10 August 1942

10 August 1942 Channel Islands Sea Defence diary

Weather: wind from 270°, 3–4 metres per second.

00:00: boats entering St Peter Port requested S.B. measures [source abbreviation retained] by light signal. The sentry on Victoria Tower interpreted this as the signal to open harbour barrage fire and relayed it, causing an alarm for the harbour-barrage batteries. Batterie Strassburg also saw both the S.B. request and the barrage-fire signal.

00:01: alarm for Batterie Strassburg. Army Coastal Artillery Battalion headquarters 727 cancelled the alarm and sent stop signals to every battery, preventing harbour barrage fire. That headquarters had regarded the boats’ S.B. request as light signalling between vessels and the harbour.

15:30–16:25: Batterie Strassburg fired six rounds to establish battery dispersion, at seventy hectometres on bearing 182°. Ammunition: six short shells with small charges. Five failed to detonate; Naval Artillery Arsenal Cherbourg was asked to investigate the fuzes. Otherwise no special occurrences.

T-1022 Roll 2422, PG 37996, scan 0482–0483.