16 July 1941 Part 2

16 July 1941 Channel Islands garrison return as of 15 July 1941

Editorial note: The following 20 July report forwards a related return for 15 July and adds shipping and supply information; the two reports do not indicate two separate arrivals of these units.

[Scan 1169.jpg] Commander-in-Chief West, Army Group D headquarters, Ia no. 1144/41, top secret. Headquarters, 16 July 1941. First of four copies. Reference: Army High Command/Operations Branch IIa no. 37638/41, top secret, of 14 July 1941. Subject: state of the Channel Islands garrisons. One annex. To Army High Command/Army General Staff/Operations Branch. Received 18 July.

In response to the reference, Commander-in-Chief West encloses a return of the current garrisoning of the Channel Islands, as of 15 July 1941. Commander-in-Chief West, Army Group D headquarters, Chief of the General Staff [signature unclear]. Distribution, all with one annex: Army High Command/Operations Branch, first copy; Fifteenth Army for information, second; Ia draft, third; war diary, fourth.

[Scan 1170.jpg] Annex to Commander-in-Chief West, Army Group D headquarters, Ia no. 1144/41, top secret, of 16 July 1941. Current garrisoning of the Channel Islands, as of 15 July 1941. 1) Commander of the British Channel Islands: Major General Müller, commander of the 319th Infantry Division.

2) Jersey: combat strength on 11 July, 3,256 men. Island commander: Colonel Count Schmettow, previously commander of the British Channel Islands. Troops: headquarters and I, II (without 8th Company) and III Battalions, Infantry Regiment 582; one supply staff drawn from Regiment 582; headquarters, Artillery Regiment 319; II Battalion/319 with two Czech light field-howitzer batteries; one battery of four captured French 7.5 cm guns; one battery of four captured French 15.5 cm guns; one naval battery of three 15 cm guns; one platoon, 2nd Company/Engineer Battalion 319; Fortress Engineer Staff 14 without Sector Group I/14; Construction Battalion 158 without 2nd and 3rd Companies; 5th Company/Fortress Construction Battalion 19; eight captured tanks; one battery/Light Antiaircraft Battalion 998; headquarters, Signals Company 319, with about two-thirds of company strength, including two radio teams.

[Scan 1171.jpg] 3) Guernsey with Sark: combat strength on 11 July, 3,726 men. Island commander: commander of the 319th Infantry Division. Troops: command section, 319th Division; headquarters and I, II and III Battalions, Infantry Regiment 584; Machine-Gun Battalion 16, comprising three machine-gun companies each with twelve MG 08, one engineer company and one antitank company with nine guns; one supply staff from Regiment 584; III Battalion/Artillery Regiment 319 with two Czech light field-howitzer batteries; one battery of four captured French 7.5 cm guns; one battery of four captured French 15.5 cm guns; one naval battery of four 22 cm guns; Artillery Regimental Headquarters for Special Employment 720; Naval Artillery Battalion Headquarters 604; two platoons, 2nd Company/Engineer Battalion 319; Fortress Engineer Staff 19 with two subsector staffs; Fortress Construction Battalion 152, headquarters and 2nd, 3rd and 5th Companies; eight captured tanks; Light Antiaircraft Battalion 998 with headquarters and two batteries; about one-third of Signals Company 319, including two radio teams; two teams from Corps Signals Battalion 460.

[Scan 1172.jpg] 4) Alderney, subordinate to the 83rd Infantry Division and Naval Artillery Commander Cherbourg respectively. Island commander: commander of the naval battery. Troops: one rifle company/Infantry Regiment 277, 83rd Division, with one heavy machine-gun platoon and one antitank platoon; Army Coastal Battery 461, 15 cm guns 18; one naval battery of three 17 cm guns; 2nd Company/Construction Battalion 158; one radio team of the 83rd Division for communication with the mainland.

5) a) A signals detachment of Higher Command LX is being assembled on the mainland for permanent employment on the islands, subject to approval of its establishment. b) Forty-two light mortars 36 and forty-two heavy mortars 34 arrived at Granville on 11 July and are currently being transported to the islands. The 319th Division regulates distribution.

6) Vessels currently available for transport and supply, including that of the island population. Gross registered tonnage as listed: steamer Normand, 1,717; motor ship Spinell, 750; steamer Diamant, 500; steamer Adolf le Prince, 350; steamer Paul de Jeanin, 102; two lighters, 550 each; five lighters, 500 each; one lighter for oil cargo, 500; one lighter, 300.

[Scan 1173.jpg] One tank lighter, 1,220 gross registered tons (cargo tons), for the Luftwaffe; steamer H 23, 3,290; steamer H 7, 3,014, for which exchange for small steamers has been requested. In addition, operating from St Malo: steamer H 2, 3,000 gross registered tons; five tugs and thirteen barges. [The original mixes gross registered tonnage and cargo-ton notation as reproduced.]

Original source image 1170.jpg — T-78 Roll 317. Channel Islands garrison return as of 15 July 1941.

Original source image 1171.jpg — T-78 Roll 317. Channel Islands garrison return as of 15 July 1941.

Original source image 1172.jpg — T-78 Roll 317. Channel Islands garrison return as of 15 July 1941.

Original source image 1173.jpg — T-78 Roll 317. Channel Islands garrison return as of 15 July 1941.

German Army High Command records, T-78 Roll 317. Supplied English translation T78_Roll_317_English_Translation.docx. Source images: 1169.jpg, 1170.jpg, 1171.jpg, 1172.jpg, 1173.jpg.