German reconnaissance flights made by Luftflotte 2 & 3 had not produced a clear picture on the defences on the Channel Islands, so the German commanders ordered an air raid.  At 17:30 on the 28th of June 1940, nine Luftwaffe Heinkel He111 Bombers of  1/Gruppe Kampfgeschwader 55, departed from their base at Villacoublay (close to Paris). At 18:45 some of these bombers attacked La Rocque Harbour. At the same time, other bombers start an attack against St Peter Port, Guernsey.  

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The German aircraft dropped bombs and machine gun strafed buildings along the way to town and the Noirmont Point. The only opposition they encountered was south to Guernsey from a twin lewis Machine Gun, on the Vessel Ilse of Sark. 

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The bombers each carried 20, 50kg Fragmentation bombs. There are no records on how many were dropped. Local accounts suggest of the 9 bombers, of which, three that attacked Jersey and a separate three that attacked Guernsey. The other three potentially in reserve or providing cover. If all 9 did attack the islands, 180, 50kg bombs could have been dropped. If just 6, 120 bombs would have been dropped. 

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In Jersey and Guernsey, 45 Islanders lost their lives from this raid and over 100 were injured. 

 

Main areas of damage from the raid in Jersey

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La Rocque Harbour

Mr J. Adams, Mr T. Pilkington and Mrs Farrell are killed. 

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Fort Regent / Mount Bingham 

Mr J Mauger is killed

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Mulcaster Street

 Mr E.H. Ferrand and Mr Colemanare killed

 

South Pier

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Commercial Buildings 

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Wharf & Hope Street

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Albert Pier 

Mr R. Fallis, Mr L. Bryan, Mr W. C. Moodie and Mr A Parr are killed

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Guernsey Lifeboat off Noirmont Point ​

The Guernsey RNLI crew were travelling to Jersey to collect the Jersey lifeboat and return it to the UK. This was so it would not fall into the hands of the Germans. The bombers attacked the boat with machine-gun fire killing the Coxswains son Mr H F Hobbs (34). 

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