Liberating the Mess Silver

Silver base of Captain Robe's 'Mauritius' snuff box.

Just before the Second World War began on 3 September 1939, the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers was stationed on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. When orders forced a hurried move to England and then France, it was decided to leave the Regimental Silver in the vault of the Lloyds Bank in Guernsey.

During the German occupation of the island, Colonel Schumacher, head of the civil affairs unit Feldkommandantur 515, ordered the removal of the eighteen cases of Regimental Silver from the bank. However, after vigorous protests by the Bailiff of Guernsey and the manager of Lloyds Bank, the Germans agreed to return all, less articles of domestic use that included 463 Georgian silver knives, forks and spoons along with various other items including tea and coffee pots. Nevertheless, objects of great sentimental value to the regiment were also plundered and probably sent to Germany. This included the gold and diamond encrusted snuff box presented by Captain Robe from the proceeds won at the Mauritius Races in 1831; it has never been recovered and only the silver base remains.

On 26 May 1945, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Somerville, accompanied by Captain Paddy Moyne, arrived in Guernsey by naval despatch vessel and unpacked the Regiment's crates. They found that most of the collection was intact thanks to Mr Victor Carey, the Bailiff of Guernsey and Mr A S Ives, the manager of Lloyds Bank.

As a footnote to these events, Conrad Adenauer, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of (West) Germany, presented the Battalion with a gold snuff box during its posting to Berlin 'as a tribute to all the good work done by the British Army and the help it has given in Germany'. To view this item please click on the Gold Snuff Box.