Couple find Nazi bunker after digging under their home in Guernsey

Telegraph

3 days ago

A couple have discovered a Nazi bunker underneath their house.
Shaun and Carrie Tullier bought their home in Torteval, Guernsey, four years ago and were tipped off by someone who used to live in the house about a wartime building being underneath it.
After digging up their driveway, they eventually managed to unearth the bunker and now have plans to turn it into a games room and gym, although they will keep the original features.
The bunker dates back to when Hitler's forces occupied the Channel Islands from 1940 until 1945.
Speaking to BBC Channel Islands, Mr Tullier said he and his wife had been told about the site being used as a German gun emplacement, but they had a suspicion there was something else there.
'Ground gave way and doorway appeared'
He added: 'From the outside, you could tell it was sitting on top of something. We've been doing up the house anyway, so I hired a digger and, with the help of a mate, we started digging up the driveway to see what was there. We kept digging for a while and then finally, the ground just gave way and this doorway appeared.'
The bunker consisted of two main rooms, measuring 17ft by 10ft and 17ft by 20ft, and had features including an escape hatch and a tiled floor.
There was also German writing on the walls, with phrases which included 'achtung feind hort mit', which translates to 'beware, the enemy is listening'. Dozens of tins and other debris had also been left behind inside the bunker.
It is understood that the bunker's entrance was blocked up in the 1960s.
Well built structure
Mr Tullier said he was impressed with how well built the structure was, adding that the discovery of the bunker had piqued the interest of other people.
He said: 'It's not just a games room - people come along and ask to see the history.
'I know it was a bad time for Guernsey [during the Nazi occupation], but I do find the history fascinating and I think we need to keep it so we remember what happened.'
He said the structure was generally fairly sound, but said water that had gathered inside over the decades had to be pumped out.
On June 15, 1940, Sir Winston Churchill ordered the withdrawal of military personnel from the Channel Islands, abandoning its 94,000 islanders to their fate.
Some 25,000 chose to evacuate, but the remainder stayed on the undefended islands. On the evening of June 30, one month after the British evacuation at Dunkirk, German forces seized control.
The occupation lasted until May 9 1945, when Guernsey and Jersey were liberated.