31 January 1942 Part 4

January 1942 Island command artillery fortification shipping and morale

Editorial note: Monthly report or annex; placed at the end of the reporting month because no single document date is supplied. Dates within the text retain their original meaning.

Alderney was placed under 319th Infantry Division to reduce the burden on 83rd Infantry Division before its departure. Lieutenant-Colonel Zucke, previously appointed island commander, assumed the duties; the former deputy island commander, Lieutenant-Colonel von der Lancken, transferred to command an infantry regiment of 319th Division.

Reinforcement of the Channel Islands continued. Anti-aircraft troops were employed to protect the airfields on Guernsey and Jersey. Artillery Battalion 652 of 712th Infantry Division reached Guernsey on 15 January and became IV Battalion Artillery Regiment 319. On the same day a battery of Artillery Battalion 656 arrived on Jersey and joined I Battalion Artillery Regiment 319.

The corps submitted its second monthly report on permanent fortification of the Channel Islands on 20 January. Two days later the operations officer, engineer officer and the naval artillery officer for the Channel coast, Kapitän Kopp, discussed the tactical and technical plan for the permanent works. Further inspections and command visits covered Jersey, Guernsey, Cherbourg and coastal obstacles. General of Infantry von Viebahn took leave of subordinate formations on 26 January; the corps commander visited Cherbourg on 27 January before further inspections. Personnel and intelligence matters were recorded in separate annexes.

The general supply position was satisfactory. Island shipping was reasonably regular except during bad weather, but requests for suitable vessels and better harbour cranes were repeated after the 17 January air raid on Guernsey harbour. The ordered ninety-day island stockpile was nearing completion and the Army took over supply of Organisation Todt personnel on all three islands. Coal shortages were temporarily covered from army reserves. Further measures concerned bakeries, winter clothing, a sixty-bed convalescent home at Bagnoles, veterinary facilities and vehicles for the corps reserve.

The French population was described as reserved, calm and not unfriendly. On the islands there was fear of further air raids and their effect on food supply. Dissatisfaction was directed towards the English civil authorities over shortages and distribution of potatoes and heating materials. Conduct towards the occupying troops was reserved and correct; co-operation with military administration and French or English offices was reported as good and without difficulty.

T-314 Roll 1603, T314_Roll_1603_English_Translation.docx. Source PDF pages 0186–0192 | Higher Command XXXXIII Army Corps activity report for January 1942; Source PDF pages 0255–0257 | Annexes 2–4 to the January activity report