'It was a really joyous day': Peter Bott's SS Vega memories 80 years on

  • The second part of our special five-part series marking the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the SS Vega

  • Sophie Dulson meets Peter Bott from Guernsey, 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

The SS Vega arrived in Guernsey on 27 December and in Jersey on 31 December. Credit: Société Jersiaise

  • 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

Peter Bott's story:

Peter Bott (seen on the right) was photographed alongide his elder brother in St Peter Port during the Occupation. Credit: Peter Bott

Peter Bott was a war baby. He grew up only knowing life under the Occupation and the hardship that came with it.

Peter says: "I never wore a pair of shoes until I was six years old, so my feet were like leather.

"I walked for six years without any shoes on and when we did, we had bits of leather and bits of cardboard cut up and strapped on our feet."

Peter and his other siblings grew up with very little, and what they did have was always shared amongst them.

He says: "The whole family used to have a bath in one of the old tin baths and if we could find some wood and light a fire, we would warm some water up and all have a turn each.

"My sister would go in first, then by age; my elder brother, then me, then my two younger brothers.

"We all shared a bath of water which was - by the time we all got in - pretty smelly and grubby."

After years of Occupation, Guernsey's supplies had dwindled as the German strategy to starve Britain into submission took hold. Credit: Imperial War Museums

Food was also scarce, leaving Peter and one of his brothers with no choice but to beg from the Germans.

Peter recalls: "We didn't actually speak to them because we couldn't speak German and most of the young Germans never spoke English but they knew what we were there for.

"Holding our hands out and pointing to your tongue, they knew what we were after.

"If we had a little drop of soup or perhaps a few bones, they would be rushed back to my mother and my mother would try and make something with what we had."

Each parcel was expected to last a person a month with specific packages for young children and babies Credit: ITV Channel

Towards the end of the war, the average Channel Islander consumed as little as 900 calories a day.

Peter describes: "You were desperate to get food and you just ate what you could to keep going but it's very difficult to say what you actually felt like.

"You're desperate to have something but you've got to get used to the fact you've got nothing to eat - that's how life went on."

But little did Peter know, the greatest gift of all was on its way to Guernsey. He was almost five when the SS Vega docked into St Peter Port harbour on 27 December 1944.

For Peter, it was a day he'll never forget, as he explains: "That day was absolutely unbelievable. I mean people had been shut up for five years and yet on that day flags appeared - Union Jacks appeared.

"Everybody went absolutely mad. It was a really, really joyous day."

What did the Red Cross parcels contain?

Credit: ITV Channel

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

Peter says: "Everybody was handed out these packets of goodies and we didn't know what we were going to find in it.

"Having never seen a piece of chocolate, it was unbelievable to have something sweet in your mouth that you could actually chew and swallow.

"It was really out of this world and something you couldn't believe."

80 years since Peter received his Red Cross parcel, that sense of disbelief is still palpable.

He concludes: "I think the Vega really saved a lot of people and without it, I think Guernsey would have lost a lot of its people in the years following the Occupation.

"It was only [the parcels] that sustained them when the Occupation was over."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...