St. Peter's Bunker

Changes in or re-arrangement may alter position of exhibition

SOUVENIR GUIDE

This Unde rgro und Bunker was built in 1942 by the German buildingorga n isa tio n , know n as th e 'Organizat io n Tod t ' using Ru ssianand o t her slave lab ou r. It s purpose as a strongpoint was to gua rd theimporta nt cross roa ds lead ing to the West of t he Island a nd t heAirport. In Room 5, a heavy machin e gun sta nd can be see n si ted toco ver the m ain roa d at gro und level. An Ant i-Airc raft gu n was alsoplaced o n the ro of of th e adjo ining hote l. 33 men sle p t in thisbunker , which co uld be a ir an d gas sealed in case of attack . Theor iginal air co nditio ning unit is to be seen in Roo m 6 . A co mplicatedte lephone communication system was also estab lished .

JERSEY, C.1.

By far theLargest Collection in JerseyNear Jersey Motor Museum

St. Peter's VillageEstabl ished 1965

EQUIPMENT ANDOCCUPATION RELICS

EXHIBITION OF

(Room 6) Zimmer Sechs

This is the largest room and contain s the gun coll ection and motorcycles. Notice the twin swivel machine gun stand which used 2 M.G.34's and was mainly for anti-a ircraft defence. The air conditioningplan t for th e whole bunker is seen here . The figure of the LuftwaffePilot is full y dressed complete wiyh oxy gen mask and unit. T o th eright is a portabl e ge ne ra to r a nd a very complicat ed device known asa light speake r where-upon voice waves were transmitted as beams oflight and came through a receiver and tr an sferred back to voi ceco mmunica tion . Thre motor cycles are in thi s room , two werefound in pieces in a pig sty and restored. T he G erman Paratrooperis co mple te ly dressed and ca rr ies hand grena des and a SchmeisserA uto ma tic o r MP 40 .Fire fighte rs eq uipme nt, scisso rs, bin oculars , both types of' Pa nzerfaust' A nti-ta nk weapons, Germa n 'Bazooka' missile ando n the wa ll a re office r's ca r pennants of the th ree se rv ices . The gunco llec tion co nta ins machine guns . M .G . 34's, G renade La unc hers,L ugers, P 38's, Schme isse rs, Wa lthe rs, Rad om , Sa uers , Dame M .G .,Cha ta llerault M .G . , Chaucha t M .G ., Flare Pistols , Rifles etc., etc.

As one emerges from the b unker one sees the side door of the Hotelwhere the officers lived and the men ate. On the roof of the bunkeris a Ge rman Naval gu n moun ted as a n an ti-invasio n piece and dug upafter t he war. An d also a Fren ch tank t urre t used as an M.G . Po st.Souven ir Bo oks and Post Card s m ay be ob ta ine d from the tick etoffice .

We hope yo ur visit was interesting and enjoyab le, it is presente d no tas a glo r ifica t io n of th e par aphern alia of the Th ird Reich bu t as asmall reminder of mans inh uma nity to man.

A co llec t io n of milit ar y vehic les ca n be see n in The J ersey Mot o rMu seum o pposi te .

Recommended fu rth er reading o n th e Occupation o f J e rsey . Islandsin Danger , by Alan & Mar y Seat on Wood (A Fo ur Square Book).The Occupation Diar y , by Leslie Sin el (Corgi Boo ks). Channe lIsla nds Occupied , a Pictor ial Histo ry , by Richar d Mayne . (J a rrol ds).

the cutaway sections are explained in detail. In the wall cases areo ffic er's ceremonial dress swords of Navy , Army and Airforcepersonnel , together with cloth trades insignia worn o n the arm.New show cases exhibit hundreds o f various items including mortarsand a piece of cockpit from a 'Mustang' shot down in February1944.

(Room 1) Zimmer Ein

Original Proclamations and Death Warning Notices line the walls ,not e the ne wspap er 'Insel Zeitung' a German newspaper printed bythem at the Jersey Evening Post building . A com plete set of mo neyas issued by the States , together with German Rei chmark s was theonly curre ncy in use as pound no tes and silver co ins soo ndisappeared. A two man Flame-thrower is noted and is a rare it em .The larg e case contains Medical Equipmen t , Field Dressings andDrugs , leaflets dropped by the Allied Airforces, hand gre nades,binoculars, photographs. Note the informants letters addressed tothe German Kommandant by tra ito ro us islanders .The famous " Enigma" decodeing ma chine is shown this rare it emwas feat ur ed in the film "A Man Called Intrepid " with David Niven .Also a rare piece is a German ' But terfly Bomb' one of man ytho usands dropped on Bri tain d uri ng WWII. A large range of o ptica lequipmen t is displayed.

