'That ship saved our lives': John Heys' SS Vega memories 80 years on
The first of our special five-part series marking the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the SS Vega
Sophie Dulson meets John Heys from Jersey, who shares his memories of the day he received his parcel
The Channel Islands are marking a special milestone anniversary: celebrating 80 years since the SS Vega docked in Jersey and Guernsey harbours to deliver thousands of precious Red Cross parcels.
From December 1944, the relief ship delivered more than 100,000 Red Cross parcels, helping to keep thousands alive during the Occupation.
Each package contained food, toiletries, and medical supplies to bolster islanders' diets who had to make do with very little during the German Occupation.
Across 2024, ITV Channel's Sophie Dulson interviewed five islanders who revisited their special memories of receiving their parcels.
The SS Vega's cargo
On her first visit to the Channel Islands the SS Vega delivered:
119,792 standard food parcels
4,200 diet supplement parcels for the ill
5.2 tons of salt
Four tons of soap
96,000 cigarettes
Medical and surgical supplies (equivalent to 1,850kg or 3,700lb)
A small quantity of clothing for children and babies
John Heys' story:
John was born in 1937. His early childhood lived in the shadow of the German Occupation.
He recalls: "I had no concerns or worries at all. I knew nothing else.
"If you're born into something it's quite natural, so for me the Germans were friendly - they were friendly people.
"They missed their families you see and I, strangely enough, had blonde hair in those days and I suppose I looked like a little German boy."
After more than four years of Occupation, Jersey’s supplies dwindled as the German strategy to starve Britain into submission took hold.
John remembers trying to steal food from the Germans, explaining: "Every morning four horses with a big carriage would go by, carrying bread and we could smell the bread.
"We would hide in the hedge and when it went by we would come out and try to get up the tailboard to get to the bread.
"But the Germans knew what was going on, and they had a whip that they flicked back to us on the tailboard and it would knock us off.
"We never did get to the bread but we could smell it."
Another memory John vividly remembers is the Christmas of 1943: the day his black labrador, Jack, caught a rabbit and brought it home to the family.
John says: "I opened the door and he was sitting there with a big rabbit in his mouth.
"He'd been down on Ouaisné Common and caught one but he hadn't eaten it - he brought it back and we all had a bit of rabbit for Christmas."
After the D-day landings in Normandy, the tide of war began to turn and by the winter of 1944, hope arrived in Jersey.
John Heys was 7 years old when the SS Vega ship came to the island, carrying precious cargo.
He recalls: "That ship saved our lives, the day we got our Red Cross parcels.
"The thing that I remember most is the smell of it. That lovely smell we had never smelt before and to eat it - to taste it - was just tremendous and we couldn't wait for the next Red Cross parcel to arrive."
This first voyage of Red Cross supplies brought more than 100,000 parcels to the islands. They included prunes, tinned meat, soap, and powdered milk, known as KLIM.
John adds: "My sister and I grabbed the tin of KLIM and we ran upstairs and dived under the bed and we had a little screwdriver we used to prise the top off.
"We grabbed this powder and put it in our mouths but we couldn't swallow it because we didn't have enough saliva to break it down and we were stuck."
What did the Red Cross parcels contain?
The Canadian parcels contained:
5oz Chocolate, 12oz Biscuits, 3oz Sardines, 16oz Milk powder, 6oz Prunes, 8oz Salmon, 12oz Corned beef, 7oz Raisins, 8oz Sugar, 4oz Tea, 4oz Cheese, 16oz Marmalade, 16oz Butter, 10oz Spam, 3oz Soap and 1oz Pepper and salt
And the parcels from New Zealand held:
4oz Tea, 16oz Corned mutton, 12oz Lamb and green peas, 6oz Chocolate, 16oz Butter, 16oz Coffee and milk, 6oz Sugar, 7oz Peas, 14oz Jam, 16oz Honey, 12oz Cheese and 6oz Raisins
It wasn't just the food products that were new to John: for the first time, he had toiletries after years of going without.
John explains: "I remember my mother showing me how to clean my teeth: you got a toothbrush and you rubbed it inside the fireplace on the soot to clean your teeth.
"To have toothpaste was unbelievable - we wanted to eat it let alone clean our teeth."
As time passes, John reflects on the experience of the Occupation, stating: "These events gradually disappear and lose their importance, but those of us who were here at the time will never ever forget what went on."
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