Until recently, my main collection of the Guernsey Occupation included no reference to internee mail. However, this changed when I purchased an internee letter from a Henry Le Goupillot and started researching his life. Whether islanders who stayed, were evacuated or were interned they all have their own stories. This is Henry’s.
Henry James Le Goupillot was born in Middlesborough on 25 October 1924. His original surname was Hartley. It is believed that his mother was unmarried at the time of his birth and as it was taboo for an unmarried mother to have a child, Henry was adopted. Adoptions were first made legal in England and Wales with the passing of the Adoption Act 1926. Before then, adoptions still occurred but were arranged informally or privately by organisations or directly between the birth mother and the adoptive parents.
Henry was adopted by Arthur Henry and Eva May Le Goupillot of St Peter Port. Guernsey. Arthur’s brother John was living in Middlesborough at the time of the Henry’s birth, and it is likely that he helped to arrange the adoption of Henry to childless, Arthur and Eva, who brought him up in Guernsey and where he lived happily.
During late 1942 and early 1943, more than two thousand Channel Islanders were deported from the Channel Islands and interned in camps in Germany, including those who were born in the United Kingdom (excluding islanders). Henry was one such person who was deported in October 1942 and sent to Laufen, arriving on 13 November 1942.
I have a number of cards both from and to Henry. The card below (Figure 1) and back (Figure 2 on next page) dated March 30th 1943 was sent by Henry in acknowledgement of a food parcel sent from his parents.
Henry’s comments at the bottom read “When sending cake, please dry well before sending to avoid it going off”. From my understanding, the card used is unique to Laufen compared to other internment camps because it issued its own exceptional stationary such as receipt cards for “next of kin parcels”. The parcel text is printed in both English and Polish.
As well as supplies of food and other necessities provided to prisoners of war by the Red Cross, the next-of-kin of a PoW in French, German or Italian hands, could send them a next-of-kin parcel every three months. The parcel could weigh no more than 10lb, and could be posted without charge, provided that a special Red cross label was attached.
Shortly before the war commenced, and while he was on a visit to Southampton in 1939, Henry discovered that he had been adopted by Arthur and Eva Le Goupillot, although he had no knowledge of this whilst growing up in Guernsey.
I recently saw an internee letter on eBay dated 19 April 1944, a photocopy of which I have. It is from Henry to his parents in Guernsey. I decided not to purchase due to the cost (£195); it has however been subsequently sold!!!
Part of the letter is as follows:
“There is something I think I had better tell you as its easier to say it on paper than if I told you personally. From information I gathered in September 1939, when I visited Southampton, my true name is Hartley, and I suppose I was adopted by you and that you are my stepparents. I am sorry I have had to tell you this, but it will save you the trouble of telling me, of course I shall also regard you as my parents, so don’t worry.
I remain yours affectionately, Henry”.
Henry made contact with his birth mother and whilst in Laufen, he regularly corresponded with her and the Prisoner of War airletter shown opposite (Figure 3) is one such letter from her to him dated 23 August 1943 from Huddersfield, Yorkshire. It is a standard Prisoner of War air mail letter, which was specially designed for writing to PoWs and was sold at most UK post offices at a cost of 3d, which covered the cost of the airmail postage rate of 2½d.
The letter has censor pass stamp from UK and the receiving Laufen stamp, received on 17 September 1943.
In the letter his mother confirms that she is regularly receiving his cards and letters and mentions that Dorothy (Dot) is home again with her and that she has a job driving a horse and cart on a milk round and that Dorothy had just turned 16 the previous week, who I can only assume may have been his sister.
Some of Henry’s diaries are held at the Hoover Institute at Stanford university. Stanford, California who provided me with a copy of another Prisoner of War Post, from his birth mother’s sister and it was clear that he was in regular contact with that side of his family and was looking forward to meeting up with his biological family once the war was over.
Laufen was liberated on 4 May 1945 by the American forces. Unfortunately, Henry died after the liberation and prior to being returned home to Guernsey. The incident relating to his death was recorded in the book, “Fair & Honest” by Ambrose Sherwill, the exact text is as follows:
1st June 1945
“At 1.30pm. it was reported to me by Mr. Woodruff that at about noon that day Henry Le Goupillot had been accidentally shot while sitting in a lorry near the Lazarett Barracks by David T. Fisher and that Le Goupillot had been taken to Hospital where he died within about 20 minutes of the occurrence. I interviewed David Thomas Fisher, Eric Geary and D. Mc A. Campbell, internees, briefly and reported the matter to the British Consular Mission now in Camp I requested the witnesses to prepare statements in writing and sent a message to other witnesses Arthur Winterflood, Victor Gontiel, L Jenkins and D. Munro also to prepare written statements”. Briefly, the accident appears to have occurred as follows: –
A number of Internees under the control of Internee Woodruff and including the deceased Le Goupillot, Fisher, Geary & others. were engaged in guarding the Lebanese Prison enclosure where there is a typhus hospital and where also there are a number of German women prisoners. The guards are under the nominal control of the American Military Authorities and sleep at the Lazarett Barracks. Just before 12 noon on 1st June 1945, Fisher going on guard duty borrowed a German Automatic Pistol from Eric Geary and one clip of ammunition. Geary and Fisher both believed the weapon to be unloaded.
Le Goupillot, Fisher (and others) got into the lorry sitting face to face. Fisher had the pistol on his knee and appears to have been playing with the trigger. The gun went off, the bullet striking Le Goupillot in the stomach. Le Goupillot was removed immediately to the nearby Hospital where an operation was commenced. He died, however, at about 12.10 p.m. before the operation could be completed. The guards were not provided with arms by the Americans, but their possession of arms does not appear to have been discouraged, Geary picked the automatic pistol and ammunition in question off a dump of German arms about 3 weeks ago and appears to have had it in his possession ever since”.
On 3 June 1945, the funeral of Henry took place at 11a.m. Henry is remembered in a plaque which was unveiled in 2010 to remember over 1,000 people who were deported from Guernsey and Sark during World War II and those that died in those camps.
