The Lefebvre’s come from Jersey. We have a family tree that stretches back to 1298 where the first Nicholas Lefebvre sits on top of the pile. Since we were fairly close to the Channel Island in Devon and had a week to spare before Julia arrived, we caught the ferry across to Jersey from Poole. We stayed in the capital St Helier with a family friend of Jen's from Rhodesian days.

The local club is still men only.

Jersey is crowded with 500 miles of winding narrow roads that we explored throughout the week. The coastline is rugged with yet again a large tidal reach resulting in large expanses of rocks and beaches during low tide. We discovered old German fortifications with guns and observed some Conway towers - circular towers built in the last 20 years of the 18 century to impede French incursions onto the island.

Below - a granite memorial to thank emergency services for saving 307 occupants of a sinking French catamaran in 1995. We noticed, here and in the UK, that they have an innovative way to trim hedges.

We visited the Jersey archives to see if there happened to be some lost long relatives about whom I didn’t know about but the only new thing I discovered was that a great-great grandmother was born in Nova Scotia Canada.

Jenny caught up with a friend from her high school days (after 41 years!) and we went in search of puffins – not finding any but enjoying the scenery and the walk. Mont Orgueil Castle dominates the eastern coast while Le Corbiere Lighthouse lies on the south west point of the island.

One of the highlights of the visit was visiting the war museum located in an underground hospital constructed by the Germans during WW2.

A homemade hair curler, German weapons and dental clinic.

This is an excellent exhibit detailing the history of the German invasion, occupation and final withdrawal. You certainly found out who your friends were when Winston Churchill gave the Jersey occupants 24 hours to decide whether they would leave the island or stay and suffer occupation. Some that decided to leave found the chaos at the port too much and went back home to find that their houses had already been looted in the few hours they had been away. As you can see in the letters as well, people using radios were dobbed in by their neighbours.

The enigma machine used by the Germans to transmit secure messages.

The Allies cut off supplies to the island in September 1944 in attempt to starve out the Germans but obviously did the same to the locals. Eventually the Canadian red cross managed to get food parcels in.

Residents used a baby’s pram to transport things like a leg of pork that they didn’t want to give up to the Germans.

 She must of been pretty busy! 

A photo shows the scenes on the balcony of the Pomme D’Or hotel in June 1945 after liberation, while the other shows a statue commemorating the event with the hotel in the background.

We dropped in to see St Mathews Church in St Helier known for its glass work by Rene Lalique, a French glass designer.