During the second world war, the island was occupied by
German forces, and the Masonic temple was ransacked by them
in the search for anti-Jewish material. In the following
extract from the book "The Story of Jersey Freemasonry" by
Colin R.Goss, it will be seen what damage was caused.
In 1940 when Germans forces occupied the Channel Islands,
the Temple building with the exception of the caretaker's
living quarters, was closed, and the German authorities
gave an undertaking that provided all Masonic activities
ceased, nothing would be done to interfere with the
premises or its contents. Relying on this assurance, the
Provincial Grand Master, RW.Bro C.E.Malet de Carteret gave
instructions that the premises were to remain locked, and
that nothing need be removed. Unfortunately, this reliance
was very much misplaced, and a squad of what can best be
described as wreckers and looters, sent directly from
Berlin, started the sack of the Temple on the 27th January
1941 which continued for two days. They were watched at a
discreet distance by Bro G.S.Knocker, the Librarian and
Curator of the Jersey Masonic Library and Museum. It is
hard to try to imagine the distress that must have been
felt by him, at seeing his hard work in building up the
collections of books and other items so wantonly
destroyed.
The Nazis left very little in the Temple, just the
portraits by John St.Helier Lander and the Masters' boards
which were fixed on the walls. The warrants that had hung
in the ante-room were all removed. Of the furniture,
regalia, Lodge books, etc, there was no sign. Much had been
destroyed in a bonfire in the caretaker's garden adjoining
the Temple. What was of value to the Nazis politically, had
been shipped to Berlin. The pair of Cary's Globes dated
1806 (Terrestrial) and 1799 (Celestial) that had been
situated either site of the Master's pedestal were never
recovered. These globes would now be worth in excess of
£30,000. The boiler was left in a dangerous state and
could not be used. The chequered carpet had been removed to
Linden Court, St.Saviour, the accommodation used by Col.
Schumacher, the German Civil and Administrative Commander,
who had taken it back to Germany with him in 1941.
During the Occupation the German authorities had forced the
States of Jersey to pass an Act to enable the property,
both real and personal, to be transferred out of the hands
of the Masonic authorities to themselves, and this led to
some problems in gaining early access to the Temple after
the Liberation. The negotiations with the civil and
military authorities were lengthy and complicated, but by
the 18th July 1945, W.Bro Knocker was able to regain
access. The condition of the building internally was
terrible, as it had been used as a store for bottles of
wine and the confiscated radio (or wireless) sets. Much
work had to be done to restore it to some semblance of
order.
The Management committee established a special bank account
with the Midland Bank, Hill Street, entitled the
"Restoration Fund." All Lodges were requested to collect
from each of its members a sum equivalent to two years
subscription and pay these into this Fund. Provincial Grand
Lodge made a donation of £1,000 towards the
rehabilitation and refurbishment of the building. However
it needed much effort by the brethren of the Province to
make the building habitable again. It is to their credit
that the work was completed within a comparatively short
time.
Many gifts were received towards refurbishing the Temple
including three pedestals, three tracing boards, heavy
maul, rough and smooth ashlars, tripod and stand, tool box,
twelve sundry aprons, three collars. Many of these were
donated by brethren of Structure Lodge No 5157 and the Mark
Province of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. A replacement
carpet was sent by the Winchester Masonic Centre. The War
Memorial had been taken, and consideration was given to
replacing it with one commemorating brethren who made the
supreme sacrifice in both World Wars. The Restoration
committee had to report at the end of 1946 that they had
abandoned a claim for damage and loss from the States of
Jersey, because it had been announced that ex-gratia
payments would only be made to business applicants. Seating
had to be borrowed from the Theosophical Society, pending
the construction of 100 new oak chairs. As part of the
reinstatement of the property to Masonic control, a new
company the Jersey Masonic Temple Company (1945) Ltd was
created. They did not submit any accounts to Lodges for
rent until 1947 when after some prompting from the
Management committee, three years rent were requested at
once.
After the Occupation, the best that could be procured for
use at meetings, were three Windsor chairs. Before the
sacking, the three chairs on the dais had dominated the
room, the larger having been of particularly noble
dimensions. The Immediate Past Master's chair had been made
for RW.Bro J.J.Hammond, when he was Provincial Grand Master
and bore his crest of a lion rampant. The other chair bore
the unusual emblems of two serpents and a dove. It will be
realised that three Windsor chairs were hardly a suitable
replacement.
On the 4th November 1946, W.Bro Knocker was passing the
doors of Deslandes Auction Rooms in Stopford Road. He
noticed two old chairs of exquisite design and workmanship,
which were to be auctioned later that day. They were in a
poor state of repair, but were of such workmanship and
quality that W.Bro Knocker returned to the Temple and
instructed the caretaker, W.Bro R.O.Marquis to make a bid
of up to £4 for the pair, which was successful. A
maker's brass plate was found of the back of each chair
bearing the inscription "T.O.Lyte, Jersey." It was later
established that these had been constructed in 1842 for the
Foresters Court of Prosperity who had used them up to the
Occupation, but were now forced to remove to smaller
premises disposing of their two "rulers'" chairs. T.O.Lyte
was himself a local Freemason. They were renovated by Mr J
Le Miere and Mr F.A.Morin, craftsmen working for A.de
Gruchy & Co, and a third larger chair was commissioned
to match the other two. The work was completed in 1948, the
larger chair costing exactly £100.