The only part of the British Isles occupied by Germany in the Second World War was the Channel Islands. This brought hardship and repression to the islanders.
On the Island of Alderney the Germans had spread untreated human sewage on the fields. They were warned of the grave danger of doing this, but to no avail.
A boy went to play in the fields, and he became very ill and died. Facilities for the people were very minimal. This meant that the boy’s mother had the distressing task of laying him out for burial. There was a group of men brought over from Guernsey by the Germans as labourers. They kindly made the coffin for the boy.
The funeral service was arranged, but a priest was needed. The mother, in her sorrow, had no alternative but to go to the German military to ask for someone to take the funeral. They agreed to provide somebody.
