Daily Post - 27.09.1941, Blaðsíða 2

2
DAILY POST
A Jerseyman, his Home Occupied by Germans, Compares
the Situation in the Channel Isles and Iceland.
Islands of Parsdise
By Sgt. “Victor”
■JV/T UCH has been written of the fall of the great French
Army and the mysteries surronding the dynamic
collapse of our strongest ally. We have been told much of
the subjugation of the peoples of Poland, Holland, Belgium
and Norway and of the existing conditions in these coun-
tries. Full well we know what occupation by the Nazis
signifies.
DAILY POST
is published by
Blaðahringuriiw.
Editors: S. Benediktsson.
Sgt. J. I. McGhie.
Office: 12. Austurstræti, Tel.
3715, Reykjavík. Printed by
Alþýðuprentsmiðj an.
Saturday, Sept. 27, 1941
A Timely Word
Mr. Ernest Bevin, the Minister
of Laibuur, iin a speeoh yestierday
saád: “We oan'nof have a oom-
fohtaible war; although many
people expect us to give it tihem.“
Tbis is a. timely r©buke directed
agaiinst yhe many armchair critics
of this war. It is not a pleasant
thing to have had to say after
twio years of t,he most brutal aind
bloody warfare in the history of
mankind.
With the wjhole of Euirope
umder the N.a,zi heel. and Riussia
figihting for her lilfe against the
redoulDÍed maaiacal efforts of the
Naizis, it i's incínedibie that there
sihould be people who arie selfish
enougih to expeot their normal
dreatui''e oomforts, tiheir normal
uindistorbed oomfortable uiays of
living, in their nioe warm Dom-
fortable honues, while the major-
it\r of the youtng men of our
natiion are wbencílied from their
homes and their comforts, and
are uindergoinig the trials of war-
fare from tfhe buirning sands of
Egypt to the frigid clime of
Iceland.
Y(et Mr. Bevim ha,s foumd it
reoessary to say a fewi iwords to
tíhe soft-skinned comfort-loving
ftolk. Honouir to Mr. Bevin; siucb
petople ane not truly patr:otic In
total wiar total sacrifiloe is essen-
tial. The people he is referrihg
to belong to tlhat claiss who
imagine fhat by sitting bacik and
resting we slhall enjoy the pleas-
ant prospect of Ruissia and Ger-
many canioelling eacb other out,
and leaving Britain the master of
Euirope. Sudh a view1 is criminal
folly, and the reoent stress whiicb
all ouir leaders have plaoed on
the neoessity of quiidk aid to
Russia, plainly shows the real-
istic view 'of events iwbiich the
Government acoepts. R'ussiia’s
plight is dire, and we must do,
and are doing all in our power
to help her.
South African troops have
been for four months at Mersa
Matruh and taken active part
in patrolling the frontier.
The tri®kery and under-hamd
methods of the dreaded Gestapo
Í9 houshold tolik both here and
in the British Isles, but what
is happening in those “Islands of
Paradise“ off the norih ooast of
Fi'a.nce? I refer, of oourse, to
the Ch.annel Islamds — my home
— now the loot of the aggressor.
*
This bitter war has brought
upon us hardships and privatitons
During the past two years — I
speak as a soldier of Britain —
we have oome to understand
fuily the meaning of the word
“liberty". Liberty, freedom ofthe
press, and the right to voice our
feeelings on any subject whether
piolftical or otherwise, is ours
and always iw'ill be.
This freedom was just as evi-
dent in peaoe-loviing Jersey. Any
one of the thousands of holiday-
makets who visited the Channel
Islands oould hardly fai] to be
impressed by that. And there
must be quite a number of soldi-
ers and airman over here who
have at some time or other had
oonnections wlith those iSlands of
the free.
*
The ocicupation of Jersey by
the Nazis and the entry of
British for,ctes into Itoeland there-
fiore furnishe some rather int-
eresting comparisons. I certainly
find myself in a unusual posit-
iiou. Here I am, a member of
a sio-oalled army of occupatiion,
many miles fnom my home where
tio-day the Germams dominate
a,ffairs of state.
INTIMIDATIO'N
In June, 1940, the savage hun,
fresh from oonquest, took it into
his head to relaase a few miss-
iles of destruction upon Jersey
and Guemsey. He was using his
familiar fntimidation methods to
impress Upon the inhabitants that
they wei'e at his mercy. Orders
were issued to the States of Jers-
ey by the Germaus that at a
oertain hour bombers of the Reidi
wtould pass over the town of
St. Helier amd also over the air-
piori at St. Peter. At that appo-
inted hour the white flags of
surrender wiould have to be fly-
ing fnom speaified buildings, or
the island wiould be subjecied to
rirthless bombing.
We know the result of fhat
threat. There was no alternative
but t'O evacuate as many of the
landers who' wished to leaveand
amd aliow' the Germans to take
over. They flocked in by sea
amd air and gloated over the
townsfolk by parading the streets
wdth military bands and singing
Nazi siongs.
*
What them of the British octo-
upaition of Iceland? Did we Use
any stt|ch intimidation methods
and threaten to throw do-wto de-
ath and destruction from the
skies?
For qmite a. while the Germans
in Jersey resitricted the use of
wfireiess receivi'ng sets- The is-
landers were forbidden to listen
to the English programmes —
douf punishment for a people
who had looked Upon the radio
as their chief forin of enterta-
ment. The Icelanders have never
been so moch ps requested to re-
frain frorn listening to any parti-
oular rad'o station. They realise
by now/ iwhich istheir most trust-
worihy source of i'nformation de-
spite the attempts by Beriin,
Hamburg, Breslau and Bremen
to oonvince the inhabitants that
the British are up to mö good.
TONGUE-TIED
The Icelanders need never fe-
ar that their oonversations are
being probed by British agents.
Could the same freedom of
speech be experieniqed in Jersey ?
Personally the visions of the con-
oentration camp would he my
tomgue in the str©ets of St. Hel'
ier were I there to-day.
Let us dwell for a moment
on the qujestion of trade and
employ. The Jersey farmer, re-
noiwned throughouí the civili'sed
workl for his knowlledge of the
land, his breeding of cattle and
his potato and tomato crops has
laid down everything he has for
the improvement of his produoe
and the widening of markets.
Our American friends over here
are surely acquainted with the
numerous herds of Jersey cattle
which have been shipped f113111
the Channel Islands to the U. S• A»
*
This same farmer is now ord-
ered to carry on with his normal
hard work and surrender his
produce to the Nazis who PaY
him a very meagre wieekly weg®
fo.r his labours. This is but one
branche of emplovment in the
Channel Islands, but can the
same be said over here? Is the
foelander robbed in this way?
Has the farmer, the shopkeeper,
the builder, the fisherman or any
other Iceland worker been im'
posed upon in an umfair manner?
Again it is not n-eoessan,' to gi'’e
an answer; it is obvious to anv'
one walking through the streets
of Reykjavik.
Th©re are thousands like my'
self whose thoughts and goa^
Údings go out aeross the sea to
those in the Channel Islands who
a,ne living .for the day deliveranoe
from the yoke of the Nazi leeoh-
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