragedy at Saints Bay when three men died whilst attempting to collect Ormers. Shots are fired and a boat overturns.

If you are wondering what an Ormer is look here.

The St Sampsons Restaurant at the Hollies that we mentioned I managed to pop along and get a photo of the building.

We also talked about the new book coming out from Blue Ormer. The Hans Max von Aufsess diary – “Gentle Violence 1943 – 45” which you can read about and pre-order here.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog post.

If you have questions or information to share you can contact me by email on Contact@Island-Fortress.Com.

You can also find articles, podcasts, TV appearances and other social media etc here.

Also happy to be contacted with questions about the war in the Channel Islands, media appearances, podcasts etc.

MARCH 1941 – SABOTAGE, PRACTICAL JOKES AND AN AEROPLANE!

You can find it on all good podcast services or here.

In this episode we talk March 1941 of the Occupation of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. We cover off the end of joke that made the Germans look daft but got too teenage maids in trouble.

We look at the impact of sabotage when some phone lines get cut at the airport. Also the impact of sabotage that the RAF did before they left and subsequent bombing.attacks.

The aircraft that upset the Germans when it was discovered by the Germans.

The notice that appeared following the aircraft discovery is below.

We also talked about the Red Cross messages giving reassurance.

We also look at rationing of bread and much much more.

We mentioned the ‘Wee Mite’ aircraft that caused Kenny Bell a lot of trouble. You can find it here including photos.

Bread rationing details are included below.

If you want to email in a question send it to occupied@gnetradio.com.

Thanks to Gnet Radio for recording the podcast and thanks to Jim Delbridge for the use of his song ‘5 to 7’ as our theme.

Latest Podcast Episode February1941 – A French Tragedy, Parachutists and a Wildgoose Chase!

In this episode we cover the tragic story of some French men who thought they had reached England but instead had landed on a beach in Guernsey. You can listen on the player below or search “Islands at War” in your usual podcast app.

The strange case of the spies and parachutists which has the Germans worried but also makes them look very silly.

The tale of two fishermen and a submarine also makes an appearance. Plus much more.

A couple of images we talk about are below.

Send us a Text Message.

Follow us on Twitter here or Facebook here.

If you want to email in a question send it to occupied@gnetradio.com. Alternatively you can send us a text with the link at the bottom of these notes (only works with iPhones).

Thanks to Gnet Radio for recording the podcast and thanks to Jim Delbridge for the use of his song ‘5 to 7’ as our theme.

PODCAST SPECIAL – INTERVIEW WITH MELVA STACEY LIFE UNDER OCCUPATION

I was absolutely thrilled to be offered the chance to speak to Melva Stacey. Incredibly grateful to Melva’s daughter Karin for contacting me and asking if I might be interested in interviewing her mother who is 95 years young about her time here during the occupation.

I didn’t need to be asked twice! Melva told a fascinating account about how life was for her as a teenager, her family, working in the Red Cross message bureau and nursing. Plus much much more. The photo at the top of the blog post is Melva on Liberation day 2024. You can hear the interview here.

Melva’s Registration form for her ID Card. Published with her permission.

I really enjoyed talking to Melva and by strange coincidence it turns out that her father used to be one of the listeners to a radio show that I used to present on local hospital radio and sometimes on the BBC back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s! He used to regularly write in with requests for people in nursing homes and hospitals.

Thanks to Melva for agreeing to be interviewed and to her daughter Karin for contacting me to arrange it.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog post.

If you have questions or information to share you can contact me by email on Contact@Island-Fortress.Com.

You can also find articles, podcasts, TV appearances and other social media etc here.

Also happy to be contacted with questions about the war in the Channel Islands, media appearances, podcasts etc.

ISLANDS AT WAR PODCAST – JANUARY 1941

December 1940. Search ‘Islands At War’ in your favourite podcast app or go here to listen.

In this episode we deal with:

Lack of vitamin A causes concern
Pigeons banned!
Fortifications – a brief overview
Islanders banned fro a large portion of the coast.
Depression and other illnesses
Postage issues
Red Cross Letters

Below you can find a few of the items that we talked about:

Notice published in the Guernsey Evening Press

Letter about Parsnip Coffee and anagrams – published in Guernsey Evening Press 16 January 1941

Copyright © Channel Islands Specialists’ Society 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Deutsche Guernsey Zeitung (DGZ) was a daily news sheet for the German occupying forces, published by the Guernsey Press. Although Jersey had already had a forces newspaper published in the same way since 1940, known as Deutsche Inselzeitung, the DGZ was not launched until 4 July 1942; it was produced daily until 24 March 1945.

If you want to email in a question send it to occupied@gnetradio.com. Alternatively you can send us a text with the link at the bottom of these notes (only works with iPhones).

Thanks to Gnet Radio for recording the podcast and thanks to Jim Delbridge for the use of his song ‘5 to 7’ as our theme.

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