​​This route passes through the most interesting sites of the wider town of St Peter Port, through historic buildings, cemeteries, monuments, bombing locations and stories of the Occupation and Liberation.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The route starts at the Liberation Monument and after visiting the Valette Military Museum, walkers can choose to continue and walk the cliff path up to the Military Cemetery or return back towards St Peter Port main town to continue to the route. The last stop is at Les Canichers (blue mountain) adjacent to Les Cotils Hotel and Tearoom.​

Guernsey

Tourism board for the Islands of Guernsey

Visit Guernsey

​The arrival of the US LST 516 on 9 May 1945​

roops marching through Le Pollet to the High Street​

The Liberation of Guernsey​, 9 May 1945

​Fort George Military Cemetery

​Fish Quay is still a working fishing hub for Guernsey. You'll see local fishermen unloading their daily catches amongst the crab pots and the colourful fishing boats moored in the harbour.​

Fish Quay, Guernsey

From Occupation to Liberation

​​During Occupation, food scarcity and limited access to medicines meant the health and wellbeing of islanders suffered. The most common health complaints were dysentery, scabies, eczema, impetigo and tuberculosis. Arthur and his team developed ways to turn sea water into brine to preserve Guernsey tomatoes, manufactured their own medicines and toiletries using locally available ingredients, and developed an alternative to cod liver oil which helped counter an island wide vitamin D and A deficiency. With packaging for medicines also in very short supply, Arthur introduced a small deposit charge on glass bottles, ensuring most were returned. Corks were also an issue until an islander heard of the problem and arrived with four sacks full of fine quality corks in different sizes, apparently salvaged from a Spanish wreck off the coast in 1902!​Arthur’s wife, Sadie, manufactured beauty products, collecting local ingredients to make hair creams, baby powder, hand creams and more. Perfumes were a particular triumph after the discovery of a range of raw ingredients in another local chemists alongside boxes of empty elegant perfume bottles. Arthur and Sadie purchased these and used recipes from old magazines to create eleven different perfumes, made available at Christmas, which sold extremely well.​On 9 May 1945, Guernsey’s liberation, British troops arrived with food and English tea. In recognition of the work done by Arthur and his team during the occupation, the Medical Services Officer on the island wrote to Lord Trent, Chairman of Boots:“I am writing to express my appreciation and thanks for the splendid work done during the whole time by your splendid manager, Mr Butterworth. He has given untold time in preparing lists of our drug requirements and has taken charge of them and arranged their distribution. He has been the greatest help to me and I shall always owe him a debt of gratitude and having formed such as high opinion of his business aptitude I shall hope to hear of a great future for him in your firm”.Additionally, the Boots Booklovers Library service on Guernsey was a particular success during the occupation, with membership increasing from 877 in 1940 to 1,981 in 1944. This was due in part to the lack of other entertainment available to the islanders. Today, Boots pharmacy is still located here, part of the well-known British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain.​

​​Boots the Chemist​

​​​The Ship and Crown public house, formerly The Crown Hotel, was the harbour office for the Nazi authorities during the occupation of Guernsey. Outside the building, where the Guernsey flags now fly, there were once Nazi flags.It was also in this very spot that Vice Admiral Hoffmeier, German commander of the Channel Islands, was taken into captivity by British Forces on 9 May 1945, the day that Guernsey was liberated. Today, it is still possible to take a look inside the pub to see the evidence of its important history.The Ship &amp; Crown was also shown as a main feature in the film ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’, a film released in 2018 and based on the 2008 novel of the same name, which was based in Guernsey during the years of Occupation.​

