On this day in 1920

Anthony Faramus, who became an author and actor, was working as a hairdresser in St Helier when arrested in late 1940, a few months into the occupation. While incarcerated locally, he met Eddie Chapman, who was then on the run from the mainland police, and whose exploits as Zigzag, a double agent during the Second World War, were portrayed in the film Triple Cross.

There are several versions of Faramus’ wartime activities. In one version, he, Chapman and Douglas Stirling, had been desperate to leave Jersey despite the fact that there was no easy way to do so. Chapman suggested they turn traitor, and spy for Germany. As we now know, Chapman immediately reported to British authorities once back on the mainland and helped British intelligence feed false information to Germany.

The friends are split up

While Chapman was successful, Faramus was not. Both were transported to France, but while Chapman was trained in the art of spying, Faramus was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, then Mauthausen, where inmates were routinely worked to death.

Remarkably, Faramus survived his time in the concentration camps and after the war found work as an extra in films. He documented his wartime experiences in the book, Journey into Darkness, and died in 1990.

 

...and on this day in 1925

Jersey residents enjoyed a regular electricity supply before the island’s first power station opened – or, at least, some of them did. The Jersey Electricity Company was established in St Helier in April 1924 and, in July the following year, it opened its first power station. Located at the end of Albert Pier, it was also home to an electrical devices showroom, which showed the benefits locals could enjoy if they connected themselves to the nascent grid. It worked. Within five years, more than 1000 had signed up and, by the time this had doubled in the early 1930s, it was obvious that the existing power station wasn’t going to keep up with demand. A second station opened at Queen’s Road in 1934, just in time to floodlight the new airport.

 

...and on this day in 1929

Jack Higgins was born Henry Patterson, on 27 July 1929. He is best known for his 1975 thriller, The Eagle Has Landed, although this wasn’t his first work: he’d already had several books published before that, under both his birth name and several pseudonyms. He moved to Jersey in the 1970s as a tax exile.