Mike Burke
 

We are delighted to have received an email from Cam Burke letting us know about a fascinating interview our dear friend and former colleague, retired Inspector Mike Burke,  had recently on the local ITV Station in Jersey in the Channel Islands.  Mike was being interviewed about a very special event in Jersey’s history that occurred at the height of the Second World War after both Jersey and Guernsey had been invaded by Germany in 1940. 

Following his retirement from the Bermuda Police, Mike and his wife Cam moved to Jersey, Mike’s birthplace,  and we published an article about Mike in our “Then and Now” in which he had described his childhood days as follows:-

“I was born and grew up in Jersey (where the Jersey cow originated) in the Channel Islands, located about 100 miles south of England and 14 miles off the coast of Normandy, France.

In June 1940, when I was 7 years old, Jersey and the other Channel Islands were invaded and occupied by Germany after first being bombed by the enemy planes--a number of islanders were killed.  Large hotels and manor houses were taken over for German officers.  All residents who had been born in England were sent to a detention camp in Germany.  The Jews and, later, any locals caught harbouring escaped POWs were sent to the concentration camps.  Mines were laid on all the beaches.  

Heavy fortifications were built all over the islands and a large German hospital, which we knew nothing about until after the war, was built underground in a hidden away valley. All this building work was done by Russian and European POWs who were used as slave labour and suffered terrible conditions.  American POWs were kept in a separate camp on the island.  We wore clogs for shoes. Curfews were enforced.  

After D-Day, the islands were cut off from any imported supplies and food shortage was so bad that we would have starved had it not been for the welcome food parcels delivered by the Red Cross ship S.S. Vega.  German soldiers were eating seagulls and our dogs and cats!  The German Commandant, a staunch Nazi, was not prepared to surrender.  After five years under Hitler's regime, we were liberated on 9th May, 1945, a day which is still celebrated in the islands every year.” CLICK HERE to view Mike’s Then and Now” article.

 

Mike photographed being interviewed by ITV
 

The subject of the ITV interview with Mike was about the anniversary of a very special "lifesaving" event for the islanders which was being celebrated after 80 years, and this was the arrival in Jersey of a ship the SS Vega in the Summer of 1944 carrying thousands of precious Red Cross food and supply parcels to Islanders who had literally been starving and had very little to survive on.

ITV was producing a documentary about the arrival of that first supply ship, and ITV Channel's, Sophie Dulson, interviewed five islanders who revisited their special memories of receiving those vital parcels.  Mike was one of the interviewees.

Young Michael Burke
 

As Mike mentions in his “Then and Now” article, he was 7 years old when Germany invaded the Channel Islands, and during the ITV interview he recalled, “We saw German planes coming towards us – I remember two German planes with swastikas on them flying over us.  He recounted how the planes  “flew over the top of us and went over Mount Bingham and then bombed the harbour.”

During the interview Mike also described what it was like living under German occupation, how islanders were treated and how they were deprived of food and other basic commodities.  

He also vividly remembered the arrival of SS Vega coming in from Portugal and the contents of  those Red Cross parcels.  He was 11 years old at the time and he says, “It was unbelievable. We couldn’t believe our luck, because people were actually close to starving at that time, so without those Red Cross parcels, I don’t know what would have happened.”

The SS Vega made several trips to the Channel
islands from December 1944 to June 1945
Credit: Société Jersiaise 

CLICK HERE to view Mike’s interview with Sophie Dulson. 

Canadian Red Cross parcels 
photo credit ITV
 

ITV reported that the Red Cross parcels came from Canada and New Zealand

The Canadian parcels contained:

  • 5oz Chocolate, 12oz Biscuits, 3oz Sardines, 16oz Milk powder, 6oz Prunes, 8oz Salmon, 12oz Corned beef, 7oz Raisins, 8oz Sugar, 4oz Tea, 4oz Cheese, 16oz Marmalade, 16oz Butter, 10oz Spam, 3oz Soap and 1oz Pepper and salt

And the parcels from New Zealand held:

  • 4oz Tea, 16oz Corned mutton, 12oz Lamb and green peas, 6oz Chocolate, 16oz Butter, 16oz Coffee and milk, 6oz Sugar, 7oz Peas, 14oz Jam, 16oz Honey, 12oz Cheese and 6oz Raisins.

