The Sunday Archive: The Pilot, July 1993 - Part 3

The Sunday Archive: The Pilot, July 1993 - Part 3

They're in the Bible, but . . .
CAESAREA
(by the sea)
By Terry Hampton

THIS WEEK I read that Jesus sailed from. Caesarea with Paul, Peter plus Luke in AD 60. Bet you didn't know that. Yes, it's all there in Acts 27. In case you, O gentle reader, have looked up the passage and searched in vain for Jesus' name in it, let me reassure you that it's not there! This nonsense comes in a recent book by an Australian Dead Sea Scrolls academic, who argues that Jesus didn't die on the Cross, that he was rescued by his disciples (He had, by the way, courted and married Mary of Magdalen — who is the same Mary as Mary of Bethany) and then Jesus manages to escape detection and betrayal during the terrible Fire of Rome (AD 64), and eventually died of old age (and inactivity perhaps?) after AD 70. The purveyor of this puerile rubbish is one Dr Barbara Thiering (or something!) Now back to Caesarea Maritima.

Built by Herod the Great (c 20 BC) it became the great and only port of the Roman province of Judea. Prefects or governors landed there and had Caesarea as their Roman capital -with with Jerusalem as the spiritual and. Jewish capital. Pilate landed there and in 1961 a stone was found in the Roman theatre with Pilate's name on it. Whether Jesus ever went there we don't know. Herod also built an aqueduct to bring water from the Mount Carmel range, a distance of some twelve miles or so. The aqueduct is still standing — tho' with large gaps as it goes across the seashore.

The theatre has been rebuilt and the Israel Orchestra play concerts there — it holds about 3,000 people. It was here we believe that the great Rossi Ahisa was tortured to death by the Romans in AD 135 for his support of the false Messiah, Bar Kochba.

Caesarea was the home of the Roman Centurion Cornelius [Acts 10], a gentile who with his "household" [v.2] received the Holy Spirit whilst listening to Peter preach. It was here that Paul was kept for two years during the rule of the corrupt Prefect Felix [Acts 24¬27] and where Paul spoke powerfully before the new Governor's judgement seat — on Porcius Testus. As a Roman citizen Paul had the right to appeal to the Emperor Nero for a fresh trial — which he used "Appelatio ad Caesarem."

Jewish Revolt

Caesarea was one of the places where the first Jewish Revolt was sparked off. Anti-Jewish mobs attacked the synagogues and the local Jews had had more than enough of anti-semitism, so they reacted fiercely. Jerusalem Jews were furious at the conduct of the then Prefect Florus, and his constant monetary exactions led some wags to go round with collecting bags calling out "Alms for poor old Florus!" He was not amused and so the first Jewish Revolt erupted in AD 66, only ending with the destruction of the Temple in the summer of AD 70.

From Caesarea Paul sailed to Rome to stand trial, tho' with a benign Roman centurion called Julius allowing him some very unusual privileges [see Acts 27:3]. As mentioned before, Rossi Ahisa died here, reciting aloud the Shema, or Jewish creed, "The Lord our God is one Lord." It ended "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength," and then the godly but mistaken Rossi died. There is a powerful Jewish legend that Moses had a vision in which Rossi Ahisa sits teaching the Torah, the Law, to his pupils — with Moses sitting humbly in the eighth row. "And when he enquired about the end of this chosen teacher, he saw another image — Ahisa reciting the Shema as the iron combs rent his body."

Caesarea was a magnificently built town. The breakwater was made of the recently developed quick-drying Roman cement. There were great storehouses for grain and oil, a temple to Augustus, a theatre, and (c.3 AD) a small Mithraic Temple. Outside the walls were a hippodrome for chariot racing and an amphitheatre for gladiators and wild beast fights. Today an American expedition is exploring the foreshore and submerged remains and its members have to be qualified scuba divers!

