Well first Steve it is in Jersey.
Also in St Helier
Doubt if it is in King St as it does not fit in. The only places i could possibly be would be the Coop to the left & Mothercare right. But pavements & circumstances do not match. Also the Coop faces the main St & the Edwards name would be in the Main St not the side street. I also knew well the perfumery (now Mothercare) before it was rebuilt & that does not match. Also it would have I would have thought been the King St Bazaar if in King St.
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So second picture, no building, fits pavement lines & the corner. This is the other end of Charing Cross. Charing Cross being a road with a crossing one end.
All very boring for you but very interesting for me. Photo probably taken early in the occupation when the German Commandant was a very nice person & visited the Island after the war. But that does not hide the fact that they had a bad time. Many went to prison in France & some to the concentration camps not to be seen again. A later commandant was to all intents & purposes mother & fatherless.
Many stories. A builder friend his mother & father used their tea numerous times then dried it packed it in its original box & sold it to the Germans. A doctor who stayed to look after pregnant mothers to be & their enfants hauled his cow onto the first floor of his house to hide it from the German. As an Architect we were demolishing a property in the 60's & the owner took me the day before on to the first floor. The old party walls in Jersey are thick granite about 18" thick. A hidden recess in the wall housed a crude radio. They took the news & wrote it down & this was circulated. In the Church Steeple, adjacent to where I used to live, still houses a similar radio.
Many youths after Normandy rowed over to France to take part in the forces. Most of the Channel Island men left before the Germans occupied the Islands & joined the Forces. The Doctor did not see his wife or two children for 5 years. After Normandy the Islanders literally starved. The Germans suffered even more. More or less every tree in the Islands was used as fuel.
An amazing fact. About 10% of the Todt labour used for the building of the Atlantic Wall was occupied in Guernsey & Jersey building Sea Walls to repel British Forces. They also built an Underground Hospital in each Island. A great deal of the labour was Russian & some were rescued & hidden by Jersey people at the risk of a concentration camp death. Some paid that price.
Just a little cameo. I have lived here since 1962. The Jersey people are the very best of human being types. Friendly kind out going & generous not only with wealth but in their demeanour. They are also damn funny & have a lovely turn of sarcasm which they love to turn on with any "high faluting" Englishman. A joy to behold.
Laurie
Gone on a bit there if you managed to get to this point.
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