1 October 1942 Part 1

1 October 1942 Channel Islands Sea Defence diary

Weather: wind from 180°, 3 metres per second.

Secret diary for 1–15 October 1942, enclosure to Sea Commander Channel Islands G 1981.

21:10: Batterie Elsass sighted six or seven E-boats from its fire-control post, bearing 290°, approximately 70 hm (7 km) distant, running at high speed from 90° towards 270°. They gave an incorrect letter recognition signal when challenged. Three illumination fans, nine rounds, were fired in directions 310°–290°. The boats could no longer be seen. At 22:03 the battery received the report that these were German boats.

The following was established about message transmission. 18:35: the teletype announcing the E-boats’ departure reached the Channel Islands Sea Commander’s operations room. 19:00: shown to the watch officer. At 19:00 he countersigned the radio message to Harbour Commandant Alderney containing orders for measures and notification of German E-boats. At 19:00 this instruction, with orders for Cap de la Hague and Casquets, went to the radio room. From 19:20 there was scheduled traffic with the lighthouses, followed by radio messages to Casquets and Cap de la Hague. Meanwhile the Alderney message was encrypted. After the control station released the wavelength it was sent to Alderney radio station. Following repetition by Naval Signals Officer Cherbourg, receipt was acknowledged at 20:35.

Harbour Commandant Alderney received the E-boat report twice. Normandy Sea Commander’s message arrived at 20:05: unclear text required a query, then decryption and delivery at 21:30. The Channel Islands Sea Commander’s message arrived at 20:35, was decrypted at 21:00, collected by runner at 21:39 and reached Elsass at 22:03.

Given the poor communications, transmission of shipping reports by radio on the harbour-protection wavelength was the quickest and safest method. The lighthouse wavelength was heavily occupied with shipping reports and orders for measures. Reliable transmission required intentions to be known to the Channel Islands Sea Commander at least four or five hours beforehand. Alderney headquarters suffered severe staff shortages: its Harbour Commandant was the only officer; one attached Feldwebel could serve as watch officer. Because poor communications and staff shortages caused repeated difficulties, a decimetric radio link Guernsey–Alderney was urgently necessary and had been requested from Naval Commander Channel Coast. Otherwise no special occurrences.

T-1022 Roll 2422, PG 37996, scans 0520–0521.