And Caesarea for us (some readers saw it only a month ago of course!). If we remember Cornelius, the Roman centurion [Acts 10] we recall that here was a "devout man who feared God, gave liberally and prayed constantly." A fine man, who was then "set on fire" by receiving the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

What became of Cornelius and his household? We wish we knew! But I bet anything that he had a house church in his home and that it was a place of refuge and help to all in need, and that Cornelius was an outstanding Christian leader, who witnessed to his men.

A challenge there for each of us, surely. Do I witness for Jesus in my work — is my house available for God's work and for God's people? Spend some time reading, thinking about and praying through Acts 10. There are some powerful and challenging "words of the Lord" for all of us there!

St Swithun’s Day

JULY 15th is St Swithun’s Day. St Swithun was a Bishop of Winchester in the 9th century. When he died in 892 he was buried in the churchyard because he wanted to lie where the rain would fall on his wave.

Nearly 100 years later the monks at Winchester decided that they would re-bury him in a much grander tomb inside the Cathedral. Legend says that the Saint was so angry, because the monks went against his wishes, that he made it rain violently for 40 days until the monks gave up the plan.

Ever since then, if it rains on St Swithun’s Day, it is sup-posed to rain for the next 40 days. The old rhyme says

"St Swithun’s Day, if it do rain, For 40 days it will remain.
St Swithun’s Day, and it be fair, For 40 days will rain no more

Watch the weather on July 15th and'for the next 40 days to see if the old rhyme is really right.

Letters to The Editor

I am writing on behalf of the Jersey Trefoil Guild to ask if a correction could be made to the paragraph in the St Helier Parish Letter in the May PILOT about the Trefoil Guild's Service of Dedication on 16th May. This service was held in parallel with a service held in Winchester Cathedral on the same day by the South West Region of England. The Channel Islands belong to this region of the Girl Guides Association and the services were held to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Trefoil Guild in the United Kingdom and Overseas. The Jersey Guild — a branch of the National Guild — was formed in 1947, so celebrates its Golden anniversary in 1997.

The service at Winchester was attended by two Jersey members, one of which was the Island chairman. The Colours of all the counties in the south west region were paraded and it was wonderful to see the Jersey Standard there accompanied by the Island Guide Commissioner, and the Island Chairman, Mrs Betty Lewis.

The wonderful service did not figure as part of the 900 years' celebrations of the Cathedral, but the building was packed to capacity by TG members from all over the south west region. The highlight of the service was readings by Mrs Betty Clay, daughter of the late World Chief Guide, of some of her mother's writings.

The service was followed by the Annual General Meeting of the region in Winchester Guild Hall.

Yours sincerely

DOREEN JENNINGS

PRO, The Trefoil Guild Roseville Street, St Helier

PS — The Guild was most grateful to St Helier Church Officers for letting us use the Parish Church as obviously it was not possible for all members to travel to Winchester but it joined them to all members of the region in spirit.

 

Dear Editor,

I refer to the parish letter from Grouville and St Peter La Rocque in the June issue of "The Pilot".

I would have expected better from the Reverend Terry after he has read bedtime stories to his own four children and probably more recently to his grandson — does he not know that Peter Rabbit, the Flopsy Bunnies, Jemima Puddleduck (not Puddlewick, Terry), were written by Beatrix Potter, not Alison Uttley. She wrote the Little Grey Rabbit books

We in Trinity Rectory are now fully conversant with the Beatrix Potter characters, especially so as four of the stories are now available on video:. Perhaps the Reverend Terry would care 'to borrow them to improve his knowledge —t am sure that Joshua would be willing to hire them out for a small fee.

JILL KEOGH

Holy Trinity Rectory Trinity

Lie Thee Down, Oddity

The title of the poem, and some of the sense of it comes from T.F. Powys "Lie Thee Down, Oddity", which can be read here:

http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2007/01/lie-thee-down-oddity.html

T.F. Powys was a mystical fabulist known for his unique tales in Dorset villages. I first came across this story in an anthology of writers called "Modern Short Stories" at school. I have since read "Mr Weston's Good Wine", "Fables", "God's Eye A Twinkle". His rural retelling of the Christmas story is one of the best I have ever read: https://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-gift.html

I have drawn on T.F. Powys, but in my own way, melding it with my own perceptions of the world and my own spirituality. 

