Jersey War Tunnels

Woke up to heavy rain today, and it rained all day.  We took the opportunity to visit the War Tunnels.

In the Second World War, After the British evacuation from Dunkirk, the decision was taken that Britain could not defend the Channel Isles, and the islanders were given the opportunity to leave the island for Britain.  Some left, some stayed, and endured five years of German Occupation.  

This sinister chapter in the history of the islands has been well documented;  The War Tunnels were built by forced and slave labour, intended first of all to create a garrison and bomb-proof weapons arsenal, but later to be a huge casualty clearing station in the event of an allied invasion.   This never happened and the German forces surrendered peacably in 1945.

The tunnels are huge, and many slaves and forced labourers lost their lives in the digging of them.  They worked in twelve hour shifts, and it must have been awful.

The whole place is now a museum which tells the story of Jersey and the occupation.