Mostly Jersey is known as a holiday island, but many people also travel here to visit historical monuments littering this small island. Having spent years researching the Great War in Broken Faces and the Second World War (for a sequel I’ve written but yet to be published), I’ve become fascinated both by what others have coped with during war, and, as in Jersey and the other Channel Islands, with Occupation.
In Jersey we’re surrounded by bunkers, part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall on the beach nearest to my home, as well as the Jersey War Tunnels, known as HO8 depicting stories of the horrors of the Occupation and also resistance. The Second World War is not something that will, can be, or should be forgotten on this island, or on the other Channel Islands.
We also have the almost hidden reminders of the prisoner of war camp, Les Blanches Banques – here’s the link for more about it – also down in St Ouen’s bay behind our stretch of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.
There’s much to remind me on a daily basis, either when I drive somewhere and pass one of the bunkers, or when I’m researching my historical novels, which is probably why remember those who suffered and in many cases made the ultimate sacrifice, every day and why I’m always in awe of people who suffered life-changing injuries and had to cope with those changes and learn to live with them.
Rembrance. Lest we forget.
