21st December 1942

Maurice Gould is deported to Europe

Maurice Gould, Peter Hassall and Dennis Audrain wanted to escape the occupation. They set out in a boat, late on 3 May 1942, but Audrain drowned when they capsized. Gould and Hassall swam back to shore where they were spotted by a German patrol.

Being caught trying to escape was a serious matter in itself but, as The Independent explained on 29 January 1997, “Found to be carrying military information about the occupying forces, they were taken to Paris where they were questioned by the Gestapo and SS at Fresnes prison. They were then moved to a concentration camp, SS Sonderlager Hinzert.” 

They were also tortured at several locations in France and Germany, all without their families having been told where they were or what was happening to them.

Wartime movements

Gould and Hassall were moved between concentration camps as a pair, but while Hassall lived to see the end of the war and eventual liberation, Gould died, aged 19, on 1 October 1943 and was buried in Germany. Hassall moved to Canada and, according to the Jersey War Tunnels website, “in 1995 at the time of the 50th anniversary of Jersey’s Liberation, he visited his native Island from Canada and asked: ‘Where is Maurice?’ But Maurice’s body had never been repatriated.’

The following year, Hassell launched his campaign to repatriate his friend’s remains which culminated, in 1997, with his reburial in St Helier. ITV News reported on 24 July 2018 that “he is the only islander who wasn’t a soldier during World War II to be buried at the Jersey War Cemetery in Howard Davis Park.”