CHANNEL ISLANDS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21280, 26 November 1940, Page 2

CHANNEL ISLANDS

FAMOUS HERDS Following t£ lC news 0 f the evacuation of_ Channel Islands it was learned in L on d on this week (reports Farmers’ Weekly of July 5) * -iat thousands of growers and breeders have chosen to remain on their farms. .Of the 90,000 population of the Islands some 45,000 have been evacuated to the North of England. The remainder (there are 25,000 on Guernsey alone), principally small farmers, stayed to face the invader rather than to leave the result of their year’s work. Shipping of the produce of the islands continued until the last possible moment. Indeed, a mile-long line of lorries loaded with potatoes was waiting at the quay when the Nazi planes raidled Guernsey on Friday evening. The lorries, in the words of an eye-witness, were blown sky-high. There seems little doubt that the famous herds of the Islands 'have fallen in their entirety into the hands of the enemy. Every sort of communication with the mainland was cut on Monday, the day the Nazis occupied the Islands. When the news of the completion of the evacuation was received in London last week-end the English Guernsey Cattle Society immediately made emergency arrangements to receive into attested herds any cattle of their breed which could be saved from the Island. The Society has received a cable from the American Guernsey Club expressing deep concern as to the position and offering to do anything they can to assist. One of the last men to leave Jersey before the Germans landed told the Farmers’ Weekly that many farmers decided that it would be better to stay and chance their luck. The farms left without owners were taken over by the Island Government. With the help of the Jersey F.U., men were found to run them and in the case of smaller farms where it was found impossible for men to take over, cattle were distributed among the neighbouring farmers. “When I left,” said the informant, “this scheme had been in operation for approximately a week and had got well under way.