May 10 - A walk to the Jersey War Tunnels

He said:
With the promise of rain likely in the afternoon, we decided to walk the 3.5 miles to the Jersey War Tunnels, then perhaps take a bus back if it was a hard rain.

She Said:
We are staying at the Savoy Hotel in St. Helier. Perfect location in a semi-quiet neighborhood. Beautiful common areas, great breakfasts. Our room could be a little bigger, but the bed is big and comfortable and the bathroom is awesome. And, all is immaculate, my first priority.

Today we walked out to the Jersey War Tunnels. These tunnels are intact and quite amazing. Over 1,100 yards of tunnels were completed, using mostly the slave labor of Nazi prisoners of war. These prisoners were primarily from Russia, Poland, France and Spain. The unfinished parts of the tunnels really showed how grueling the work was - blasting, then pick axes, then rolling the rubble out on narrow track rails (that also had to be built). 7 days a week; 10 hours a day; not much food; lots of death.
The Nazis originally built the tunnels to be a war hospital, as they anticipated their armies would be invading mainland England soon after France and they would need a hospital close by to treat their wounded.

The exhibit also went, in depth, into the experiences of the Jersey islanders. Once Germany announced they would invade the Channel Islands (thinking that Churchill would for sure try to defend), and once Churchill said nope he wouldn’t defend, islanders had 24 hours to decide what they wanted to do - should they stay or should they go.
25,000 evacuated to the mainland.
Of those that stayed, half were sent by the Nazis to camps in Europe.
Those that remained lived under Nazi occupation for almost 5 years.
They must have been terrified.

In addition to the Nazi decrees (rationed food, no radios, curfews, commandeering houses, etc.), islanders began to suspect each other. Sometimes, neighbors turned in neighbors for the extra ration cards that tattling to the Nazis would bring; it meant they could feed their kids.
Tough choices.

The famous German precision was everywhere - the Boiler Room is a virtual symphony of order and linear pipes, all attached equidistant to the walls in crazy, pleasing symmetry.
The tunnel and occupation exhibit brings WWII into stark and horrible focus. No matter how nice some of the German soldiers were to the islanders, they were in the service of a madman.
Please, never again.

And, of course, the add-on commercialization:
We ate an excellent lunch on-site at the Vega Cafe, named for the ship that eventually brought Red Cross relief food packages to the islanders. 1940’s decor and music. I had the cottage pie, a period favorite.
We walked back to St. Helier (this is a walking trip) and stopped at our local Waitrose grocery store for wine, beer and supper supplies.

Back in our room and enjoying all that.

Mileage:
10.4 miles
(My dogs were barking!)

Jersey War Tunnels

Jersey Cow

Jersey Duck

Elizabeth Castle

Liberation Square