CHAPTER #14.....around the world.

CHANNEL ISLANDS OF JERSEY AND GUERNSEY.........Ann and I flew to New York and spent a day before boarding the QE-2 to sail for Southampton, England.......five days later we arrived in England.  We took a train to the end of the of the line where we boarded a hydrofoil or high speed catamaran to Jersey.  Arriving after dark took some hunting a taxi and then finding our bed and breakfast down some steep steps....interesting introduction to the island.  Next day pleasantly surprised to find a fun village on the water and nice people everywhere.  We spent three days on Jersey and three on Guernsey and was most fascinated by the big stone bunkers the Germans had built on these island during the war.....on a clear day you could see France across the English Channel. 

These island are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel off Normandy. They include 2 bailiwicks.  The bailiwick of Guernsey, capital Saint Peter Park and the bailiwick of Jersey, capital Saint Heller.  They are not part of the United Kingdom.  A Bailiwick is a territory administered by a Bailiff who is head officer of the state.

Germans occupied

Jersey 1940-45 was harsh.....over 2,000 islanders were deported and the Jews sent to concentration camps.  Huge cement fortifications were built along the coast and mines laid. There was no resistance by the locals.  End of occupation came after VE-Day, May 8, 1945.  This was more an adventure, than anything.