CHANNEL ISLANDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25202, 15 May 1945, Page 5

CHANNEL ISLANDS

HERDS IN GOOD ORDER ROUNDING-UP PRO-NAZIS (Rccd. p.m.) LONDON, May 14 Jersey's great dairy herds are in splendid condition, says the Daily Express correspondent. The Germans took great care of them for their rich milk. The Channel Islanders are busy rounding up collaborators, some of whom are already under lock and key. One who is still at large is a rich farmer whom the islanders knew as Pierre Laval. Police and military are still searching for him. Another is an Englishwoman who publicly stamped on the Union Jack. The islanders have already dealt with a couple of dozen women. One or two were tarred and feathered and one was thrown into the harbour. Others were tied to railings. Swastikas are painted on some houses with the woman's name underneath. The great majority of the islanders put up a tremendous fight against the Nazis, even when rations were at their lowest. An immediate check is being made of the Channel islands' tomato and potato supplies. Potatoes are believed to be almost non-existent. The Germans were so hungry in the closing stages of the occupation that they stole potatoes from the fields. The Germans, of whom there are '26,600, are now concentrated in prepared areas. A start will be made shipping them to Britain in a few days. Enough food has been landed to last the people for a fortnight. Cargoes of clothing and medical supplies will enable reserves to be trnilt up. Residents have been issued with ration books. They will be allowed to buy a full year's ration of clothes without coupons from relief cargoes. The people said they would have starved but for food parcels, which were mostly Canadian. The Dame of Sark, Mrs Sibyl Hathaway, told correspondents with the forces that relieved the Channel Islands how she resisted the intrusions on her authority of the German occupation troops and how she finally dominated them. "1 fought them all the way," she said. "They left me my jurisdiction, but their demands for food grew and grew. They evacuated the islanders in a most scandalous way, including my husband. They took women up to the age of 65 and one woman with her nine children." With the liberation the Dame of Sark and her seneschal now order the Germans to repair telephones and remove mines. The Dame of Sark, Mrs Hathaway, is the daughter of the late Mr W. F. Collings. Seigneur of Sark. The heir to the title is a son hv her first marriage, Lionel Collings Beaumont.

U-BOATS SURRENDER CLEARING MINED WATERS ACCESS TO GERMAN PORTS (Rfori. 5.3.% p.m.) LONDON, May 13 Fourteen U-boats have so far surrendered at British ports, chiefly in Scotland, and eight more expected tomorrow. One U-boat, equipped with the Schnorkel breathing tube, had been continuously submerged for nine weeks, but-British naval officers reported that the discipline of the crew was still high. Two E-boats, one of which brought Admiral Bruening, who was com-mander-in-chief of Dutch ports, also surrendered today. Bruening is now discussing with the British authorities the location of mines in the English Channel, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, writes a correspondent. It is likely that the conferences and the clearance of navigation channels Avill occupy some months. While the entrances to the North German ports have been heavily mined, the channels inside the dock areas are apparently mine-free in many of the ports This is the case along the Kiel Canal and the estuary of the El be leading to Hamburg. This will enable British and Allied ships to ply freely when the North Sea entrances are clear. Minesweepers are already busy on this task, and the port authorities consider that vessels of the Liberty ship class will be able to operate in a few weeks from now. Hundreds of German dock workers are now being mobilised to clear up the bomb damage in the North German ports. GOODS FOR BRITISH (Reed. (3.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 13 Gars, vacuum cleaners, electric kettles and kitchenware, which the British have done without for five years, will be on sale within one or two months, says the Sunday Express.