The History of the La Moye Signal Station

The La Moye observation post was unusual.

The Organisation Todt - foreign labour forces used by the German occupying forces for construction, built it during 1942. Some of the slave workers left accounts of their existence and in the concrete ledge above the main door is this inscription - O.T. Espana 2 - 8 - 42 obviously put there by a slave worker.

What made this observation post unusual was that in its heyday, it boasted a slate roof in order that it might resemble a house.

In 1944 it was replaced by the split-level building that stands on the cliff edge. The three-storey building then became the headquarters of the 11/HKAR 1265 and the Civil Emergency Organisation now uses the associated fortress type underground bunker that nestles at its base. Nearby is a personnel shelter and in the photograph in the Allenet Room at the club it can be seen that living quarters were situated in dugouts between the three-storey building and the split-level building on the cliff edge.

We have not been able to establish when the roof was taken off, but the Channel Island Occupation Society requested permission from the Island Development Committee to restore it. They were subsequently refused.

At the end of the war, like most other German fortifications, the La Moye Signal Station remained open to the elements and freely accessible to all who came by. When the club took it over a great deal of mess and rubbish left by glue sniffers, persons sleeping rough and undesirables had to be cleared out.

The Jersey Amateur Radio Society has spent almost two years renovating the interior, and now has just the top landing and room to refurbish. All the work has been undertaken by members of the club, their family and friends all of whom have pooled their knowledge and labour to ensure the clubhouse was to our requirements and also to keep the cost of the refurbishment to a minimum.