Whoever within the local population on the islands resisted the orders of the German authorities was in danger of facing harsh punishment.
Quite a few locals went to prison, and for severe crimes people were even sent to prisons on the Continent, mainly in France or Germany. Often, they were sent from prison to prison on an odyssey, with the result that some of them did not really know where they were. Only the lucky ones survived all these hardships; others died because of maltreatment.
The Frank Falla archive (www.frankfallaarchive.org) lists all the known people and prisons. Falla himself was among these unfortunate people. He was sent to Frankfurt am Main prison in 1944 and later to the prison in Naumburg am Saale.
Alfred W. Baker (see Figure 1 above ) is among the people listed in the Frank Falla archive. He was deported from Guernsey in July 1942. He lived in St. Peter Port at 11 Rougeval Road with his Mother. He was born in 1921 on Sark (!), and he was the only person with a Sark origin who was sent to prisons on the continent. The Falla archive lists ten (!) places and prisons in which Baker spent some time: Caen Prison, Troyes Hauts-Clos Prison, Clairvaux Prison, Freiburg Prison, Landsberg Prison, Karlsruhe Prison, Bruchsal Prison, Metz Prison, Fresnes Prison (near Paris) und Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
Alfred Baker was lucky to survive all these terrible places, and one can only imagine the torture he faced until the end of the war.
The envelope illustrated in Figure 1 clearly shows that Alfred Baker also spent some time in prison at Bernau on the Chiemsee. However, this prison is not listed in his notes that he wrote after the war. It is likely because of his frequent changes of prison that he sometimes did not really know where he was.
If you look at the envelope you realize that the top right of the envelope is missing, so normally you would probably hesitate to add it to your collection. However, considering the circumstances, it is a miracle that the cover survived. It is a fine example of social philately and an important document concerning the German Occupation. The late Tom Green used to answer when customers hinted at the poor state of such an envelope “Show me a better one”. And that was it.
Despite its poor condition the cover reveals important information. The postage for a letter to Germany was 25 Reichspfennig (paid with the 20 Rpf. and 5 Rpf. stamps). The letter was handed in to the German field post office on Guernsey on 17 April 1944 (see the typical field post code letter -e- for Guernsey).
On the front of the cover illustrated at the top is another field post cachet, a two-line rubber stamp Bei der Feldpost / eingeliefert. This cachet is rare because it was only applied to the top letter of a bundle. The letter was addressed to Alfred Baker (prisoner number 2426) in Bernau am Chimsee (Note the incorrect spelling!). The letter arrived in Bernau on 4 May 1944 as the date cachet on the front left proves. However, in the meantime, Alfred Baker had been moved on to Landsberg on the River Lech, as you can see from the entry on the bottom left. In Landsberg am Lech Alfred Baker´s number was 2662.
On its way to Germany the letter was censored in Paris (code letter -x- on the censor’s label and cachets). The pencil notation guernesey was probably added by a French dealer or collector after the war.
On the back of the cover (Figure 2) you can still see part of the sender´s address. In the top line the still visible “…er” most likely standing for Baker. In the second line “…al Road” is probably Rougeval Road, and in the third line “…ohns” for St. Johns (part of St. Peter Port), and in the bottom line “…sey” must be for Guernsey. All this leads to Alfred´s mother Olive Baker as the sender of the letter.
Alfred W. Baker died in March 2000 in a hospital in England.
