8 May 1942 Part 4

8 May 1942 Part 4 Notice requiring boat registration

Feldkommandantur 515.
St. Helier. May 8th, 1942.

NOTICE

1. All boats of any kind (including collapsible boats), not lying in the harbours of St Helier, Gorey, Rozel Bay or St. Aubin, shall be declared by their owners or holders, stating their present whereabouts.

2. The declaration shall have to be made in writing to the Harbour Kommandantur, St. Helier, not later than the 15th May, 1942.

3. The Constables of the parishes will be held responsible for the declaring of all boats, including those on land, the owners of which have left the island.

4. Any person contravening this order wilfully or maliciously shall be liable to a fine not exceeding Reichsmark 30.000—or imprisonment not exceeding 6 weeks.

Der Feldkommandant,
Signed, KNACKFUSS,
Colonel.

German text check: Clause 4 contains a substantive translation difference. The German “vorsätzlich oder fahrlässig” means “intentionally or negligently”, not “wilfully or maliciously”. A corrected English rendering is: “Anyone who contravenes these provisions intentionally or negligently is liable to a fine of up to 30,000 Reichsmarks or detention of up to six weeks.” The amount and duration agree in both versions. In clause 3, the German expressly describes the boats belonging to owners who have left the island as boats on land; the English wording is broader. “Constables” is the contemporary English rendering of the German Bürgermeister in this Jersey context. Feldkommandantur means “Field Command”; Harbour Kommandantur means “Harbour Command”; Der Feldkommandant means “The Field Commandant”.

Jersey Archive, B/A/W50/55. Supplied PDF page 3.