Lie Thee Down, Oddity

Now lie thee down oddity, I'm wont to say
The still small voice that comes this day
It calls, insistently, will not silent be
Until it is acted upon by me
It comes with joy and yet with sorrow
Heals the past, brings hope for morrow
It comes sometime like wind in trees
Stirs the branches with its pleas
It calls to reach out loving hand
And calls across both sea and land
It speaks of world so brave and cruel
And stirs the waters of Siloam’s pool
It came in washing  my feet and toes
That washed away a hundred woes
It comes to me in wine and bread
And hearing word that must be said
It comes to me by day or night
And always shining ever bright
It is both the glory and the hope
For me when I cannot cope

1986 - 40 years ago - April- Part 2

1986 - 40 years ago - April- Part 2

April 14-20

A SECOND alleged mistake at the General Hospital comes to light after the case involving the death of Miss Trudy Sargent from meningitis is reported. It is revealed that Miss Emma Bertram (23), almost died after being sent home from the emergency department on New Year's Eve. Miss Bertram, who received serious injuries in a road accident, was saved by an emergency operation the day after being sent home from hospital.

 

Jersey European Airways have an application to operate a service on the Jersey—Bournemouth route turned down by the Civil Aviation Authority. The CAA says that Dan-Air provide a satisfactory service on the route for the majority of the market.

 

Cut-price, early-season breaks boost tourism bookings. Gala Holidays, Channel Island Ferries and Modernline Travel put together short-stay holidays costing from as little as £35.

The National Trust for Jersey's president, Mr Jack Trotman, makes it clear that his organisation will not exert pressure to prevent the flooding of Queen's Valley.

 

The former Chef de Police of St Saviour, Mr Snow Robins, is elected as the parish's new Constable. He says that he foresees few changes, paying tribute to the work of his predecessor, Mr Len Norman, who died in March.

St Helier marina receives a five-star rating from the National Yacht Harbour Association. A new scheme to attract more commercial sponsorship to the Battle of Flowers is launched at a meeting at Fort Regent.

April 21-27

ARMED police keep a night-long vigil outside a house in St Mary after a man armed with a shotgun refuses to give himself up after an alleged assault.

The man, a French national, surrenders without firing a shot after nine hours. Jerseyman Lt-Col Bruce Willing is made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for gallantry in Northern Ireland.

The Seigneur of Sark, Mr Michael Beaumont, makes a formal complaint after Channel Television compares Sark's water supply to that of a Third World Country.

Hautlieu School's headmaster, Mr Jack Worrall, is awarded the insignia of la Croix de Chevalier dans l'Orde des Palmes Academiques at the French Embassy in London for his services to French language and culture.

Another senior officer in the States Police is suspended from duty. Police Insp. Ralph Barrass Blenkinsop is informed of his suspension a few hours after UK officers conclude inquiries which have already led to the suspension of Det. Chief Insp. Charles Quinn and Det. Sgt. Brian Follain.

A two-day trade show is held at Howard Davis Farm, the Trinity headquarters of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. Among the visitors are the Bailiff, Mr Peter Crill, and the Lieut.-Governor, Admiral Sir William Pillar.

Centenier Peter Pearce, who was suspended from office earlier in the year, announces through his legal representative, Advocate Francis Hamon, that he is to appeal against his suspension.

External Jurats in High Profile Retrials in Jersey - a Discussion Document

Background

The States have approved the reintroduction of retrials when a jury cannot reach a majority verdict. This reverses a 2018 amendment that had removed the option of retrying cases that ended with a hung jury.

Under the new approach, a single retrial will be permitted if jurors fail to reach a verdict. The Home Affairs Minister, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, argued that a hung jury is not a verdict and leaves victims, families and the wider public without closure. Supporters say the change brings Jersey back into line with other common‑law jurisdictions and ensures serious allegations are not left unresolved.

