Sidney Alfred Green

By Gilly Carr

Sidney Alfred Green was born in Tooting, London, on 29 January 1921.  We do not know when he came to Jersey, nor much about his early life. At the time of the registration of Islanders in 1940, Green was single and worked as a motor driver. However, he married in the early years of the Occupation and had two children, Marion and Anthony.

Green first comes to our attention because, on 22 January 1943, he was given a brief sentence in Jersey jail for a minor unspecified offence and was released six days later. However, on 17 March 1944, Green was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour for ‘serious larceny and attempted serious larceny’. It is inconceivable that, with a sentence of that severity, Green was not deported. We might observe that William Stanley Cordrey, with whom he was convicted, received a three year and six month sentence and was deported to four prisons and three forced labour camps on the continent, and that he was deported first to Fresnes Prison, the records of which do not survive. Did Sidney Green accompany Cordrey on any of his journey into Germany?

A few records for Sidney Green have recently come to light. Although the first three months of his prison experience are missing, we can only guess whether he had the same trajectory of those he was deported with. By June 1944, he was imprisoned in Wittlich Prison, from 19 June – 7 September 1944, at the same time as George Nicholls of Jersey. He was then sent to Rollwald Penal Camp, where a few other Channel Islanders were imprisoned, including Flavien Barbier and Brian O’Meara. Green’s records were difficult to find as his name had been recorded as ‘Lidny Green’, although his date of birth, and presence in camps at the same time as other Channel Islanders, shows that it was him.

A news article from the Guernsey Star dated 19 June 1945 records the names of Islanders who had returned to the UK from prison sentences in Germany. Sidney Alfred Green’s name is recorded.  He did not attempt to claim compensation in the mid-1960s for Nazi persecution, although he would have been eligible. Other Islanders who experienced Rollwald got compensation.

Sources

Sidney Green’s occupation registration card, Jersey Archives ref D/S/A/4/A5020.

Sidney Green’s occupation registration form, Jersey Archives ref. D/S/A/4/B5020.

Sidney Green’s charge sheet, copyright Jersey Archives ref. D/Z/H6/5/26A.

Guernsey Star, 19 June 1945.