Caroline Sturdy Colls - Adolf Island: The Nazi occupation of Alderney

Caroline Sturdy Colls and Kevin Simon Colls

MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Copyright Caroline Sturdy Colls and Kevin Simon Colls 2022

The right of Caroline Sturdy Colls and Kevin Simon Colls to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Published by Manchester University Press
Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL

www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 5261 4906 0 hardback

First published 2022

The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Cover image: Crosses marking seven of the rows of graves in Longy Common Cemetery in 1952. Image The National Archives.
Cover design: riverdesign.co.uk

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As this has been a decade-long project, there are many people we wish to thank and the authors apologise if, owing to the confines of space, it has not always been possible to name everyone individually. First, thanks are due to Staffordshire University (SU) and the University of Birmingham (UoB), who supported us in undertaking this long-running research project, via research time and funding. Thanks also to our colleagues who have worked with us during fieldwork on Alderney or assisted from campus, particularly: (from SU) William Mitchell, Tim Harris, Dr Dante Abate, associate professor Rachel Bolton-King, Rich Harper and Professor Ruth Swetnam; (from UoB) Professor John Hunter, the late Barrie Simpson, Dr John Carman and Patricia Carman. Specific thanks also go to our postgraduate researchers who have contributed to this book or the fieldwork, particularly Dr Janos Kerti, Dr Daria Cherkaska, Czelsie Weston, Alex Haycock, Aida Haughton and Harriette Copley, and to the numerous undergraduate students who partook in field schools on Alderney under our supervision.

The authors would like to thank the States of Alderney for granting access to sites under their jurisdiction on Alderney and for their support of the universitys educational research programme during the surveys from 2010 to 2015. Numerous Alderney residents allowed us access to their property and personal archives to support the wider research initiative, for which we are very grateful. In particular, thanks are due to the Alderney Wildlife Trust for providing digital data, accommodation and access to areas under their care; and to the Kay-Mouat family and Les Pourciaux Cottage for granting access to their land. For their assistance during the later stages of the project, thanks are due in particular to Aaron Bray, Martin Lunt and Alex Snowden from the States of Alderney for on-site support, and Alderney Airport staff for assisting with the UAV surveys. We will always be grateful to Barney Winder for his support and friendship throughout this project, and the late Peter Arnold, founder of the Alderney Museum and Society, for his assistance back in 2010 and for granting us access to the Alderney Museum Archives. Various members of the Alderney Society also assisted us with obtaining fieldwork permissions and arranging public lectures between 2010 and 2015. We are also grateful to local historians Trevor Davenport and Brian Bonnard, and Marcus Roberts for sharing their knowledge early on in our research programme.

Over the years, we have worked with many colleagues around the world who have helped forge our ideas, identify new avenues of research, and develop new working relationships. Particular thanks go to Dr Gilly Carr (University of Cambridge) for discussing her work in the Channel Islands, Dr Marc Buggeln (Universitt Augsburg) for his input regarding slave labour in Nazi concentration camps, Professor Nikolaus Wachsmann (Birkbeck College, University of London) for commenting on parts of our manuscript relating to Nazi concentration camps and Dr Benoit Luc for his insights into the deportation of French Jews to Alderney and the Norderney camp. Dr Robert Ehrenreich from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) has also been a constant source of support and friendship, for which we are extremely grateful. Dr Chris Going has provided invaluable insights into the aerial photographs of Longy Common, providing interpretations that supplemented and validated our own. We are particularly grateful to Dr Paul Sanders and a further anonymous reviewer for their detailed reviews this book, which undoubtedly improved its quality and focus.

We would also like to thanks the staff at archives around the world for their helpful advice, including the Jersey Archives, Island Archives Guernsey (in particular Nathan Coyde), Priaulx Library, National Archives, USHMM (especially Ron Coleman, Vincent Slatt, Megan Lewis and Elliott Wrenn), Archiv Gedenksttte Neuengamme (particularly Dr Reimer Mller), State Archive of the Ukrainian Security Service, Central State Archives of Public Organizations of Ukraine, Central State Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Yad Vashem, Imperial War Museum, NARA, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgrberfrsorge, National Collection of Aerial Photography and Historic England. Thanks are due in particular to Steven Vitto and William Connelly at the USHMMs Holocaust Survivor and Victims Resource Center for their assistance in researching individual names discovered during the archaeological fieldwork, leading to the identification of a number of slave labourers sent to Alderney.

During the course of this project, we have had technical expertise from numerous individuals and organisations. Particular thanks are due to FlyThru for the LiDAR and UAV surveys in 2017, and Allied Associates for geophysical support. We are grateful for the professionalism and assistance of Snap-TV, particularly David Edgar, Cherry Dorrett, Alex Nikoli-Dunlop and Caroline Harvey, during fieldwork in 2016 and 2017 and during the making of the documentary Adolf Island more broadly. We are also indebted to the Smithsonian Channel (in particular Chris Hoetzl, John Cavanagh, Susie Eckl and Isabelle Mills) for their encouragement and promotion of our work in this programme and for their financial support for the 2017 fieldwork.

We are extremely grateful to survivors and the families of former Alderney internees who have allowed us the honour of hearing and sharing their experiences, in particular Marian and Elizabeth Hawling, and the family of Victor Tiurin. Many residents on Alderney and members of the general public have also contacted us with invaluable information about the occupation. There have at times been too many letters and emails for us to reply to individually so we would like to express our gratitude here to all those who have written to us with information and words of encouragement.

Special thanks are due to Meredith Carroll and Manchester University Press for their assistance with this publication. Finally, we would like to thank our families for always supporting our endeavours, encouraging our passion for learning about the past and for providing much-needed childminding support. We would like to dedicate this book to three people who are no longer with us who have impacted upon our lives in so many ways: the late Barrie Simpson (forensic archaeologist and former police detective), the late Patrick Donnellan (Carolines former history teacher and family friend) and the late Rodney William Sturdy (Carolines grandad and former RAF Chief Technician).