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Report - - Hohlgangsanlage 2, Jersey, August 2019 | Underground Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Hohlgangsanlage 2, Jersey, August 2019

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tarkovsky

SWC
Regular User
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There's a series of tunnels called Hohlgangsanlage (or ‘cave passage installations’) in Jersey, built by the Nazis during the German occupation of the island during the Second World War. One of the tunnels, Hohlgangsanlage 8 (Ho 8), which was designed as an underground hospital, has been redeveloped and opened as a museum. There's a picture of it below - I can definitely recommend it for a visit if you're doing the tourist thing in Jersey.

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Obviously, we don't do reports of tourist spots on here, so this report is of one of the other tunnels - Ho 2. Ho 2 isn't actually located far from the museum itself, so after a nice cup of coffee in the cafe and a browse in the gift shop I went for a wander to see if I could get in. As I was on holiday I was unprepared and poorly equipped with a very flimsy travel tripod, low power head torch and unsuitable footwear. It turns out that Nazi tunnel dirt stinks, but it was worth ruining an old pair of Nikes for. Ho 2 was designed as a ration store, but was never fully completed or used. After the war it was used to store 'small equipment such as helmets, gas masks, fuel, oxyacetylene, and field kitchens'.

(Above history adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohlgangsanlage_tunnels,_Jersey - there's much more on the tunnels here so I won't replicate it all - the map below is also taken from this site)

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The above map shows the layout of the tunnel - basically four parallel corridors joined at each end, with small storage sections leading off to the sides. The original North and South entrances are shown at the bottom of the map.

All photos here are film - colour are FujiColor 200 and B&W are Ilford Hp5 plus (home developed). The first pictures are from the first passage, pictured at the bottom of the map. This whole section of tunnel was unfinished and therefore unlined like other parts further in. This is a pic looking back on the old South entrance (on the right in the map)


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This shows a collapse down one of the connecting passages. Apparently most of these collapses were made intentionally to block off sections that still contained stored equipment to stop people entering the tunnels seeking treasure.

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Old pipes and other metal remnants are found rusting away throughout this section of the tunnel.

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In a couple of places there's old barrels that are full of something suspicious.... Knob graff too, obviously.

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Nazi dirt.

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These next two photos were taken in the second of the four parallel stretches of passageway. Here, some progress had obviously been made applying concrete to the tunnel, and you can see where the stone joins concrete.

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By this time I'd been underground for a while and with my batteries fading thought it best to make my way out to start heading for my bus. One last pic here of the small gauge railway that remains in place from the construction of the tunnel that would eventually have also been used for transportation of goods around underground. That is what looks to be a gas cannister balanced on top of those wheels.

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And out I went. With a few minutes before I needed to get my bus I thought I'd have a quick look to see if I could spot the other (blocked) tunnel entrance from the outside, at which point a chance meeting occurred with someone who turned out to be @GJ0KYZ To cut a long story short, we ended up heading back into the tunnel to see the bits I'd missed - basically the next two parallel passages. Having already used up my colour film, the rest of the pics are in black and white. (Thanks to @GJ0KYZ for the tour, the expert lighting and the lift back to the hotel!)

Our way into the further section... This collapse happened in 1962, caused by a fire. At this time 'two schoolboys who managed to get inside suffocated because a fire had occured in the tunnel the previous day which had consumed all the oxygen. The states authorities decided to open up the tunnel and clear out all the equipment and re-seal it for good.' (via: http://www.explorationcentral.co.uk/jersey/hohlgangsanlage-2-ration-storage-tunnel)

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Looking at this collapse from the other side.

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As the tunnel had been finished from the back to the front, the whole of this back section was concrete lined and pretty impressive for it.

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The vaulted ceiling...

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And back out to the front section, a final photo of some of the remaining railway track.

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This was a good one - really enjoyed my look around and some interesting history to go along with it too.

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tigger

mog
Regular User
Thanks for posting this. Really good to see some different stuff and with your usual interesting mix of media.
 

Coxieboy

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Great report, I love Jersey and the thing is a lot of the WW2 stuff is still well in tact, and they have preserved loads too. Whist I know its "Touristy" the WW11 sites are well worth a visit, it really gives you a feel of how things used to be.
 

tarkovsky

SWC
Regular User
Good to my home town on here
Great report, I love Jersey and the thing is a lot of the WW2 stuff is still well in tact, and they have preserved loads too. Whist I know its "Touristy" the WW11 sites are well worth a visit, it really gives you a feel of how things used to be.

Cheers. Have either of you been in any of the other tunnels? I considered Ho1 because it was so close but basically ran out of time, and I'm more interested in the ones like this that haven't ended up being reused I guess. Ho 13 looks good, although I'm unlikely to be lucky enough to be heading back that way any time soon.
 

Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
Excellent stuff. That chance meeting came good too. liking the b&w a lot. Gives a real feel of the place. Like this a lot :cool:
 

GJ0KYZ

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Excellent photos and write-up there tarkovsky. It was great to meet up with you and explore the tunnel a few weeks back. I hope we can look around the others if you're ever back on the Island. Cheers!
 
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