dived off the Moorings and cut his hand on the rocks. He was always so careful: he’d check the timings of the tides in the Press, and even if he didn’t, he’d judge the water level on the side of steps. So why did he dive in when the tide was so low? I’ve asked Mum over and over about it, and she’s told me to leave it alone. She says Dad made one mistake and that’s it. He was embarrassed, so he bandaged the hand himself and pretended it wasn’t serious, and she took him at his word.
Of course Dad was wrong to be so proud. He should’ve known more than anyone that you can’t ignore A GAPING WOUND, but for the first time ever he didn’t make a fuss and blame someone else or write a letter. Perhaps he almost wanted it to happen. I don’t understand it, I really don’t. I think it’s pretty clear that all this SUFFERING IN SILENCE is just a massive waste of time.
Property of Emile Philippe Rozier
The Editor
Guernsey Evening Press
23 South Esplanade
St Peter Port
Guernsey
~ WITHOUT PREJUDICE ~
RE: ‘Flight from Fortress Isle’
Dear Sir,
It has been some months since I first wrote to you regarding the forthcoming publication ‘Flight from Fortress Isle’ by Raymond Le Poidevoin, but my letter remains unanswered and I find this silence greatly troubling. I am eager for us to meet at the earliest opportunity and discuss the matter, since I am aware that the book shall be based on a series of short articles first published in your newspaper in 1967. At the time they were well-received and widely talked about, but please appreciate many years have now elapsed and serious errors and inconsistencies in Ray Le Poidevoin’s account of events have subsequently come to light.
I am sure you would agree that inaccurate stories regarding our Occupation rob true accounts of their authenticity, and it is the responsibility of us all to ensure that misrepresentations are not perpetuated. My brother, Charles Rozier, was imprisoned and deported as a direct result of the same escape Ray Le Poidevoin has glorified. Charles endured three years of mental and physical torment at the hands of the Nazis, only to return to his island home and find himself perceived by many as ‘the guilty party’.
Only now, with his health deteriorating rapidly, has my brother made efforts to divulge to me his own version of events. He has not done so, I should stress, in an attempt to clear his name or to counter Ray Le Poidevoin’s claims, but rather to set the record straight once and for all.
I hope we shall be able to meet and discuss the various points of departure and controversy vis-à-vis the Le Poidevoin account, but in brief I shall now enumerate key issues that I feel are in need of immediate clarification (and apology).
1. In his first article dated 6 May 1957 Ray Le Poidevoin [hereafter R.L.P.] stated that it was Charlie Rozier who first broached the idea of escaping, and offered him his boat calling it ‘a ticket out of here’. My brother absolutely refutes this and insists that Ray had landed himself in trouble with the German authorities and needed to escape. Although Charlie had hidden the boat just before the Germans arrived in Guernsey, he had no clear plan for it until Ray began to pressure him.
2. In a subsequent article dated 10 May 1957 R.L.P. asserted that, although my brother had initially intended to escape with his father, he radically altered these plans due to the latter’s ill-health. I would like to state quite clearly and unequivocally that there is no evidence to suggest that Hubert Rozier knew about ‘Sarnia Chérie’, or about Ray and Charlie’s activities. Charlie never confided in his father. Furthermore, although it was suspected that Hubert had tuberculosis, there was no diagnosis. It was certainly not the reason the boys altered their escape plans.
3. In an interview published in the GEP and the Jersey Tribune on 23rd and 25th August 1957 R.L.P. suggested that my brother had most probably ‘tripped himself up with his own loose tongue’, since Charlie was known to have a vivid imagination and had already spread a story about his father being a spy. Although there is a grain of truth in this last statement, it has been taken out of context. Charlie grew up quickly during the years 1940 to 1942, and by the time of the proposed escape he had learned how to keep