1st August 1939
The telephone line between Jersey and the mainland is inaugurated
Jersey was connected to the mainland by a very circuitous route at the beginning of August 1939 when the Postmaster-General, Major GC Tryon, placed a call from a London post office to the Lieutenant-Governor and Bailiff in Jersey.
The Times explained that, before reaching the co-axial cable that had been laid across the seabed, the call first had to travel from the capital to Compass Cove, near Dartmouth, but the achievement was sufficient to gain national press coverage, and generate excitement about what it might lead to.
Although the cable was at the time carrying just one call, when fully exploited it would allow 12 simultaneous Jersey to mainland calls, four between Guernsey and the mainland, and five between Jersey and Guernsey.
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Other events that occured in August
The first Earl of Jersey to live in Jersey dies in Jersey
- The Ninth Earl of Jersey inherited his title in 1923, when he was 13, but didn’t move to the island until the late 1940s.
- Read more…
Jersey man in court accused of bigamy
- Jersey man Philip Vasse found himself in court accused of bigamy after his first wife was listed as his next of kin.
- Read more…
Parliament debates Jersey’s treatment of prisoners of war
- A Conservative MP in London was concerned that Jersey might have been treating German PoWs too leniently during the First World War.
- Read more…
Jersey declares a state of emergency
- Bread and water were rationed in Jersey in August 1976 after the States declared a state of emergency due to drought.
- Read more…