Critics, including Sir Philip Bailhache, warned that allowing retrials gives the prosecution “a second bite of the cherry” and risks undermining the principle of reasonable doubt. The debate gained momentum after the L’Ecume II trial, where the jury was unable to reach verdicts on key charges, exposing the gap created by the 2018 reform.

15 politicians voted against retrials, but 27 politicians supported the plans and three abstained.

In favour:

Supporters of the change argue that a hung jury is not a verdict. When jurors cannot reach agreement, the case ends without resolution, leaving victims, families and the wider public without answers. Allowing a single retrial ensures that serious allegations are not left in limbo simply because one jury could not reach a decision.

They also emphasise that Jersey should remain aligned with other common‑law jurisdictions, where retrials after hung juries are standard practice. In their view, Jersey’s previous position of banning retrials entirely was an outlier that weakened the justice system’s ability to deal with complex or sensitive cases.

Another argument is that a retrial can actually strengthen fairness. A second jury may see the evidence differently, and the process gives both sides an opportunity to present their case more clearly. Supporters say this is especially important in cases involving multiple charges or complicated facts, where a single jury may struggle to reach unanimity.

Finally, proponents argue that justice must be seen to be done. If a serious case collapses because a jury cannot agree, public confidence can be damaged. Allowing one retrial strikes a balance: it avoids endless prosecutions while ensuring that the most serious matters receive a full and fair hearing.

Against:

Opponents argue that a hung jury already demonstrates reasonable doubt. If twelve people cannot agree on guilt, they say the prosecution has failed to meet the required standard, and retrying the case effectively disregards that outcome. Many Members also warned that a retrial gives the prosecution a “second bite of the cherry”, allowing it to refine its case while the defendant must endure the entire process again.

There are also concerns about the burden placed on defendants. A second trial can mean enormous financial strain, prolonged stress and reputational damage, and in some cases may pressure innocent people into pleading guilty simply to avoid another ordeal. Critics also question whether a second trial can ever be truly fair in a small community. After extensive media coverage and public discussion, finding a fresh jury without preconceived views becomes increasingly difficult.

Some Members argued that repeated attempts to secure a conviction risk undermining public confidence in the justice system, suggesting the State is unwilling to accept the outcome of the first trial. Others highlighted the significant cost to taxpayers, especially in complex or high‑profile cases, and questioned whether public money should be used to repeat a process that has already failed to reach a verdict. Finally, critics noted that Jersey had previously removed retrials after hung juries to strengthen protections for defendants, and reversing that decision was seen by some as a step backwards.

Elsewhere:

In England and Wales, retrials after a hung jury are long‑established practice. If a jury cannot reach a verdict, the prosecution may seek a retrial provided there remains a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest. This approach is seen as a normal part of criminal procedure. Scotland also permits retrials after a hung jury, though its jury system and verdict options differ.

Guernsey does not use juries for criminal trials. Cases are decided by a judge and Jurats, so the concept of a hung jury does not arise. Because of this structure, Guernsey has no need for a retrial mechanism based on jury disagreement.

The Isle of Man requires unanimous jury verdicts, and hung juries are rare. When they do occur, a retrial can be ordered, but it is considered exceptional. The system allows for a second trial, but the threshold for proceeding is high and the situation arises infrequently.

In Australia, all states and territories allow retrials after a hung jury. Jury unanimity is preferred, but most jurisdictions accept majority verdicts in many cases. If a jury still cannot agree, a mistrial is declared and prosecutors may seek a retrial. This is treated as a routine safeguard to ensure serious charges are fully tested.

Canada also permits retrials after a hung jury. When a jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict, the judge declares a mistrial, and the Crown may order a new trial. This is standard practice across the country and is viewed as necessary to ensure that unresolved serious cases are not left without a conclusion.

External Juries?

Jersey has never used external jurors, but other small or close‑knit jurisdictions have done so when fairness demanded it. If Jersey ever faced a case so high‑profile that a second impartial jury could not be found, international examples show that importing jurors is a workable, though exceptional, safeguard.

