1945 Island Kommandant

Well yesterday's post certainly ignited a little flurry of interest! But as someone commented today on the Pistonheads thread, I can't really say more yet until I've got as many facts as I can. Plus those old notes aren't mine, so I'm I'm hesitant about divulging their content without permission. More to come on that soon.

Anyway, on Pistonheads there's a number of conspiracies developing.  For those that are interested, what has been discussed today is who was in charge in Jersey at the end of the Second World War, as that might have a bearing on the German Authorities were up to just before liberation. 

In fact, in February, 1945 (around the time that the large warehouse appeared at the southern end of my property) Admiral Friedrich Huffmeier took over command of the Channel Islands. A commentator at the time recorded "The new Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Islands in February 1945, Admiral Friedrich Huffmeier, was a fanatical Nazi. “We shall never surrender,” he told Jersey’s Bailiff Alexander Coutanche. “In the end you and I will be eating grass."

Huffmeier is also credited with arranging, in the spring of 1945, several daring raids on a nearby French sea port, which was at the time under the control of the allies, even though the end of the war was looming. Wikipedia entry.

This was all at a time when Jersey was one of the most heavily fortified places in Europe.

And what was Huffmeier's plan for the Island with Nazi surrender imminent in Europe? Well, apparently it was to defend it to the end!

The book "Britain under the Jackboot" records that:-

"A "very bad" German was Vice Admiral Friedrich Huffmeier, a fanatical Nazi, of gaunt appearance, whose long admiral's greatcoat gave the impression of a shroud. He carried a large, bulging briefcase which somehow added to the sense of macabre. Huffmeier was sent to the islands in the autumn of 1944, officially as Seekommandant, but unofficially as the eyes and ears of Berlin. In February 1945, he replaced yon Schmettow as commander in chief--von Schmettow having been ordered to return to Germany for being "soft" on the islanders. It is said there was a botched plot, apparently involving von Aufsess, to kill him. 

A month before the war ended Huffmeier addressed a mass meeting in the Forum cinema, where he explained the importance of defending the Channel Islands. An attack by the British and Americans might at any moment put them in the front line. They must prepare for this hour spiritually and materially; the more desperate the times the more united they must be. 

After the death of Hitler, Huffmeier berated the skipper of a Red Cross vessel, which was in port, for not flying his flag at half-mast. Later that day an Allied ship appeared and signalled proposals for surrender. He replied: "Ihr Angeboot ist uberflussig" ("Your request is superfluous", or colloquially, "Get lost"). Huffmeier apparently believed that the islands--being "British"--could be used in bargaining to gain better terms for a defeated Germany. 

On 8th May, as Churchill formally announced the surrender of the rest of Germany, a similar demand was put to Huffmeier. His representative, a nervous young naval officer, Armin Zimmerman (who later held senior rank in NATO), kept the rendezvous with the ships HMS Bulldog and HMS Beagle. Taking a deep breath, he told the British he had been authorised to discuss an "armistice", not a "surrender". His hosts replied that it was surrender or nothing. Zimmerman took another deep breath and said his instructions were that the British must withdraw or they would be fired upon. 

The two ships retired to a safe distance. That night saner voices pressured Huffmeier to change his mind. The ships returned; Huffmeier threatened to open fire when they arrived before the appointed time. Generalmajor Heine, Huffmeier's deputy, signed the surrender document. Huffmeier could not bring himself to attend. It was left to von Aufsess to announce, at a hastily convened meeting of Channel Island elders: "Der Krieg ist zu Ende, und in den Kanalinseln auch" ("The war is over, and in the Channel Islands too"). Thus it was that the European war ended in the Channel Islands a day later that it ended anywhere else. 

HMS Beagle returned on 12th May, and took Huffmeier into formal custody. His last order, which was disobeyed, was that his men should greet the British with Nazi salutes."