26 January 1943 Part 3

26 January 1943 Fortification of the Channel and Atlantic coasts Annex 17

LXXXIV Army Corps Headquarters, Ia 659/43, secret, to Seventh Army. References: Army engineer order 906/42 of 14 December 1942 and 319th Infantry Division Ia 169/43 of 19 January 1943.

According to the 319th Infantry Division, it has proved impossible to increase construction output on the Channel Islands in recent months, despite all Organisation Todt's efforts and the division's subordination of all tactical requirements to technical wishes.

Since May 1942, total concrete output on the islands has remained, with slight fluctuations, at 28,000 cubic metres a month, against a requirement of 50,000 cubic metres for permanent construction. Completion of usable enclosed structures has fallen even further behind the target than concrete construction. This means that the first building programme envisaged in the tactical and technical plan will be completed only in summer 1944, rather than spring 1943.

The situation is particularly difficult on Alderney, where output has fallen to one quarter of the original target. The supply situation is now so bad that even this output is threatened. Cement stocks on the islands are exhausted. This is not caused by interruptions to shipping: no cement has arrived at Saint-Malo for a long time, and stocks there are also running out. Other materials are also insufficient, including timber for shuttering and interior fittings, and electrical materials.

Nevertheless, the 230 works allocated to the Channel Islands under the first sequence of construction priorities, toward the 74% programme, will be usable by 1 May 1943 unless entirely unforeseen major interruptions occur. Organisation Todt's Normandy senior construction headquarters has been informed of these circumstances.

Signed: General of Artillery.

T-314 Roll 1604, T314_R1604_English_Translation.docx. 26 January 1943 | Source PDF pages 49–50. Selected island-related text; document or report date governs placement.