The Jersey Communist Party was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

on the island of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

. The JCP seems to have had a semi-autonomous relation to the Communist Party of Great Britain. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, when

was under

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

occupation, the JCP-leader Norman Le Brocq led a resistance group called Jersey Democratic Movement. The resistance helped many of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

forced labourers that the Germans had brought to the island. JDM, the JCP and Transport and General Workers’ Union distributed propaganda. With the aid of a German deserter, Paul Mulbach, they apparently had some success in turning the soldiers of the garrison against their masters, including most notably the highest military authority in the Islands, Huffmeier. There is some evidence to suggest that they had even set a date for this mutiny (1 May 1945), but that it was rendered pointless by the suicide of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

.Tabb, A Peculiar Occupation, (Jersey 2005) The history of the party is murky at best. Peter Tabb suggests that they were involved in the blowing up of the Palace Hotel and of separate ammo dumps, in fact it is more likely that their involvement was to set fire to the hotel, and the German efforts to put out the subsequent blaze, by using dynamite to create a breach between the flames were misjudged and set off charges in a neighbouring ammo dump. Nevertheless, the JCP do seem to have made many plans for organised resistance. After the war Norman Le Brocq was elected deputy in

in 1972. He was twice reelected and sat on a ministerial committee. In 1966, Le Brocq and 19 other islanders were awarded gold watches by the Soviet Union as a sign of gratitude for their role in the resistance movement. Le Brocq led the Fishery Advisory Committee until his death. After his death, a fishing vessel was named after Le Brocq. There is also a Community Worker award named after him. The date at which JCP dissolved is unclear. There was also a though they seemed to have enjoyed even less electoral success and are also a defunct political entity.

Notes

External links

20 islanders awarded by Soviet Embassy
from Jersey Evening Post 1966

Jersey Evening Post 1969
BBC on the Norman Le Brocq award
* Tabb, A Peculiar Occupation, (Jersey 2005) * Turner, Outpost of Occupation (Aurum Press 2010) Communism in Jersey Communist parties in Europe Communist Party of Great Britain Defunct political parties in Jersey {{jersey-stub