A CONFESSION letter from beyond the grave appears to have solved the near 80-year-old mystery of what caused a deadly explosion at a German base just weeks before Liberation.
The destruction of the Palace Hotel in a series of blasts which left nine soldiers dead and dozens injured has long been subject to rumour and speculation.
But a hand-written letter by wartime carpenter Gordon Frederick Huish – published for the first time on Saturday 29 June 2024 – appears to have finally revealed the truth: the hotel was bombed by a resistance group with the help of a mutinous German soldier.
And that Mr Huish – then aged just 17 – unwittingly delivered the detonating device.
In the letter, written on 7 March 2017, the former Islander describes in great detail the events which he believed led to the destruction of the grand 150-bedroom hotel, off Bagatelle Road, which had been requisitioned by the Germans and used in-part as a munitions store.
“As I am approaching my 90th year… and am the sole survivor who knows the true story of the events of March 7, 1945, which led to the destruction of the Palace Hotel, I will describe truthfully exactly how it happened,” he wrote.
Mr Huish explains how he was approached by Norman Le Brocq – a key member of Jersey’s loosely grouped resistance movement and a future States Member – who asked him if he would be willing to deliver a parcel.
Two days later he handed the package to a German soldier known as “Willi”, who he had been introduced to the previous day (full story in Saturday’s JEP).
“Willi was waiting at the entrance of the hotel,” wrote Mr Huish, who moved to New Zealand after the war and died last year.
“When I gave him the parcel, which by its weight, and feeling the terminals through the thick brown paper, I thought was a car battery, he smiled and I kept walking up Mont Millais.
“Then I heard a very loud explosion. Shortly after, a lot of German field ambulances came tearing down the road. I began to feel uneasy and instinct told me in some way to get out of the area as quickly as I could.
“I have to state that when I picked up and delivered the parcel, I did not know the purpose for which it was intended.”
It is believed that in a desperate attempt to create a fire break to control the blaze, the Germans set off a number of explosions with disastrous consequences, ultimately leading to the total loss of the hotel.
Following the war, Mr Huish learnt that “Willi’s” real name was Obergefreiter Paul Mülbach, a German soldier and chemist who became an important figure in the resistance movement and was a known associate of Mr Le Brocq.
The letter publicly states for the first time that Obergefreiter Mülbach deserted the army after the incident and spent the rest of the war hiding out at 3 Hue Street – where the soldier met Mr Huish and Mr Le Brocq the day before the explosion.
Although there has long been speculation that Obergefreiter Mülbach and Mr Le Brocq had played some part in the destruction of the hotel, it is the first time the name Gordon Huish has been linked to the incident.
Speaking to the JEP from her home in New Zealand, Mr Huish’s daughter, Anna Huish, said: “It was my father’s express wish that the truth be told.
“One day he said to me that he wanted to tell the story of what happened at the Palace Hotel as he thought it was important that the people of Jersey knew what had really happened.
“I said that he should write down his account as a first step. I think the reason dad had been quiet about it for so long was because he was afraid of repercussions and, indeed, when I read what he had written, I also thought there might be consequences, so I consulted with one of my university friends who is a lawyer and very interested in the history of the war.
“His advice was to wait until dad died before showing the letter to anyone.”
She added: “A few years later, my friend changed his mind and thought it would be all right to go ahead as it was unlikely that anyone who had an interest in the hotel, for example the insurers, would still be in existence, but by that time dad and I were occupied with other things.”
Ms Huish, who handed the letter to Jersey Archive during a recent visit to the Island, said that she “wasn’t particularly surprised” when she read her father’s account of what had happened, and had been told the story previously by another family member.
“Dad had been arrested twice by the Germans – once for stealing bread and another time for trying to chop a tree down. Also, he and some of his friends decided to escape from the Island on a boat. When my grandmother heard of the plan, she asked the police to lock him up for his own safety, which they duly did.
“I did ask him why the Communist Resistance had chosen him to carry the parcel and he said it was because of his political beliefs – dad became a communist during the war and remained so for the rest of his life. I personally think it was because they knew he was a rash young man.”
Historian Ian Ronayne said that the letter may have finally solved one of the mysteries of the Occupation.
“It is known that the Germans were training up there [the hotel] for a raid in Granville, so it was thought that it could have been an accident. But there has always been an air of mystery over what exactly caused it.
“If this letter is true – everything in it seems to fall into place – then the mystery may finally be solved.”
