Queen Elizabeth II greeted the crowds, shaking hands and patting babies on her walkabout in the Channel Islands off the coast of France in 2005. Photo by Gene Korte
Guernsey, Jersey and Sark are the names of three of the four main Channel Islands that pledge allegiance to the Union Jack while located 20 miles from France. Isolated from England by more than eighty miles of the often rough waters of the English Channel, these islands have always been a place unto themselves, and in many ways they still are. The Channel Islands have their own currency and passports, for example, and on the island of Jersey, some court trials are conducted only in Norman French, not the Queen’s English.
But British they are. On the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands in 1945, the special guests of honor were Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Liberation anniversaries are of special interest here, as these islands were the only part of Great Britain that was occupied by the Germans during World War II.
The first ceremony of the day on Guernsey was an appropriately solemn affair in a meeting hall in St. Peter Port, this island’s capital city. From our seats in the balcony, however, the gathering looked like a glorious spring flower display, as every woman there was wearing a big, gorgeous hat.
At the parade, vintage military vehicles in tiptop shape, shipped in from England on ferryboats, came in a cavalcade that went on for hours. Soldiers in 1940s uniforms marched, and a man who was a ringer for Winston Churchill waved to the crowd from his wartime Jeep. There were several flyovers, including the sleek British Red Arrows with 12 planes in formation. Another grouping featured a Lancaster, Hurricane and Spitfire, all British World War II-era planes.
Before the royal couple left Guernsey, an island with a population of about 65,000, Queen Elizabeth strolled by the parade route in her traditional walkabout, greeting the crowds, shaking hands and patting babies. That afternoon she flew to Jersey for that island’s even more lavish festivities.
Known for its dramatic coastline, its pirate past and feudal present, our next day’s destination, Sark, is all of three miles long and a mile and a half wide. The 600 locals, who are mostly Brits and known as Sarkees, have a real lord of the manor and their own code of medieval laws that date back centuries. In 1565 the island was divided into 40 pieces of land, and that division remains intact today. Sark is self-governed, self-financed and has its own legislature.
After arriving at the harbor, we boarded the so-called toast rack, a tracker-pulled, open-sided bus that took us to the top of a steep hill where a few shops were scattered along a narrow road. Cars are not permitted on this island, so visitors and locals alike get around by foot, bicycle or horse-drawn cart, though a tractor hauls visitors’ luggage to their accommodations.
To get to the island’s Stocks Hotel, our home for the night, we walked through town, made a left at the visitor’s center, admired the big house on the lane, and then turned at the little sign by the meadow. Once there we followed the footpath by a sheep pasture until we arrived at the hotel that was originally built as a farmhouse in 1741. Later at dinner, I asked for the seafood that guests ordered the most. It turned out to be skate, a cousin to the manta ray, a mild-tasting flat fish as big as the sizable platter it came on.
While on Sark, we met local historian, Richard Dewe, who has been collecting World War II occupation memorabilia for decades. This photo, that document, it’s now quite a compilation. The only local who died during those five years, according to his records, was a young girl who stepped on a land mine. Although there were no battles here, the last couple of years of the war had food shortages for all, including the occupying Germans. What helped the Channel Islanders toward the end, according to Dewe, were the food packages from the Red Cross ship, Vega. Now, whenever an international disaster occurs that requires the work of the Red Cross, the islanders dig deep into their pockets to contribute in memory of their own time of need.
Jersey, yet another ferry ride away, has 20 miles of sandy beaches and a moderate climate. The largest of the Channel Islands, it’s also the one closest to France. In our few days on this cosmopolitan island of about 90,000 citizens, we saw newborn Jersey cows, country lanes, colorful gardens, an experimental orchid farm, even a family of gorillas at the zoo.
This island also has the most to see from the days of the German occupation nearly 70 years ago. The Jersey War Tunnels, known as Ho8, are one of the most popular visitor sites for all nationalities. Among its exhibits is Captive Island that shows how the occupation affected the locals. Designed as a bombproof barracks, the Jersey Tunnels eventually housed an underground hospital.
For a look at this part of the world during World War II, see “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press 2009).
ON THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
GUERNSEY:
Guernsey Tourism, http://www.visitguernsey.com, enquiries@visitguernsey.com, P.O. Box 23, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands GY1 3AN, +44 (0) 1481 723552.
Old Government House Hotel, http://www.theoghhotel.com, P.O. Box 47, Ann’s Place, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 4AZ Channel Islands, 01481738505. The OGH is the longest established hotel in St. Peter Port and when it was an 18th-century house, it was the official residence of the governor of the Island.
JERSEY:
Jersey Tourism, http://www.jersey.co.uk, Liberation Square, St. Helier, Jersey, JE1 1BB, +44 1534 500700, fax 44 1534 500899.
Jersey War Tunnels, http://www.jerseywartunnels.com, info@jerseywartunnels.com, Les Charrieres Malorey, St. Lawrence, Jersey, JE3 1FU, Channel Islands, +44 (0) 1534 860 808.
Somerville Hotel, http://www.dolanhotels.com, Somerville@dolanhotels.com, St. Aubin, Jersey JE3 8AD, Channel Islands, +44 (0) 1534 741226.
St. Brelades Bay Hotel and restaurant, http://www.breladesbayhotel.com, info@stbreladesbayhotel.com, 01534-746141.The Eric Young Orchid Foundation, http://www.ericyoungorchidfoundation.co.uk, Victoria Village, Trinity, Jersey JE3 5HH, Channel Islands, +44 1534 861 963.
SARK:
Sark Tourism. http://www.sark.info/, e-mail: contact@sark.info, Sark, Channel Islands GY9 0SB, +44 (0) 1481 832345. There is no airport on Sark. Visitors arrive by ferry, usually from Guernsey, a trip that takes about 45 minutes.
Stocks Hotel. http://www.stocks-sark.com. Originally built as a farmhouse in 1741, it became a hotel in 1895.
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© 2005-2018 Diana and Gene Korte
