Lived on the east coast of Jersey which allowed her to have a view of the French Coast
When the occupation first started she heard the original bombing which took place in France, before the Germans came over to Jersey
She and her five year old neighbour used to play on the roads around their houses, watching the planes fly around the outcast of France and above them in Gorey, flying towards St.Helier (Victoria Avenue)
It was heard that bombing were taking place on Victoria Avenue which is in the parish of St.Helier/ St.Lawrence of Jersey.
Mothers moved the children from the street to be undercover in bushes which allowed them to be protected from the sight of planes when the bombings took place in the middle of the island.
She explained the bombings to be very loud although she spent most of that night looking at the starts in the sky which stood out due to the ash. It was said that she also found looking at the stars very relaxing.
The Germans overtook Jersey and set up base on the highest point of Jersey which is known as Les Plutons. They used this part to shoot over at France as the height gave them a clear shot.
Once the Germans overtook, rules were introduced.
The first was that households had to put up white sheets outside their houses to show the Germans that they could enter.
Secondly, that each family had to have a ration booklet. The booklet contained removable stamps which were used to purchase the essential food items such as sugar, cooking oil, canned goods and meats.
The family lent their ration booklet to someone and they never gave it back due to having a massive shortage of food.
Due to living next to a farm, Joan’s mother wrote her occupation as being a farmer which allowed her to get more o the essential items, and it was believable because of the location they lived in. Making them lucky.
Thirdly, the Germans then introduced a curfew for the people who lived in the military zone. The times for these being 9pm in the winter and 10pm in the summer, and you weren’t allowed back outside until 6am.
Black outs were also introduced where every house had to black out their windows with cardboard in order to not let any light outside the house. Street lamps were also turned off making pure darkness.
Lastly, a German currency was introduced called ‘Marks and Pfennig’, the amount each person got was up to the original amount they had in English.
A typical substitute for tea and coffee during these time was parsnips browned on the stove and mixed with boiling water.
For farmers who originally grew crops for a living, there was a restriction on how much they could grow in the war and it was kept an eye on by the germans to ensure the rules were followed.
Joan’s family would go and collect the remains of the corn left over from August’s harvest and stash it in their apron sacs without the Germans seeing. The corn would allow them to take it to the mill or hide the corn
The overall 95% of Jersey Channel Islands followed the rules and got on with the Germans, it was only if you were to mistreat the Germans and not follow rules that there would be a serious problem.
