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The son of a woman who lost her childhood home during the Occupation is fighting for planning permission to rebuild the bungalow to honour his family's connection to Jersey.
95-year-old Pauline Wersinger has fond memories of her childhood family home in St Ouen. Today, all that is left of the house is ruins and a plaque.
In 1932, her parents built a bungalow from concrete and with a tiled roof just a short walk from the sea.
Wilfred and May Taylor called their home Elves Rest.
Pictured: Elves Rest in 1932, shortly after it was built.
But today, in what Pauline's family describe as "a grave injustice", all that is left of Elves Rest is some ruins – and they are fighting to have their loss recognised.
Pauline and her parents moved to the UK in 1936, keeping "close ties" with their family in Jersey and intending to return to the island after a few years.
But before that could happen, the island was occupied by Germam forces during the Second World War.
For the first year after the war, the island didn't allow visitors – but Pauline's family returned as soon as they were allowed, in 1946.
Pauline’s son Thierry explained that they then discovered "the passing of several relatives, the terrible condition of the survivors and the complete destruction of their property".
Pictured: A young Pauline Wersinger in Jersey.
He said: "All the parcels that they had been sending through the Red Cross, not one made it.
"Those who survived didn't live very long after because they were in a terrible state."
His mother’s family home was in an area that had been used as a shooting range by German soldiers, and consequently been levelled.
Several of Pauline's relatives died from poor health during the war. Her grandfather died in 1956 and her aunt in 1969.
Thus began a decades-long fight to rebuild the family home, which to this day has been unsuccessful.
Although the family received £450 from a specially-formed Rehabilitation Committee, they delayed rebuilding the bungalow and eventually abandoned their plans to move back to Jersey.
Pictured: Pauline Wersinger (95) now lives in a care home in Brittany.
Bad luck and complicated planning processes continued to plague the family, who couldn't get further compensation and whose applications to rebuild the house were refused and called "an undesirable form of development".
This decision is even harder to understand, explained Thierry, because other modern structures in the area have been allowed to be built, including Jersey Pearl's headquarters as well as several luxury and "more intrusive" seaside homes.
"I think it's a good idea to protect the beauty of a beautiful part of the world," he said.
Theirry added that he had no problem with the Jersey Pearl site, which was in use during Pauline's childhood, too.
But he asked: "How can we deny someone who is from the island, whose family has been there for multiple generations? It's absurd."
In a similar case, the heirs of Egypt Farm in Trinity are also making a bid to rebuild their family's home after it was destroyed during the Occupation.
Pictured: Pauline has fond memories of growing up in Jersey.
Over the years, her parents and later Pauline herself tried to get permission to get the house built back up.
She fought from 1946 to 1990, when she eventually decided that "enough money had been spent" on the case.
Theirry said that the family has spent £50,000 on planning processes over the years.
Thierry explained that Pauline would tell "wonderful stories about the land of her birth and her ancestors” when he was a child.
His interest in Elves Rest grew after he visited Jersey for the first time and saw the ruins of the house.
He also discovered that a family grave was without a headstone.
"This is when I realised the extent of what had happened," said Thierry.
Pictured: A rendering of what the bungalow would look like today if it was rebuilt.
This led him to make some cold calls and eventually work with Heritage Memorials for a headstone and a memorial plaque on the site of the house and create a new headstone for the family grave.
On a website set up to advertise the case, Thierry said the States of Jersey had "shown no compassion" towards those who lost property during the Occupation and didn't have enough resources to rebuild.
He explained that a scheme that concerned only with economic life, not compensation for losses.
This, coupled with stringent planning procedures and "contempt towards exiled islanders", meant that the family had lost their home forever, said Thierry.
He added: "Had the war not happened, the bungalow would still be standing and available for my mother and her family."
In March, the family installed – with planning permission – a plaque on the remaining ruins of the house. It reads:
"Residence built in 1932 by Wilfred and May Taylor, destroyed by the occupying forces during WWII.
"Planning restrictions enshrined the effects of the war by thwarting all efforts to rebuild the property.
"Pauline Wersinger, née Taylor, current owner, spent her early childhood in Elves Rest. She hopes with this memorial to preserve her family's connection to Jersey."
Theirry is calling for Jersey to either allow the family to rebuild their home or offer "suitable compensation".
He said the island has a duty to investigate "the plight of all victims of WWII who have suffered a similar fate".
For example, they could be remembered in museums and landmarks, he explained.
Pictured: The family have erected a memorial plaque and are hoping for permission to rebuild Pauline's childhood home.
"I'm sure we're not the only ones," said Thierry.
He added that he was looking to publish some of his mother's writings of her childhood memories.
What he wants, he said, is "a little bit of recognition and the ability to contribute to the history of Jersey by making this available to the public".
Pauline lived in London and Lancaster before moving to France in her early 20s, where she met her husband, who was from Alsace.
She lives in France to this day, and is currently in a retirement home in Brittany.
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