75 years of freedom for Bad Wurzach internees

Roses will be laid on the graves of islanders who died in a German internment camp during Jersey's Occupation later today.

The service in Bad Wurzach cemetery is to mark the 75th anniversary of the day French tanks tore down the barbed wire and freed the camp in the centre of town.

A group of former internees had planned to mark the day on a return visit this week, but it had to be cancelled because of coronavirus.

600 islanders called the camp home between September 1942 and April 1945. They had immediate family links to the UK and were deemed a risk to occupying forces in Jersey.

German soldiers ordered them to gather at the Weighbridge, where they were shipped to France and put on a train to Germany to be held in camps.

First, the Jersey contingent were held in Biberach, and six months later moved on to Bad Wurzach.

Tony Barnett was just a seven-year-old boy when he made the journey with his mother and father.

Russian slaves had been held in the camp before and it was filthy.

On 28 April 1945, French troops drove into Bad Wurzach and as they approached the camp inside the imposing castle, the German guards surrendered.

One of the internees, who spoke fluent French, rushed outside to explain who they were and the rescuers pulled down the wire surrounding the camp.

Instead of the planned trip to Bad Wurzach by the former internees, representatives in Germany will lay flowers on the graves of those who died and those in Jersey will remember the day from their homes.