Allowing external jurors in Jersey would require several deliberate legal changes, each addressing a different structural assumption in the current system. The Jury Law would need to be amended so that jurors are no longer required to be Jersey residents, creating a new category of “external” or “special” juror who can be summoned from outside the Island. This change would also need to define their eligibility, duties and protections while serving.

A further amendment would be needed to give the Bailiff or Royal Court explicit authority to order external jurors in exceptional circumstances, such as when local impartiality cannot be guaranteed. This power would need clear criteria to prevent overuse and ensure it is reserved for genuinely high‑profile or sensitive cases.

The law would also have to provide a legal basis for summoning, transporting and accommodating external jurors. That includes specifying who pays for travel and lodging, how jurors are supervised, and how they are sworn in. Additional provisions would be required to extend Jersey’s contempt‑of‑court rules, confidentiality obligations and juror protections to people who are not ordinarily resident in the Island.

Because juror information is sensitive, Jersey would need to adjust its data‑protection framework to allow limited sharing of personal data with the UK, Isle of Man or other jurisdictions supplying jurors, while maintaining GDPR‑level safeguards. Finally, the Royal Court Law may need clarification to ensure that the presence of non‑resident jurors does not conflict with the Court’s defined composition or procedures.

These changes would not be minor tweaks,  they would amount to a carefully designed legal framework enabling external jurors only when absolutely necessary, while preserving the integrity of Jersey’s justice system.

The case of the Jurats - a way forward?

Jersey has already shown, through the recent reform allowing Guernsey Jurats to sit in the Royal Court, that it can adapt long‑standing constitutional rules when fairness or practicality requires it. That change demonstrated that the Island is willing to bring in external decision‑makers in exceptional circumstances, especially when the local pool is too small or conflicts of interest are more likely in a close‑knit community. The amendment effectively expanded who could serve as a Jurat and created a lawful mechanism for cross‑island judicial cooperation without undermining Jersey’s autonomy.

This precedent matters because it shows that Jersey is not rigidly bound to a purely insular model of justice. If the Island can adjust the composition of its Jurat bench, historically one of the most traditional parts of its legal system, then, in principle, it could also adjust the jury system if impartiality in a high‑profile case became impossible. The Jurat reform proves that external adjudicators can be integrated into Jersey’s courts while preserving the integrity and identity of the justice system.

In that sense, the Jurat example strengthens the argument that importing jurors, while more complex, is not conceptually out of reach. Jersey has already accepted the idea that fairness sometimes requires looking beyond its own borders, and it has already created a legal framework to make that work in practice.

Boys have lost their sense of purpose

This letter appeared in the 26 March 2026 JEP. I have kept the writers name off this public space although as it was in the JEP, it could be considered a public engagement.

The core quantitative claims about education and qualifications in Jersey and the UK, and about male over‑representation in suicide, are well grounded in current official statistics. The overall narrative, that boys and young men are struggling in education, mental health, and purpose, and that this matters for everyone, is strongly supported by broader UK and international evidence, even where some local Jersey numbers need tightening.

At the end of the letter I make some suggestions.

Boys have lost their sense of purpose

I have two grown-up sons and today boys are falling behind in school, uni-versity and in mental health and feeling a sense of purpose.

Male loneliness is rising. Male suicide is dramatically higher than female suicide.

Yet raising this subject feels controversial - as if problems faced by boys some-how diminish the real challenges faced by women and people of other gender identities and sexual orientations.

Society should care about all people. You cannot ignore the numbers.

Across developed countries women now outnumber men at university. In the UK around 57% of students are women. The 2021 Jersey Census shows 45% of women aged 16-64 hold higher-level qualifications compared with 40% of men. Education reports about Jersey consistently show girls outperforming boys at GCSE level. Men account for about 68% of suicides in Jersey. Men make up the majority of those receiving treatment for drug misuse and this is concentrated among young adult males.

I'm 65 and my generation grew up in a very different world.

Housing was affordable. Careers were clearer. Manual jobs were plentiful. University was optional. You could leave school, learn a trade and, build a life.

