The War Trail
The War Trail has been developed as part of the creation of a much
wider experience of the Occupation when visiting Jersey War Tunnels.
Located in a wood on high ground adjacent to the tunnel complex of Ho8 it was originally the site of a German anti-aircraft gun battery during the island’s Occupation by German forces from 1941-1945. Ever since the Liberation this area has remained an untouched habitat for trees, plants and wildlife.
Although heavily overgrown, it is still possible to identify the fortified anti-aircraft gun positions, crawl trenches, barbed wire entanglements and personnel shelters all of which combined to produce a position that safeguarded the eastern approach to the airport.
Paths have already been created in the area to link the Green Lanes of St Lawrence and St Peter. Jersey War Tunnels has used these paths to create a War Trail by interpreting the structures and fortifications that still exist. Conservation plays a large part in this project as does the desire to introduce as many educational opportunities as practicable.
Sticking to the paths is essential because the undergrowth still conceals
barbed wire entanglements, shelter trenches and other obstacles but clearly
defined routes lead the visitor to all the interesting aspects of the
site.
Entrances to the site exist at the junction of Meadowbank and Mont du Rocher
and in St Peter’s Valley near the Jersey New Waterworks Pumping Station
at Tesson Mill. The paths are quite steep and the nearby Visitor Centre
and café at Jersey War Tunnels provides an ideal refreshment point.