Phil (JWT Admin)
Feb 21, 20214 min
Good Morning
I hope you are enjoying this weekend, lots of work being done behind the scenes this weekend to get us up and running on the project side of our work. The tours are back on and the next step is to welcome back the volunteers and get cracking on our self-funded WW2 projects:
Maintenance work and restoration at Greve de Lecq Tower
Research and maintenance to protect and understand the German Tunnel Complex Ho19
Continuing research and survey work at German Tunnel Ho5
Continued 3d scanning of the WW2 sites in Jersey and Normandy
+ New project coming soon
As a non-profit organisation, the above is funded by you joining us on tours and seeing behind the scenes of these WW2 projects.
For volunteering at our sites for research and maintenance please contact us so we can come up with a rota and more details for you info@jerseywartours.com
Jump to cover photo details here
Today would be the 236th day of the Islands Occupation with 1,538 days remaining.
Warnings are issued to the public about shooting practice close to Grosnez. There are also more orders about rationing.
The commonwealth graves commission record 192 deaths this day 80 years ago, the average age was 27.
RAF Action
34 Wellingtons bombers sent to bomb Wilhelmshaven Germany,1 lost. Wilhelmshaven diary has no entry. 42 Hampdens minelaying off Brest. No losses. Minor Operations: 7 Whitleys to Dfisseldorf, 7 Blenheims to airfields in France and Holland, 3 Wellingtons to Boulogne. 1 Wellington lost.
Atlantic
British anti-submarine trawler HMT Lincoln City shot down a German bomber but was then bombed and sunk at Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, killing 8.
Luftwaffe Action
On the 21st two Heinkels 111 unsuccessfully attacked the oil cisterns at Thorshaven in the Faeroe Islands. ELM. Trawler Lincoln City was sunk and one enemy aircraft was shot down.
Below an interesting document concerning the vulnerability of Whitehall to Air Attack
The cover of today's blog is the German Resistance Nest High Tower . Found on the West Coast of Jersey, try the 3d tour to explore the personnel shelter. The German's destroyed the Napoleonic Round Tower "High Tower" to install this resistance nest.
Weapons and Equipment
Two sMG 34
One 5cm LeGrenatwerfer 36 mortar
Two 4.7cm Pak K36(t) both attached with MG37(t) machine-guns
One 10.5cm K 311(f) in a Jäger type casemate
One medium flame-thrower
One 40cm searchlight
Book Recommendation
The February book recommendation is "Six Days." The story centres around the paratroopers of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division and the brave citizens of the quiet French hamlet. The battle of Grainges maybe not be known as some of the invasion stories but this beautifully illustrated novel captures the true story.
Exploring bunkers
Always get permission from the owner
Take a torch, a spare and one more for luck
Don't go alone & tell someone where you will be and for how long
You will get dirty as most are often full of rubbish and may have been used as a public toilet
Anything you find still belongs to the person that owns the property
Unexploded ordnance is still found in Jersey if you see or find anything that looks like ordnance please call the bomb disposal officer on 01534 612 61
Sources of Information
German Documents are housed at The National Archived in Washington or Archive in Kew UK
T-78 Roll 317: OKH Coastal and Channel Defenses Files 1940-44 -
T-78 Roll 318: OKH Coastal and Channel Defenses Files 1941-43
T-315 Roll 1639: 216th Security Division War Diary
(Kriegstagebuch), Belgium, France & Russia 1939-42
T-1022 Roll 2423: Various War Diaries (Kriegstagebucher), Channel Islands 1941-44
Atlantic Wall Coastal Battery Lists: Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, & France 1944-45
T-312 Roll 1559: 7th Army War Diary (Kriegstagebuch), France 1941-43 & T-312 Roll 1558
T-315 Roll 1643: 216th Security Division War Diary
(Kriegstagebuch), Belgium, France & Russia 1939-41
T-311 Roll 16: Army Group D War Diary (Kriegstagebuch), Western Front Aug-Nov 1944
Operation Green Arrow - Occupation of the Channel Islands MOD 584
Allied Technical Intelligence Reports 1942-45
German Preparations for Invasion of the United Kingdom 1941-42
B-833, 319th Infantry Division (1941-45)
German Seacoast Defenses, European Theatre - prepared by the Artillery Evaluation Board
BBC News & Archives
The Britannica
Jersey Occupied by Michael Ginns - ISBN 978-1-905095-29-2
Operation Nestegg Plans
Operation Hardtack Plans
Operation Basalt Plans
RAF Photos care of The National Collection of Aerial Photography
The National Archive of Newspapers
Bundesarchiv - Multiple Photos - and Files
A Map of slave labour camps. Kindly Provided by Emilio Pérez
Photo's and information provided by fans
Onsite visits & internet research
Cabinet Papers Second World War memoranda (cab 661- cab 665)
After the Battle Multiple Magazines
The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book, 1939-1945
Jersey Heritage Archive
CIOS Archive & Publications (become a member here)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
American Battle Monuments Commission
If we have used any photos or information which you believe to posted without permission, please contact us at info@jerseywartours.com and we will resolve asap.
Jersey War Tours is Registered with the Jersey Financial Services Commission as a Non-Profit Organisation - NPO1207
Jargon Help
Widerstandsnest (WN) = Resistance Nest (RN)
A small pocket of resistance would be made up of small groups of up to 10 men with light weapons. They would man Anti-tank weapons, an observation post or a field gun.
Stützpunkt St.P = Strongpoint (STP)
Next level up from an RN and consisted of several RN's. STP areas would have a combination of weapons and different branches of the military used. Examples of this can be found with Strongpoint Greve de Lecq and Strongpoint Corbiere
Einsatzstellung = Operational Position or Action Post
Smaller MG type position generally it was only maned during an alert
Feldwache = Field Watch
Early resistance nest
Jägerstand
Jäger Casemate was a special design and name for bunkers designed to hold a 10.5cm field gun