Higher education is now the gateway to most careers. Around 65% of workers in finance and legal services hold higher-level qualifications. At the same time, many of the traditional pathways into adulthood that once existed for boys have faded. Modern classrooms also favour traits where girls tend to develop earlier. Boys, on average, mature later and often learn better through movement, experimentation and practical problem solving.

For most of history that wasn’t a problem, because boys had multiple pathways into adulthood. Many now simply disengage.

And the consequences extend. As education gaps widen, birth rates decline. Places like Jersey - with high housing costs and a highly competitive professional economy - are not immune.

This is not a gender war. But when large numbers of men lose purpose, they don't simply disappear. They withdraw. Or self-destruct. Youth offending (Jersey): Up 30-35% in the past three years, with most offences involving boys aged 13-17. Truancy (Jersey): Rose from 10% in 2022 to 14% in 2024, with boys aged .13-16 most affected. Under-25s are over-represented among those not in education, employment, or training, and young men are more likely to be unemployed or on income support.

For most of history masculinity was about responsibility. We stopped telling boys where they are needed.

My Comments

Low reading engagement is one of the strongest predictors of boys’ under‑achievement. Programmes that give boys material they actually enjoy (non‑fiction, graphic novels, practical topics) and build daily reading habits make a measurable difference.

Lessons that build in movement, hands‑on tasks, and problem‑solving (projects, experiments, outdoor learning, technical work) tend to re‑engage boys who switch off in purely desk‑based, talk‑heavy classrooms. This isn’t magic, but it’s one of the few things consistently recommended across reviews.

Boys are more likely to be excluded, sanctioned, or labelled rather than understood. Training staff to see behaviour as a signal, often of struggle with literacy, attention, or home stress, reduces exclusions and keeps boys in learning.

When apprenticeships, trades, and technical education are funded, respected, and clearly linked to real wages and progression, disengaged boys reappear. The World Bank’s review of male under‑achievement is blunt: credible labour‑market routes are one of the strongest protective factors for boys and young men.

Boys hear a lot about what’s wrong with men and very little about where they are genuinely needed: care work, teaching, youth work, fatherhood, craftsmanship, public service. Naming those as honourable, modern forms of masculinity matters.

For further reading:
https://www.menandboyscoalition.org.uk/boys-and-young-mens-education-toolkit
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/04/boys-school-challenges-recommendations
https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/111041644611110155/pdf/Educational-Underachievement-Among-Boys-and-Men.pdf

A Short Story: Searching for the Goodness of God

Modern worship songs like "Goodness of God" can be unexpectedly difficult for people who are hard of hearing because the musical and textual structure offers very few anchors. The long, unpatterned melodic lines mean there’s no predictable contour to anticipate, so singers who rely on partial hearing or lip‑reading can’t easily “feel” where the phrase is going. Irregular phrasing adds to the challenge: without a steady metrical pulse or balanced line lengths, the song becomes something you must already know rather than something you can join. This is a short story about that issue.

Searching for the Goodness of God

On a windswept Sunday morning at La Chapelle des Pas, the church gathered slowly, as it always did, with the familiar shuffle of coats and the soft thud of hymnbooks being set aside for the service sheets. Among them was Margaret Le Brocq, who had sung in that church for more than sixty years. She had a voice that once carried confidently through the nave, but now she relied on hearing aids that whistled at the wrong moments and missed half the consonants she needed.

She took her usual place near the front, close enough to see the vicar’s lips and far enough from the speakers to avoid the sudden bursts of sound that made her flinch. The opening hymn was one she loved, “How Great Thou Art”, metrical, steady, shaped like a well‑built granite wall. She could follow its rhythm even when she couldn’t hear every word. The congregation rose, and Margaret rose with them, her voice finding the familiar path of the melody.

But after the readings, the worship band stepped forward. A young guitarist smiled nervously, tapped his pedal, and began the opening chords of “Goodness of God”. The congregation murmured with recognition. Margaret braced herself.

The first verse unfurled in long, drifting lines. She watched the worship leader’s mouth, but the phrases were so extended, so uneven, that she couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began. The melody rose and fell without the predictable shape she depended on. She tried to join in, but her voice faltered, unsure of its footing.