(Room 2) Zimmer Zwei

Item s made by Jersey people include bellows, Hot Water Bottle ,shoe soles . Note also the babies gas masks .Th e co ntents of Red Cross parcels are show n with var io us homemade applia nces used by local peo ple such as clothes pegs , woodenco mb, sauce pans and jugs made from biscuit t ins , an d details o f theration allo wance. Opposit e is the large showcase containing theGoering portrait , carve d Regimental Memorial , flame-throwers anda wat er purifica t ion un it. See also the very large brass shell casethe explosive head being used as an anti-invasion ro ller bomb bein gsuspended fro m cliffs. A back pack Flamethrower is shown, th epaint ings were removed fro m a bunker in J er sey where they o ncelined the walls. The clock is take n from a German Minesweep er andthe Eagle and Swa stika can be seen on the fa ce. The whip was issu edas a blanket cleaner but was freq uen tly used o n Russian Prisoner s.The han d mill is fo r making potat o flou r and a home-made butt erchurn is sho wn. So ldiers letters were posted in the box seen below .Black Mark et prices are shown e .g. £ 1 for a candle , £25 for l lb oftea .

The Corridor

Soldiers grave headboard used at St.B relade' s Cemeter y where allmembers of the German Forces were buried. On the wa ll furtheralo ng are pho tographs o f a Luftw affe Office r's funeral at St. Brelad e.The bic ycle is unusual in tha t th e handl eba rs were remo ved to

prevent theft and often soldiers carried them when visiti ng shops ,cinemas etc . The Map of J ersey depicts the position of every pieceof artillery and anti-aircraft gun in the Island with their sizes. Themassive Wall Telephones were especially made for bunkers. ABritish map from Eisenhower 's H.Q. in 1944 demonstrates howmuch the allies knew about the Island's defen ces.

(Room 3) Zimmer Drei

This room is an actual reconstruction, the bunk beds are original asare the furniture , stove and rifle rack. Here is seen a soldier , offduty, asleep. Another about to go on watch , and the officer isoperating the radio-transmitter and receive r connecting this bunkerto the Bat t le H.Q. at Petit Alva , St.Lawrence. Ammunition andequipme nt bo xe s ar e stacked in o ne co rn er , the heavy ma chine gunon its tr ipod stand is the M.G. 34 the principle M.G. o f th e GermanForces in World War II. On the wall is a map of all the min efieldsin Jersey , 50 ,000 mines were laid . The ever present picture ofAdolf Hitler is o n the wall and a pre-war radio tuned to Germanybrings though ts of home. The men in this bunker can follow thefor t unes of th e Afrika -Korps o n the large wall map (originallyfound in a bunker). Cutlery and dom estic utensils are spa rse as themen ate in the adjoining hotel. Spa re moments were spent in writinghome, or rep airing fo o twear o n the last seen near the stove.

(Room 4) Zimmer Vier

Unifo rms o f various branches of the Germ a n For ces ar e displayed ina large showcase , with caps , ha ts and helm ets , a horses gas mask ,a beaut iful naval com pass. The actual ' Luger ' pistol surrenderedby the Lu ftwaffe in 1945. On the wall are photographs of vario usaspects of t he Occu pation , in the flat case are various badges, awardsand insignia wo rn by the occupying troops. Opposite are displaye dhundreds of pieces of equipment too numerous to mentionind ividua lly but all bear an explan at ory note. These incl ude rad io,scient ific and o pt ica l instruments , to gether wit h elect rical apparat us,and a rar e piece , a Pilot 's Helmet , Oxygen apparatus and throatmicrophone , etc ., etc .

( Roo m 5) Zimmer Funf

The machine gun ro om . Here is see n the heavy machine gun standwhich po ints th rough the thick co nc re te slit o n the main roa d .You may look th rough the o pt ical sight to imag ine the fie ld of fireit posse ssed. In the case be hind ex amples o f all the mines used ,