WW2 letter details Guernsey Occupation food crisis

A recently-found letter written by a Guernsey man during the German Occupation shows the extent of the island's food crisis during World War Two.

Claude Rondel started writing to his family in the US in April 1943, updating his letter until the island's liberation in May 1945.

The letter was found in a box of photos by relatives in the US earlier in 2024.

In the letter, Mr Rondel wrote of the lack of food, people starving to death and how the International Red Cross ship the SS Vega saved islanders' lives with food parcels in December 1944.

The German Occupation of Guernsey began on 30 June 1940, a few weeks before he turned 16.

In December 1944, as the island waited for the International Red Cross ship, he wrote in the letter to his relatives in the US: "For the last month, or six weeks, food has been very short".

Mr Rondel told his relatives that people were starving - islanders and the occupying forces.

He wrote: "German soldiers are eating cats and dogs.

"I am getting gradually weaker and losing weight, I only weigh eight stone at 20 years of age."

The SS Vega arrived for the first time on 27 December 1944 and it supplied more than 119,000 standard food parcels.

In the letter, Mr Rondel said: "I went to town to see her come into the harbour.

"Cheers, bells, rattles and everything you can think of were heard ringing through the town, it was just like in peace time.

"Everyone said 'God bless the Red Cross' for without them we certainly would have starved."

Despite the ship visiting once a month, Mr Rondel said food was still scarce, describing how "each day perhaps one or two, or even more people, die of starvation, they just drop where they are".

The last entry came on 8 May 1945 and stated: "War over, Occupation ends 12 midnight. Celebrated today but tomorrow is our day."

Mr Rondel died in 2006 and his family said they intended to donate the letter to the Guernsey Museums.