ONE of the last surviving slave workers from the Occupation of Jersey has told his extraordinary story for the first time. Emile Boydens, now 87, was captured by the Germans while serving in the Belgian Army and forced to come to Jersey to work on projects including the Underground Hospital and the bunkers on the Albert Pier. Remarkably, during the limited time that Mr Boydens was allowed out by his captors under curfew, he met and fell in love with a local girl. And the pair were so much in love that after Mr Boydens was transferred to a camp in France he escaped with the single intention of returning to the Island and his sweetheart, Mabel Pinglaux, despite knowing the dangers he would face here. He is one of the few people who was trying to get into the Island while others were trying to escape. He eventually managed to make his way back, but he was instantly recognised by a German officer who ordered him back to St Malo but on reflection decided to make him an interpreter, a job he continued until Germany surrendered. Mr Boydens’s full story is told in Saturday’s edition of the JEP.
