German War Tunnels

Some of the tunnels built in Jersey during the War by the German army using forced labour.
These tunnels are not open to the public and in quite an unsafe condition in many areas

These photos were taken 25 years ago when we got in to some of the tunnels.
The first tunnel we explored on a very cold day, but inside it was quite warm, this warm air rose up and out of the ventilation shaft forming a mist as it did so. The flow of warm air rising draw in cold air at the lower entrance which warmed in the tunnel and continued the process. This caused some reflections from the camera flash.

Entrance could be gained by roping down the ventilation shaft, but we squeezed in through a small gap someone had cut into the shale to the side of the concrete plug blocking the bottom entrance

Along the side of the tunnel floor a small stream ran, being very clear and from rainwater filtered through the rock, we reasoned it would be safe to drink and fact one of us did drink some, however he was puzzled by the small spiky objects in the bottom of the stream that looked like inch long toothpicks, as we walked further we found many more of them and then the skeleton of a hedgehog in the stream! The one who drank the water suddenly regretted it!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• German
• War
• Tunnels
• WWII
• Jersey

[TribeMix]

where are these tunnels ? thanks

[jethou1]

@TribeMix

Tunnel A goes under Beaumont hill. This tunnel is in a dangerous state in many areas.

Tunnel B is off St Peter's Valley up the road by The Vic in the Valley pub. This has unsafe areas in it.

Tunnel C is above Grand Vaux reservoir This is locked up.

If you find these tunnels be very careful, 1. They are privately owned. 2. They are not very safe!

[fdsdh1]

@jethou1 below or above the road?

[jethou1]

@fdsdh1 Below the road, a little further up the valley from the house, pretty overgrown the last time I was there, easy to miss. Be carefull, the first section looked very unstable!

[jethou1]

@VeroxTrickz NEW Jersey is in the USA but, Jersey (which is what NEW Jersey is named after) is in the English channel about 17 miles from France. Jersey is part of the British Isles and together with its neighboring Channel Islands is the only part of Britain to be occupied by the German Forces during WWII

[jethou1]

@VeroxTrickz I'm guessing you didn't know the channel Islands were occupied by the Germans during the second world war, in fact they only surrendered in Jersey on May the 9th 1945, a day after they surrendered elsewhere. During the war the Germans heavily fortified Jersey and Guernsey including building many underground shelters in case of attack by allied forces. The attack never came, even after D-Day the allied forces simply avoided getting close to the German big guns placed on the Islands.

[3NUNS]

@VeroxTrickz : To facilitate the rapid milking of Jersey cows !

[doctorwhotoclafane]

Shadows

[TheStgmp44]

@VeroxTrickz the tunnels were dug out to be used as stores for munitions as they had to be imported in to the island.after D-Day HO8 was used as an underground hospital as the Jersey general hospital was full with German navel personel who was evacuated from France.

[syvers147]

@TheStgmp44

You can now!

[MOHCTPOXOD]

@VeroxTrickz Haha! First time I understood that there is somethng wrong with middle school geography course in USA is when a post officer in California tred to charge an international fare for a letter to New Mexico, thinking that it is in Mexico. Well, it is very good t know for american people that besides thir "New", there are also REAL Jersey, York, England, Orleans and other "old" places :)

[thetubewithin]

@VeroxTrickz Jersey is one of the Channel Islands, south of England. New Jersey is most likely named after it.