Sark toy panda stabbed during German occupation to go on display
A toy panda that was stabbed by German soldiers in Sark in World War Two, will be part of an exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the islands' liberation from occupation.Maisie Le Page has been telling BBC Radio Guernsey how her toy was damaged by the SS as a child.She was three when her home island of Sark was occupied by German forces during World War Two.She remembers: "The SS searched the house with fixed bayonets and pointed their guns at us and it was really very scary."
The search was due to suspicions about her father's involvement in the Guernsey Underground News Service (GUNS) which shared secret newsletters with islanders.Mrs Le Page said: "They pulled out the wicker basket under the bed and put their bayonet through it and it went right through my panda's face, which was quite upsetting." Mrs Le Page's father was Hubert Lanyon, the island baker.When all radios were confiscated by the occupying forces, Mrs Le Page said "a group of really brave Guernsey men decided they would produce a leaflet so people could have the news."She said her father volunteered to distribute it in Sark: "I remember him collecting a lot of old books and putting numbers on the back. "Apparently when anyone came in wanting to read this news sheet he would tell them which number book it was in and they would read it and put it back."
'Searched the family home'
Mrs Le Page said that a man in trouble with the German forces thought he might get a lesser sentence by naming some of the people involved in GUNS."He told them all the names and of course my father was on the list."She said the SS visited Sark, questioned Mr Lanyon and searched the family home.Mrs Le Page remembers: "We were all standing on the doorstep and I remember him looking at us. "I suppose he was wondering if he would ever see us again".After Mr Lanyon was taken, it was a month before the family heard what had happened to him.Mrs Le Page's grandfather had received special permission to go to Sark to help bake the island's bread.
'New exhibition'
He was was able to tell the family that Mr Lanyon had been sentenced to six months in prison.Her mother appealed to the German commandant which Mrs Le Page said resulted in his sentence being cut down to five months' hard labour.Mrs Le Page shared her story as part of the Island Memories Project run by BBC Radio Guernsey and Guernsey Museums.Mrs Le Page's toy panda will go on display at Guernsey Museum at Candie as part of a new exhibition opening on 28 March, to mark the 80th anniversary in May of the islands' liberation from German occupation.
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