Talk:Alderney
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I have lived on Alderney for several years and am going to make some changes. Alderney cows are no longer bred on the island, the only remaining populations are in the United States, butter and milk locally comes from Jersey cows.
In June and July 1940, the States of Guernsey sent a work-party to recover the property of those Islanders who had fled before the German occupation. At the same time, they removed most of the cattle remaining on the island since it was very difficult for the few remaining islanders to milk them. On Guernsey, Alderney cattle were interbred with the local cattle and only the few animals left on Alderney were pure bred.
They were smaller, more slender boned animals than the cattle of the other islands and in some ways they were more deer-like than bovine. They were docile animals and would even follow children pacively to or from pastures. Their milk was copious and produced an extreemly rich butter.
The last pure bred cows on Alderney were eaten by the Germans in late 1944. The pure breed is now extinct.
MAX LIST SS OFFICER
The imputation in the article on History of Alderney is that Max List was Commandant of Alderney and was succeeded in 1944 by Col.(Oberst)Schwalm.
This is untrue.
Schwalm was Feldkommandant (responsible for the military) and Kommandant (responsible for civil administration)
Max List was initially Lager Kommandant - Sylt and SS (and Lists) authority was extended to Nordoney about three months after his arrival on Alderney.
At no time was he ever Feldommandant or Kommandant and his authority extended to administration of Sylt and Nordoney only. The other camps remained under the authority of the Organisation Todt until they were closed in 1944.
As far as I know, Schwalm never intervened in the administration of Sylt or Nordoney and List most certainly did not involve himself in the affairs of the Kommandantur, where he was not liked.
Col. Schwalm burned all of the camps and the camp records shortly before the arrival of British troops on 16 May. From memory, the remains of the camps were still smouldering when they arrived and I think their destruction occurred on 14 May.
I have no idea when the camp records were destroyed but my father thought it was as a result of an order on 8 May from Admiral Huffmeier (then Officer Commanding Channel Islands)to the effect that all records should be destroyed before arrival of the British, expected in Guernsey on 9 May, 1945.
- 1945, surely? Man vyi 05:47, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
Yes. 1945. Thankyou.
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[edit] OY and OU
The suffix 'oy' and 'ou' come from the Norse language spoken by the early Normans(Norseman) who settled Normandy in the 9/10th century.
They distinguished between an island (oy) usually inhabitable and an islet (ou) not habitable on a sustained basis, hence the difference between Alderney (Aaldernsoy) and its neighbour Barhou.
It is true that a number of islets (with names ending in ou) are now inhabitted due to technological and other advances but at the time of Norse settlement, this was not the case.
[edit] TREES
The article on Geography includes the assertion that 'Trees are rather scarce, as most, if not all, were cut down by the occupying German forces;'.
This not true.
Tree on Alderney were scarce - even before the German occupation - since they could only grow in sheltered areas and there were not too many of them. Before the war trees grew in some parts of town, down parts of Braye Road and of course in other protected areas like the walled Jardine Parmentier.
It is true that the island was fairly well wooded until the seventeenth century but trees were then cut down to fuel the lighthouses on Alderney and the Casquets until replaced with imported coal.
Replanting was slow to occur and when the Germans arrived, they found a relatively barren island. They imported building materials - including all timber needs - from the mainland. After the Allied landings on Normandy, Alderney like all the other islands was subject to an allied blockade and supply from the Norman mainland quickly became impossible
During the winter of 1944,the German garrison ran out of fuel for heating and cooking. The Kommandantur formed Timber Parties which were sent out to recover timber from houses and other buildings which were not being used by the Germans or occupied by civilians.
These Parties recovered timber by tearing the wooden content out of buildings - doors, staircases, window frames, bearers and joists, floor boards - with the result that most houses in town were left in ruins.
However, very few of the trees on the island were put to the German axe - they had other things to kill - in fact I can not recall any trees being chopped down by them.
I do remember going down to Crabby with my grandmother to collect twigs - and if very lucky a whole tree branch - to be used as firewood at home (our one sometimes heated room - the kitchen)and that was in early 1945, a difficult time since it was hard to keep warm because of the shortage of food, firewood or coal and the unavailability of clothing.
We did not often go to bed shivering and unable to get really warm under the blankets but the winter of 1944-45 was an exception.
[edit] ARRIVAL OF SS
The article states in part that: 'In 1942, the Norderney camp, containing Russian and Polish POWs, and Sylt camp, holding Jews, were placed under the control of the SS Haupsturmfuhrer Max List.'
This is wrong. From memory, Max List headed a group of SS officers and prison guards who arrived in Alderney either in late February or very early March, 1943 and not in 1942 as stated in the article cited above.
Prior to the arrival of Max List, Nordeney did contain Poles and Russians - including some Ukrainians. List took control of Sylt on arrival and from then until its closure (June 1944) it contained Jews.
In late May, 1943 List took over control of part of Nordeney to accommodate Jews, mostly French, who could not be held at Sylt which by then was full. The part of Nordeney holding Jews was fenced off with barbed wire to separate it from the part controlled by the Organisation Todt.
In June or July, 1943 (I think it was June?) the SS took over full responsibility for the operation of Nordeney and the fence was removed sometime after that.
[edit] MENTION OF NEUENGAMME
The article on HISTORY states in part that 'The Germans built four concentration camps on the island, depending on Neuengamme.'.
The phrase 'depending on Neuengamme' makes no sense.
The four Concentration Camps built on Alderney were built to accommodate a labour force 'recruited' by the Organisation Todt to work on the fortification of the island. Those workers had no connection with Neuengamme.
Neungamme was a concentration camp operated by the SS in a Hamburg suburb of the same name to hold Jews and those who opposed the Party.
As far as I know, the only connection between Alderney and Nuengamme is Haupsturmführer Maximillian List, an SS Officer who was responsible for transporting a number of prisonersw from Neuengamme to Alderney for use as forced labour in the building of military fortifications.
On arrival in Alderney, List took over control of the Sylt Concentration Camp and in addtion, he subsequently took over control of Nordeney Concentration Camp. Both camps had previously been under the control of the Organisation Todt.
[edit] ALDERNEY CATTLE
In June and July 1940, the States of Guernsey sent a work-party to recover the property of those Islanders who had fled before the German occupation. At the same time, they removed most of the cattle remaining on the island since it was very difficult for the few remaining islanders to milk them. On Guernsey, Alderney cattle were interbred with the local cattle and only the few animals left on Alderney were pure bred.
They were smaller, more slender boned animals than the cattle of the other islands and in some ways they were more deer-like than bovine. They were docile animals and would even follow children pacively to or from pastures. Their milk was copious and produced an extreemly rich butter.
The last pure bred cows on Alderney were eaten by the Germans in late 1944. The pure breed is now extinct.
- Keep in mind headings need not be in capital letters. --Wafulz 02:39, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
