On the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the Liberation of Jersey from Nazi occupation, I thought I’d return to a scene I wrote some years ago in my book Tess of Portelet Manor. It’s not the first time I’ve re-used this piece but it is kinda good I think. It is seven months since the D-Day landings but the Channel Islands remain under Nazi rule and conditions are worse than grim for both the islanders and the soldiers who remain and who are losing heart. But today the Red Cross ship SS Vega has docked in Jersey, delivering vital supplies.
“Good morning. May I join you on the wall?” Tess glanced to her left. It was a young German soldier in dark green uniform. She shrugged and looked away. The soldier swung his legs over the wall and sat down. “The people are happy about the supply ship, yes?” Tess shrugged, didn’t look his way and didn’t bother answering. The young soldier seemed to take no offence. He reached inside his tunic jacket and extracted a paper package. Opening it he took out a chunk of bread, maybe a sandwich, and took a bite. He joined Tess in gazing out across the harbour and bay. “May I offer you a sandwich?” The soldier held out the package towards her.
“No thank you.” Her manners defeated her diffidence.
“It is cheese.” Silence reigned. Tess was used to advances from the soldiers and to their crude remarks and she was quite used to treating them with contempt, but she had not tasted cheese in a year or more. He continued, “One day soon, all this will be over. No more fighting. We will live in peace once more. We will all be reunited with our loved ones. Germany will be punished for its aggression and, in time, we will return to this island in a spirit of friendship, not as occupiers. We will ask forgiveness and bring tokens of our regret for our actions. I will not meet you then, so today I offer you this sandwich now as my personal token of regret. Take it, please.”
She looked at him properly for the first time, her eyes brimming with tears. She saw a boy, no older than she, with blue eyes and short, blond hair under his cap. Just a boy, with a mother and father at home, maybe brothers and sisters. A girlfriend perhaps.
And she took the sandwich without a word.