​​The Ship and Crown​

​​The Liberation Monument was designed by Guernsey artist Eric Snell, who was commissioned by the States of Guernsey in 1995. Interested in linking 1945 to 1995 and beyond, the Eric looked to create a site-specific structure designed around the shadow cast by an obelisk.​Unveiled by HRH The Prince of Wales on Liberation Day, 1995, the obelisk is comprised of 50 layers of blue Guernsey granite, representing the 50 years of freedom to the date of unveiling.The cut angle at the top of the obelisk represents the trauma of the German occupation. Each year on 9 May, Guernsey’s Liberation Day, and only on that day, the tip of the shadow cast by the obelisk travels precisely (within one millimetre and 5 seconds of time) along the back of the curved granite seating. The shadow points to three inscriptions marking significant events on the day the island was liberated in 1945.The key astronomical calculations were made by David Le Conte of La Société Guernesiaise, who carried out the necessary work to determine the timing and position of the shadow. The building of the project was overseen by Patrick Reade, the States of Guernsey Architect, and building work was done by Le Roy Ltd.​

​​Liberation Monument​

​​From 1940 the Old Government House was occupied by German forces, who used it as their general HQ.​By early 1941, the building had become a Soldatenheim (Soldiers’ home) and remained so until the liberation of the Channel Islands in 1945. Here, Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers could spend their leave and off duty periods. Food and drink were served and there was a well-stocked library available for them to use.Following the island’s liberation in 1945, the building remained an officers’ mess, but was taken over for use by the British forces.Nowadays, the building has become ’The Old Government House Hotel &amp; Spa’.

​​The Old Government House​

​​The cemetery contains a memorial to members of the British forces who died during the First World War, and who are buried in this and other bailiwick church yards and cemeteries. 111 German soldiers of the Second World War are also buried here.After the First World War, a Cross of Sacrifice and a memorial plaque were erected here in honour of all members of His Majesty's Forces buried on the islands of Guernsey, Alderney and Sark. These now serve to also commemorate the war casualties from the Second World War who are buried on these islands.The Cross of Sacrifice is inscribed with the phrase "Their glory shall not be blotted out". On the memorial plaque are the words: "The Cross of Sacrifice is erected to the honoured memory of those members of His Majesty's Forces who gave their lives during the wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 and are buried in the islands of Guernsey, Alderney and Sark".After the Second World War, the fort was decommissioned, and the cemetery is now managed by the States of Guernsey, who are responsible for 23 graves from the First World War and 113 from the Second World War, including 111 German graves.

​​Fort George Citadel and Military Cemetery​

​​By the time the occupation ended, the German army had installed fourteen coastal artillery batteries on the island. Of all these, St Peter Port was home to just two batteries, including the Naumannshöhe battery.​It was constructed in and around the grounds of Les Cotils and consisted of four French 10.5cm Schneider field guns mounted on concrete emplacements with adjacent ammunition shelters. The battery was tasked specifically with providing barrage fire onto the area outside the harbour mouth, to serve as a barrage fire control battery to activate harbour barrage fire, and also to engage enemy forces attempting to, or having already, landed on the east coast beaches.​In 2014, one of the gun emplacements and adjacent ammunition bunkers was excavated. During this excavation a number of important items were discovered left behind after liberation when the guns were removed. These included a large spade fitted to the rear of the gun carriage to act as an anchor, the heavy steel tie down cables used to secure the gun to the turn table, and the steel frame complete with remnants of camouflage netting that had been fitted above the gun.An islander during the occupation, Mollie Bihe, remembers the guns being fired over her house:​"In the Canichers there were guns, big guns which were situated in the Blue Mountains at the Cotils behind our house. We used to have to get out of our house sometimes at 4 or 5am, because the Germans wanted to practise firing their guns. We used to have to walk up the road and go up to my aunt for three or four hours whilst they did it. We had to leave our windows and doors open but there was damage to our properties as well because of it.”

​​Gun fire in Les Canichers​

​​​During the occupation, Guernsey fishermen were accompanied by German chaperones to watch over their fishing. If they caught a haul, the fishermen were made to surrender the largest share of their catch to the occupying forces.Similarly, other foods were also strictly rationed so that islanders could only have certain amounts of them.​Nowadays, Fish Quay is the current fishing quay and is still used. There are working fishing boats coming and going from the harbour, so it is an ideal place to stop on the way to Castle Cornet.

