Lager Franco
Details
Was found behind the Royal Jersey Golf Club at Gorey, North African & Spanish workers held here.
 In 1939, the Grouville Butlin Holiday camp was taken over by the military authorities, surrounded with barbed wire, and converted into an internment camp to house nationals of German, Austrian and, eventually, Italian origin who had been working in Jersey in the hotel industry. In 1939 the "concentration" camp did not was a place where people were "concentrated".Â
The Germans were quick to free their fellow countrymen and allies in July 1940 after the invasion of Jersey. The camp then stood empty until December 1941, when it was once again occupied, this time by Spanish Republicans who had been brought to Jersey as forced labourers to work on the fortifications, under the guard of the Organization Todt. With a wicked sense of humour, the Spaniards named the camp Lager Franco.
Numbers
German Record Details
Weapons and Equipment
Objective and Function (translated)
WW2 Maps & Documents
WW2 Aerial Photos
WW2 Photos
Recent Photos
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 612 612.
Jargon Help
Widerstandsnest (WN) = Resistance Nest (RN)
Small pocket of resistance, these 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
Jäger Casemate was a special design and name for bunkers designed to hold a 10.5cm field gun
Sources of Information
German Documents are housed at The National Archived in Washington or Archive in Kew UK
T-78 Roll 318
T-78 Roll 317
T-315 Roll 1639
T-315 Roll 1643
T-311 Roll 27
T-312 Roll 1545
AOK 7 War Diary
OKW War Diary
Operation Green Arrow - Occupation of the Channel Islands MOD 584
Allied Technical Intelligence Reports 1944-45
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 Seacoast Artillery Evaluation Board
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
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
After the Battle Multiple Magazines
If we have used any photos or information which you believe to posted without permission, please contact us at info@jerseywartours.com
