The life-risking work of the ‘Guernsey Active Secret Press’ has been commemorated, eight decades after the team’s efforts ended when the island was liberated.

The small group of Occupation residents worked together to keep other people informed with news from the UK and Europe.

Having originally started working by himself, GASP editor Ludovic E. Bertrand trusted up to eleven other people with the act of resistance between 1942 and 1945. They in turn trusted other people who they shared their newsletters with for wider distribution.

Mr Bertrand used a hidden radio to lead the production of weekly and monthly newsletters.

He and the other members of GASP would write down the information they heard, it would be typed up, and then distributed from locations including what was Moulin’s bike shop, where China Red now stands.

Pictured: Ludovic E. Betrand was Editor of GASP.

GASP’s work was separate to that of GUNS – the Guernsey Underground News Service.

The GUNS members were caught by the German occupying forces in 1944, and deported to France. Some of them never returned.

Despite knowing what happened to the GUNS team, those working on GASP continued to produce their newsletters until the very end of the Occupation.

Their work has now been officially recognised, ahead of the 80th anniversary of Guernsey’s liberation – despite many of those involved never discussing their act of resistance.

Pictured: Amanda Johns, speaking at the unveiling of the Blue Plaque, nominated GASP for the plaque to honour the work of each member.

Guernsey’s Blue Plaque scheme recognises past Guernsey people who have made important contributions to the Bailiwick and the wider world.

It is also intended to enhance awareness amongst the island population and visitors about these people and where they lived or worked.

The decision to put a Blue Plaque up for GASP was a result of Amanda Johns nominating those involved two years ago.

As a tour guide she is used to discussing Guernsey’s Occupation, but she also had a more personal reason for wanting GASP’s work recognised.

“I have a family connection to the editor of GASP and I wanted to make sure that all of the agents who were involved with this newspaper have the recognition for the fact that they were risking their lives.

“They knew what had happened to the other underground newspaper, the agents involved with that had been taken off the island, so I just wanted to make sure that the story is more well known of GASP and that they get the recognition they deserve.”

Pictured: The Blue Plaque was unveiled on Tuesday morning, with relatives of GASP members among those present.

Among the other members of GASP that were named by Ms Johns at the unveiling of the Blue Plaque was Frank Le Vallee.

As an employee of the Fruit Export, Frank helped to distribute the newsletters during the war and then kept quiet about it for the rest of his life.

“He became involved in late 1942 in typing it up. He was the Company Secretary at what was Fruit Export,” explained his grandson, Terry Le Vallee who has written a book about GASP.

“Nobody never talked about it, just like everybody else, once the Occupation was over, that was it. Forgotten. Just get on with our new life. That’s what they did.”

“I’ve learned since that my grandmother was absolutely terrified,” he added.

“They did it. They got on with it, fortunately, because they were in such a close knit community, it stayed close. Everybody knew everybody else. So they knew where it was going, where the news sheets were going, who was getting it.”

Mr Le Vallee said from his research he has learned the extent of the work GASP did, and the wider network of people who were involved.

“To be fair, they weren’t over-producing the news sheets. They were only producing it once a week, perhaps twice, and then a monthly edition. But then you see the level of trust, because not only was there distribution going on here at Moulins, you had Cliff Le Gallez whose wife had a grocery shop. Cliff was a barber, and where New Image is now that was his barber shop. The Foresters was another distribution centre, and the choir members of the church were involved in it.

“And of course, with the Fruit Export, they had quite a distribution service. So that’s where they went out from there. And it went island wide from there.”

The Blue Plaque was unveiled by Guernsey’s Bailiff. It can be seen at China Red on St George’s Esplanade.