​​Fish Quay​

​​On 28 June 1940, German reconnaissance planes spotted some Guernsey tomato trucks lined up on the harbour, ready for export. Mistaking them for military vehicles, they began attacking from the air.The bombs caused damage to the surrounding area. The clock on the clocktower, which is still standing today and located next to the Liberation Monument, was burnt out and stopped just before 19:00.After delivering two attacks on the harbour, the planes split up and individually attacked elsewhere on the island. In total, 34 people were killed and 33 were injured. The plaque located here remembers them.This harbour was also where the Red Cross Ship, SS Vega, made its visits to Guernsey during the occupation. It docked in the harbour and brought much needed relief to the starving islanders.

The tomato truck bombings

British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, made the difficult decision not to defend the Channel Islands and they were subsequently occupied by German forces in June 1940, remaining so until the end of WWII. Islanders were completely isolated. Radios were forbidden, the Guernsey Press &amp; Star newspaper censored and Islanders forced to follow harsh rules. “Mum, Dad and I were sitting at the dinner table…Suddenly, there was a roaring noise from outside the house... there were formations of crosses filling the sky as myriad planes, made small by their great height, flew overhead from west to east …I did not know it then, but would later learn this was part of the D-Day landings and would quickly be followed by an eleven month siege …”. Recollections of an Islander The impact of the D-Day Landings proved devastating. Provisions from Northern France were cut off and civilians and soldiers faced starvation. Islanders eagerly awaited their freedom. On May 9 1945, a day after VE Day, Guernsey was liberated by Allied forces. Desperately needed provisions began to arrive. On 12 May, the American Landing Ship Tank (LST) 516 was manoeuvred into the inner harbour at high tide. At low tide, the LST 516 sat dry on the harbour bottom and unloaded. A ramp was dropped allowing vehicles to be driven off the LST, then across the harbour bed and up the Albert Pier slipway located in front of the Town Church. “I was 11. I always remember the big U.S. boat that came into the harbour…the vehicles came out, and I can always remember the crew playing sort of baseball on the harbour bed.” Remembers Hirzel DoreyDisembarking troops moved through the town, securing buildings that had previously been commandeered by the occupying forces as HQs. At last, the Islands were free.

Albert Pier Slipway

British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, made the difficult decision not to defend the Channel Islands and they were subsequently occupied by German forces in June 1940, remaining so until the end of WWII.
Following two years of occupation, in 1942 Hitler ordered the immediate deportation of any non-islands-born men between the age of 16-70 and their dependants. The first deportees of the Islands of Guernsey were sent to Biberach in Germany, via a transit camp in Dorsten. Many deportees did not make it back to the Islands until long after the war had ended and, sadly, some never made it home at all.
Remaining Islanders faced three more years of life under German rule. Children continued to attend school - German lessons were compulsory and classes were taught in the presence of a German solder.
“Our schooling was interrupted many times as the Germans would suddenly take over school buildings for stores. I went to school in at least seven different buildings…” Extract from the notes of Tom Jehan
Elizabeth College has served as a school for many years. As well as a site of education, it played a significant role in Guernsey’s liberation celebrations.
Brigadier Snow, Commanding Officer of the Allied liberating task force, various dignitaries and the band of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) paraded through St Peter Port, heading to Elizabeth College on the 12 May. Followed by cheering civilians, some 2,500 people witnessed the raising of the Union Flag and listened to an official address, read out by Brigadier Snow.&#13;
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Elizabeth College

On 9 May, the formal surrender of the German occupying forces by the German second in command, Major General Siegfried Heine, took place on naval ship HMS Bulldog. The ship was moored in the Little Russell off the coast of St Peter Port. The initial Allied force, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Stoneman and consisting of four officers and 21 men, including several Guernsey men, all from liberating task force, Force 135, landed at the White Rock at 07:50 on 9 May.They were greeted by a town decorated in red, white and blue and thousands of cheering Islanders singing. Amongst other patriotic songs, they sand Sarnia-Cherie. Stoneman set up his Head Quarters in the Royal Hotel (now the site of the RBS Bank).On 12 May, the White Rock was also one of the main landing points during Operation Prophet, when the Allied troops landed to secure the German defences of St Peter Port harbour.

