In the central photo, the Alderney jetty which has accommodated in its sheltered inner bay innumerable sailings over the centuries. We were enchanted by the duty-free oil, which one can get on the island, at the time when we had run out of "liquid" on the boat and were eating onion soups day and night.
Below, fortifications of the island built by the Nazis, with their administration photographed in front of the Lloyds Bank building.
ALDERNEY ISLAND
Duty-free diesel and Hitler's madness
The British island of Alderney, also known as St. Anne, which is also the name of his Country, is located at the northern end of the large bay of Saint-Malo. This Bay is the continuation of the French Biscay when you sail to the North or the continuation of the English Channel when you go down to the South. Alderney has the advantage, in relation to the island of Guernsey, which you also pass within a few miles, that its harbour, or rather its protective giant Breakwater, stands directly in your course, and you need not detour, as you do when you want to to catch the port of Guernsey, facing south-east.
There are many photos of boats that were wrecked in the innumerable dry spells of this Archipelago or that were left on them when the waters receded. And the motorized ones are good. At the most, get down to the rock that carries you and clean your propeller or your hull for a few hours. But the sailboat? This was also the above reason why for us, the people of Famagusta, Channel Islands meant exclusively Alderney Island. Anyway, we didn't take a holiday to splash around on the sandy beaches of Jersey or drink in the tasteful pubs of Guernsey Island. For the wintering in the Canaries we went up and down and for no winter fare, just to cover the expenses.
“Skipper, come on up. We got caught in the fog. We have to shorten the island." This expression always characterized the approach to Alderney. This Isle of Mist and Fortresses has always had its own weather, with intervals of sunshine during the day and a permanent fog during the night and dawn. A fog that shadows you on moonless nights and surprises you with its density and duration on summer mornings.
"The fog lasts well! Leave the island 2 miles offshore. Open - open to enter Saint Anne's Bay. Your eyes fourteen on the small boats entering or leaving the Gulf. With so many islands and islets all around, you can't tell the rocks from the floating ones on the radar screen..."
“Skipper, I hear something rattling to the right...” “It's nothing to worry about, my friend. It's the puffins off the Cone Rock islets...” “Skipper, to the left I hear a flock of seagulls squawking and flying low. Does he have dry skin on the left as well?” "Nothing to worry about, my friend, it seems they found cut fishing nets floating with fish trapped in them..." "Skipper, why is our sea roaring?" “Nothing to worry about, my friend. It's a German tanker going up 15 miles to catch the Channel... Since you mentioned it... Ask them on the radio, how many goals did Hamburg concede to Bayern yesterday? "
The nervousness among the crew whenever we sailed past this rough (historically and meteorologically) island was always great. Only once did we happen to have a sunny day and that was the only time we disembarked for a 24-hour break from our journey. As the Island of Mist we had known it many times, but as the Island of Fortresses we knew it only from books. I really wanted to see that four-story concrete Nazi observatory that jutted out like a huge Submarine Tower perched on top of the island's big hill.
“Vamos Muchahos! And don't forget the lenses. We will enter the dark burrows built by Hitler's madman and the castles designed by Queen Victoria's starving men. Do you want to see Adolfos anywhere buying tickets?
A tour of Alderney will prove to you that this island is indeed the most remote part of the Channel Islands. You will discover a dark past, for those who happen to be history buffs, and a modern ecological paradise, for those who happen to be nature lovers. It is an island "fortified" from end to end with amazingly beautiful Atlantic beaches and protected habitats.
Due to its geographical location near the coast of France, a number of leaders - from Queen Victoria to Adolf Hitler - overestimated Alderney's strategic importance. In the Victorian Era, the British built a total of 18 forts on the island, in order to prevent a possible French invasion. Something that Great Britain's own Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone described as a "monument of human folly". Gladstone's characterization would prove prophetic during the German occupation of World War II. The Nazis filled the island with observation towers, underground air-raid shelters and dozens of gun emplacements, which they never used. They also built four Concentration Camps, the only Nazi concentration camps on former British soil, responsible for killing 40,000 people. A total of 700 inhabitants of the island died during the period of the German occupation, either from starvation or from retaliation by the conquerors.
Today the forts of Alderney are open to the public as part of the Alderney Museum. Like something out of ghost stories and adventure stories, many of the sanctuaries remain abandoned, open to the adventurous tourist to roam freely and see what they can still find hidden there. In Alderney there are also remains of structures from Roman times as well as the ruins of a castle built by Henry VIII.
The main settlement of the island is Saint Anne, a charming village with cobbled streets and colorful cottages. Here you will find small restaurants serving local delicacies and cozy bars where locals meet to share the latest gossip. The main street and the Marais and Connaught squares with their brightly painted houses have retained many elements from earlier times.
The island's size—three miles long and a mile and a half wide—makes it ideal for exploring on foot or by e-bike. The west coast of Alderney is a habitat known for its exceptional importance. The beaches of the island hide a unique beauty, which is a combination of white sand and impressive fortresses that surround them. Saye Beach, for example, is a beautiful crescent of white sand complemented by the splendor of Fort Albert and Fort Corblets to the east and Fort Grosnez and Fort Doyle to the west. More important for the Nazi coastal fortifications is the Bibette coast with about a dozen artillery pieces embedded in the rocks and abandoned to the mercy of time.
Alderney has the world's largest breakwater, a monument to 19th century British engineering. The 910m breakwater was built by the British to protect Navy ships between 1847 and 1864. Originally two jetties were planned to be built, but eventually only the western jetty was completed and that too due to improving relations with the French. When the completion effort finally stopped, the breakwater was 1,471 meters long. Within a year the last 540 meters were destroyed and washed away by the waves after a period of intense storms. The breakwater, which has been described as "Victorian," provides, despite its constant stresses from the open sea, safety for vessels sailing into the harbor.
