The beginning of the German Occupation of Guernsey

Clarice Martel (née Mudge) and Florence Mahy interviewed by John Gaisford 12/3/2005
Edited transcript of the video recording of the interview made by John David 28-29/9/2005

I………. You are…
Clarice Martel. Clarice Martel. I was Mudge in the Occupation, I married in forty-five, to Bill Martel.
Florence Mahy. Florence Mahy. I was born in 1917, the seventh month of the twenty-ninth. And I got married in 1936, and we were living at the Passée and then 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 then it was the evacuation, it came that they were getting all ready for the evacuation, and on the tenth of June I had a daughter, and they were sending us to the schools to see who wanted to go, you know, you had to go with your children, and that, and we kept going to the Capelles school, coming back home, come back tomorrow, that was the same thing again, and come back again, My husband said to me “Well I’m not going, I’m not having this all the time, I’m not going” I said “Well I’m not going with four children, on my own, we’ll stay here Whatever happens, it will happen, we’ll be all together.”. We stayed here, he was working on a farm, and then the farm gave up, and he had to work for the States, which he was working for the States for a while, and then they were asking for policemen, and my husband applied, and he had a job on the Police Force through the occupation.
I………. So, can you remember the actual Occupation when the Germans arrived, of course you can remember it because you were young adults, can you remember how you felt about it?
Clarice Martel. We couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it. Up St Jacques, where I lived, someone said “The Germans are here” and I couldn’t believe it, and I went just down to the top of Smith Street, and I saw one walking up, on his own, more-or-less, and we knew they were here. Because they didn’t bother to make any [ ] they just walked in, eh? They landed at the Airport, mind, most of them.
I………. How long was it before life changed, I suppose it changed immediately?
Clarice Martel. No, not quite, while we had food, but when the food went, then we knew. It was barter, most of the time, and grow what we could, we took over between greenhouses and grew stuff, eh, up St Jacques, by where I lived, you know.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.