Ho8 in brief (Höhlgangsanlage
8)
THE German
Occupation of the Channel Islands during the Second World War lasted almost
five years. This was the only territory belonging to Great Britain that
was occupied by German Forces.
In October 1941 Adolf Hitler himself ordered that the islands be transformed into an ‘impregnable fortress’.
The most fascinating example in Jersey of this unprecedented programme of fortifying an entire community is the vast underground complex of Ho8 (Höhlgangsanlage 8) that took almost three years to build.
The kilometre of tunnels required the excavation of thousands of tonnes of rock and the use of nearly 6,000 tonnes of concrete to line the tunnels. The workforce included hundreds of forced labourers from all over Europe, including Russian and Polish prisoners-of-war who were treated little better than animals.
Planned as a bombproof barracks, store and workshop to service the occupier’s heavy weapons, it had not been completed when the decision was taken to convert it into a casualty clearing station. Redesigned to cater for 500 casualties with wards, a fully equipped operating theatre and a number of administrative rooms (some of which have been left intact to remind the visitor of its final intended use). This was an underground hospital, poised to deal with the wounded from an Allied invasion that would have also caused appalling casualties amongst the civilian population. No such invasion ever took place as the occupying forces surrendered without a shot being fired.