 During  Red Cross visits to the Channel Islands,  SS Vega delieverd the following food and supplies:-

  • 119,792 standard food parcels
  • 4,200 diet supplement parcels for the ill
  • 5.2 tons of salt
  • Four tons of soap
  • 96,000 cigarettes
  • Medical and surgical supplies (equivalent to 1,850kg or 3,700lb)
  • A small quantity of clothing for children and babies

Editors Note -  Much of the above information was taken from an excellent report by Sophie Dulson, Reporter and Content Editor, ITV Channel

______________________________

In her email Cam wrote that she and Mike are generally doing okay.  Mike is getting rather forgetful these days but he still likes talking about his time in Bermuda, while Cam recently had shingles and is still suffering from the after -effects.  Mike and Cam have always been very active and have no doubt slowed down but they are surrounded by their loving family.  

We send then best wishes from all their old friends and colleagues here in Bermuda.

17th January 2025
Roger Sherratt
Editor

"War Stories"

After publishing the above article about Mike and his wartime experiences, we asked some of our more “senior” colleagues if they had memories of wartime stories of any kind. So far, we’ve received replies from the following:-

Keith Hatfield
 

I was born 1939 ‘the day war broke out….’ as Rob Wilton used to say - my Parents were Farmers near Pickering on the North Yorkshire Moors and there are 2 clear memories I have of the war - one is when a Wellington Bomber crash landed very close to our farm and my Dad and a couple of neighbours went and helped the crew out of the aircraft - one was badly injured and they carried him into our house where he stayed for a couple of weeks whilst receiving medical treatment.    After the war, Bob, and his family made frequent visits to see my parents.   

The second clear memory I have is of my Father’s pigs - during the war farmers bred pigs for the National Food Chain - they were allowed to keep one for domestic use and regular inspections took place to ensure that the rules were being adhered to.   My Father and fellow farmers always hid a second pig and our hiding place was in a nearby wood.   When the inspectors arrived my brother and I would take the pig to the hiding place and then one of us would cycle to the nearest neighbour to tell him the inspectors were around.  Word was passed on.   The inspectors knew what was happening and sometimes arrived unannounced which caused devious delays and speedily removed pigs.   Sounds like fun now but then it was a serious business.

 

To substantiate Keith’s "one pig per family" rule during the Second World War CLICK HERE to read an interesting article about “When every cottage had a pig….”  Published on Sulgrave Village website in 2017.

 

Ray Sousa 

Thanks for the email Roger,

I enjoy reading the stories about the history of Officers I served with.  I especially enjoyed Mike Burke's story.  I suspected he had an interesting past due to his attitude to life. His war time story confirms that.  Some Officers never completely recover from their war time experiences.  I consider myself privileged that some trusted me enough to tell me their stories  knowing that I would not repeat them without their consent.  At times these tough men had tears in their eyes.

As you are aware at 13,  I left school and worked in construction, particularly on the American military bases; before joining the Police Force.  There I also met some interesting people with wartime stories.  One story that always makes me smile is about "Take it Easy".  The Bermudian was on the crew of a cargo ship transporting  material between North America and England when it was torpedoed by a German submarine. The captain gave the order to abandon ship, before it sank.  All immediately complied except the Bermudian. The angry Captain rushed to the cabin and in no uncertain terms ordered the man to get off the ship.  The calm reply was, "take it easy man, it will take her an hour to go down !" . With that  he had another hour of sleep, and got off just as the ship was about to sink.  According to him, not all the men who got off when told to survived.   From that day onwards he was known by most people as "Take it Easy".   Generally speaking he was a good worker; but you had to make sure he stayed awake,

There are stories of spy rings operating in Bermuda. The case of a sailor from a German Sub coming ashore and posting a letter at Devonshire Bay [according to the story it was delivered]. A captured  crew of a German sub held in Bermuda, which has been confirmed : plus many more such stories. 

In more recent times there are stories about Bermuda during the Cuban Crisis when I was working on the airfield .  Some have only recently been admitted, others including ones I believe are true,  denied.

Keep up your excellent work.

RAY 241