10 October 1944

10 October 1944 Channel Islands Sea Defence diary

08:00 weather: north-west force 2–3, sea 1, visibility ten nautical miles, heavily overcast, cloud base 1,200 metres. 08:45: army coastal battery 14./1265, transferred from Guernsey to Jersey, ready to fire from its permanent position R 282372 H 179152, for independent and radar-controlled firing.

12:00 weather: west-north-west force 2–3, sea 1, visibility eight nautical miles, lightly overcast, cloud base 1,200 metres. A destroyer sighted on the southern waiting station from 14:00 and on the northern station from 17:00. 17:45: Alderney reported four fishing boats moving slowly south in BF 3543. 18:00 weather: south-west force 2, sea 1, visibility fifteen nautical miles, lightly overcast, cloud base 2,000 metres.

18:00: fishing vessels entered Blücher's range; battery ready to fire from 18:02 to 18:21. 18:12–18:17: on the artillery commander's order, 4./197 fired on the fishing boats in BF 3546, upper right. Under fire they withdrew east-south-east at increased speed. No hits observed.

Enemy reconnaissance by a single aircraft at 11:30 over Alderney and at 13:50 over both Guernsey and Jersey. Planned reconnaissance expedition to the Minquiers under Oberleutnant zur See Gröne, to re-establish the Maîtresse Island strongpoint and determine the enemy situation between the Minquiers and St Malo, postponed 24 hours owing to weather.

Roll 2422, scans 0857–0858, original pages 191–192.