The White Rock

The German occupation of the Islands of Guernsey began on 30 June 1940 when five Junkers troop carriers landed at Guernsey Airport. Luftwaffe troops met the chief of police, who informed them that the island was undefended. More troops arrived on the island the following day and the German flag was raised. Eventually the number of soldiers roughly equalled that of the remaining islanders.
The Royal Court House has existed at this location since the early 1800s. As well as the seat of Guernsey’s parliament (The States of Deliberation) now and during the Second World War, it is also the site of civil and criminal court proceedings. 
On 21 June 1940, the States voted to hand over the running of island affairs to a controlling committee, composed of the HM Attorney General, the Bailiff and Crown officers. The civil courts continued to operate within the Royal Court House throughout the occupation, with separate German military courts trying breaches of German law. 
German orders were registered as legislation and the Islands’ time zone was changed from GMT to CET. The rule of the road changed to driving on the right. 
The Court also played a significant role in the liberation of the Islands of Guernsey. At 11.00 hrs on May 9 1945, ‘Liberation Day’, Lt-Col Stoneman from liberating task force 135, travelled to the Royal Court House for the ceremonial hoisting of the Union Jack flag. It was a time of excitement, tears and joyous cheering from Islanders.&#13;
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The Royal Court House

Believing the Channel Islands held enormous propaganda value, Hitler laid down a directive that they be made into “impregnable fortresses”. Huge quantities of concrete, weapons and men were transported to the Islands, making them the most heavily fortified place on earth. By 1944, the Channel Islands had ‘more guns than 600 miles of the Normandy Coast’. Forced labour camps were set up, with ‘slave’ workers and Operation Todt workers from Europe often treated poorly; some, sadly, lost their lives from exhaustion.La Valette Underground Military Museum is situated in a German underground tunnel complex constructed by these workers. This particular tunnel was built as a fuel store for German U-boats, but was never finished. Work on the conversion of the tunnels into a Museum started in late 1987 and took two years to complete.In late May 1944, in the build-up to the invasion of France, Allied Forces planned to destroy all long range radar installations in the vicinity of northern France. The Freya radar site which was located at Fort George, just along from this museum, was particularly significant, as it covered the area to the west of the Normandy beaches. As a decoy, an RAF bombing raid on Guernsey took place on 3 June 1944 by 439 Squadrons. It ultimately failed and so a second raid took place on 5 June with eight typhoons from 439 Tiger Squadron, each carrying two nose-fused (instantaneous) 500lb high capacity bombs. All bombs were dropped. However, in the intense flak, Flight Lieutenant John Saville’s aircraft was hit, with a large explosion reported in the sea just offshore. There were multiple casualties and 8 Allied aircraft lost. This resulted in the Allied Forces deciding to bypass the Islands in the D-Day Landings due to their heavy fortification.

Believing the Channel Islands held enormous propaganda value, Hitler laid down a directive that they be made into “impregnable fortresses”. Huge quantities of concrete, weapons and men were transported to the Islands, making them the most heavily fortified place on earth. By 1944, the Channel Islands had ‘more guns than 600 miles of the Normandy Coast’. Forced labour camps were set up, with ‘slave’ workers and Operation Todt workers from Europe often treated poorly; some, sadly, lost their lives from exhaustion.

La Valette Underground Military Museum is situated in a German underground tunnel complex constructed by these workers. This particular tunnel was built as a fuel store for German U-boats, but was never finished. Work on the conversion of the tunnels into a Museum started in late 1987 and took two years to complete.

In late May 1944, in the build-up to the invasion of France, Allied Forces planned to destroy all long range radar installations in the vicinity of northern France. The Freya radar site which was located at Fort George, just along from this museum, was particularly significant, as it covered the area to the west of the Normandy beaches. Two attacks were made by the RAF to take out the radar. There were multiple casualties and 8 Allied aircraft lost. This resulted in the Allied Forces deciding to bypass the Islands in the D-Day Landings due to their heavy fortification.

