8th August 1942
Dennis Leister is deported from Jersey
Dennis Leister, known as John, arrived in Jersey less than six months before the occupation, but didn’t return to the mainland in advance of the Germans’ arrival, having apparently been so intoxicated at the time of the evacuation that he ended up in hospital and missed the boats. His father was German and his mother English.
He was arrested and convicted of theft, and sentenced to six months’ jail, to be served in Europe. After various escape attempts, of varying degrees of success, he joined the German army, married, and fled to Italy as the final battle for Berlin was getting underway. There, he was arrested, taken back to Britain to stand trial and sentenced to three years for assisting the enemy.
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Other events that occured in August
Jersey plane makes bomb threat detour
- Thirty passengers on their way to Jersey strapped themselves in as their aircraft performed an about turn in mid-air
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Pilot killed in private plane crash
- A pilot was killed when both engines of the plane he was flying from Jersey to Guernsey lost power and he crashed into an outbuilding.
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St Helier burned by a huge fire
- Dense clouds of smoke billowed above Fort Regent when commercial buildings caught fire in St Helier in August 1891.
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Jersey judge and prosecutor find themselves prosecuted in court turn-around
- A bit of clever argument from the accused saw a court in Jersey reconsider who exactly was to blame in an unusual case.
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