By the chorus, the band swelled. The drums softened but still blurred the consonants she needed to anchor the words. The vowels stretched into a warm, indistinct wash. She could see the joy on the younger faces around her, but she felt herself slipping to the edges of the moment, as though she were watching worship rather than participating in it.

Then came the bridge, the emotional heart of the song. The worship leader closed her eyes, the band leaned into the swell, and the congregation lifted their hands. But for Margaret, the bridge was a fog. The words repeated, but without clear articulation, they became a loop she couldn’t enter. She didn’t know whether they were beginning again or ending or shifting into something new. She stood still, hands folded, feeling the distance widen.

When the song finally settled, the vicar stepped forward with a gentle prayer. Margaret exhaled. She wasn’t angry, she understood the sincerity, the devotion, the beauty others found in these songs. But she also felt the quiet ache of being left outside something meant to gather everyone in.

After the service, as people drifted toward coffee and biscuits, the guitarist approached her. “Mrs Le Brocq, did the music sound all right today?” he asked, earnest and hopeful.

She smiled kindly. “It was heartfelt,” she said. “But some of us need clearer paths to walk. The old hymns give us steps we can feel, even when we can’t hear them.”

He nodded, thoughtful. “I hadn’t considered that.”

“Most don’t,” she replied, placing a hand on his arm. “But worship is a shared table. Everyone should be able to find their place.”

As she walked out into the bright Jersey morning, the sea wind tugging at her coat, she felt no bitterness, only a quiet hope that the church she loved might learn to weave its music in ways that welcomed every voice, even the ones that could no longer hear the tune.

More evidence relating to Clifford Orange

Clifford Orange, the Chief Aliens Officer in Jersey during the German occupation, was actively involved in compiling and submitting lists of Jews to the German authorities from 1940 through at least late 1942. Historian Paul Sanders wrote: "Nowhere is the inability to think ‘outside the box’ better demonstrated than in the negative test case of the Jersey Aliens Officer, Clifford Orange. It is a well-established fact that the overzealous Orange exceeded what the Germans demanded of him. This is plainly clear in the fact that some of the people he registered as Jews need not have been registered at all – even under the terms of the German race laws. It is unclear whether his attitude was simply unthinking, unprofessional or downright racist, but its consequence was that people were subjected to discrimination and suffering that they could have been spared. Orange’s culture of blind obedience over humanitarianism also came to the fore when he found out that some of his staff had been providing escapees in the islands with fake documents. Orange declared that he would not tolerate such activity behind his back and put an immediate stop to it."

For a previous review see:
http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2025/08/clifford-orange-and-war-time.html

Here I examine the defense of Orange under the "hindsight" argument and argue that it is too weak to exonerate him.

Here are some additional snippets:
https://www.liberationroute.com/pois/2261/stolperstein-in-honour-of-esther-loyd

Esther Pauline Lloyd was born in London on 31 July 1906 - she arrived in Jersey three years before the German Occupation began. Esther registered as a Jew after the First Order against the Jews was passed in October 1940. In February 1943, hundreds of Islanders were deported to the continent in the second wave of deportations from the Channel Islands.

Remarkably, Esther successfully appealed against her deportation and was repatriated to Jersey on 25 April 1944. Once back in Jersey and still under German occupation, Esther made a complaint to the Bailiff and informed the Chief Registration Office, Clifford Orange, that she:

‘was Catholic on my mother’s side…I went to register at the Aliens Office at the time an order was brought out concerning Jews as I am of Jewish origin on my Grandfather’s side only, I thought at the time it concerned me but if all the facts concerning myself had been fully explained to the German authorities, there would have been no question of my being sent away’.

Esther demanded to know ‘why these facts have been suppressed and wish the matter gone into’. 

Despite Clifford’s response that registration was the sole responsibility of the individual, she was not the only Jewish resident who recalled not being offered any choice in the matter. Hedwig Bercu felt the same. 

By chance, after Liberation, Clifford met Hedwig in St Helier, apologising for his actions stating ‘I had to follow German orders’.