This award-winning Museum covers all aspects of The Islands of Guernsey’s military history, with large sections devoted to both the German occupation and the Liberation of the Islands.

The Valette Underground Military Museum

In June 1940, German forces landed in the Islands of Guernsey, occupying them for a period of almost five years until the end of WWII. 800-year-old Castle Cornet guards the mouth of St Peter Port Harbour and looks out across to the smaller inhabited Islands of Herm and Sark.Now a museum, the Castle was a hugely strategic location for control of St. Peter Port Harbour and so the occupiers set about reinforcing and defending it with machine guns, anti-flak guns and roll bombs. Remains of a German mortar position, bunker and concrete reinforcements are a permanent reminder of this period of the Castle’s history, then referred to as ‘Stutzpunkt Hafenschloss’ or harbour lock. At 08.30 hrs on the 9 May, 1945, the first Allied Landing Craft Assault (LCA), operating under liberating Task Force 135, docked at the Castle Breakwater with the task of securing the Castle and, in doing so, took command of the Harbour and its approaches. Liberation Day on 9 May is a public holiday in Guernsey. Guernsey’s capital town of St Peter Port comes alive with thousands of people watching parades, military vehicle cavalcades, military aircraft displays, live music and activities. Fireworks are set off from Castle Cornet, as the culmination of this day of remembrance and the celebration of freedom from oppression.

800-year-old Castle Cornet guards the mouth of St. Peter Port Harbour and looks out across to the smaller inhabited Islands of Herm and Sark. Now a museum, the castle was a hugely strategic location for control of St. Peter Port Harbour and so the occupiers set about reinforcing and defending it with machine guns, flak guns and roll bombs. Remains of a German mortar position, bunker and concrete reinforcements are a permanent reminder of this period of the Castle’s history, then referred to as ‘Stutzpunkt Hafenschloss’ or harbour lock.

At 08.30 hrs on the 9 May, 1945, the first Allied Landing Craft Assault (LCA), operating under liberating Task Force 135, docked at the Castle Breakwater with the task of securing it and, in doing so, took command of the Harbour and its approaches.

The Castle is now a visitor attraction, housing four museums and four period gardens. The castle offers panoramic views across St Peter Port harbour and out to the other smaller Islands of Guernsey. The Noon-day gun is one of the most popular sites and is fired daily throughout the season by keepers clad in traditional scarlet costumes.

Liberation Day on 9 May is a public holiday in Guernsey. Guernsey’s capital town of St Peter Port comes alive with thousands of people watching parades, military vehicle cavalcades, military aircraft displays, live music and activities. Fireworks are set off from Castle Cornet, as the culmination of this day of remembrance and the celebration of freedom from oppression.

Guided tours of the Castle run daily at 10:30am

Tours of Guernsey, run by one of Guernsey's Accredited Guides is now running a tour which includes a guided walk around the streets of St Peter Port and entrance to the Castle. This includes an hour tour around the Castle grounds and time to explore the castle and museums at leisure.

<a href="http://www.toursofguernsey.com/tours">www.toursofguernsey.com/tours</a>

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From Occupation to Liberation

Photos

Sites and stories along the route

Boots the Chemist

The Ship and Crown

Liberation Monument

The Old Government House

Fort George Citadel and Military Cemetery

Gun fire in Les Canichers

Fish Quay

The tomato truck bombings

Albert Pier Slipway

Elizabeth College

The White Rock

The Royal Court House

The Valette Underground Military Museum

Castle Cornet

From Occupation to Liberation

Photos

Sites and stories along the route

​​Boots the Chemist​

​​The Ship and Crown​

​​Liberation Monument​

​​The Old Government House​

​​Fort George Citadel and Military Cemetery​

​​Gun fire in Les Canichers​

​​Fish Quay​

The tomato truck bombings

Albert Pier Slipway

Elizabeth College

The White Rock

The Royal Court House

The Valette Underground Military Museum

Castle Cornet

Boots the Chemist

The Ship and Crown

Liberation Monument

The Old Government House

Fort George Citadel and Military Cemetery

Gun fire in Les Canichers

Fish Quay