Ambrose Sherwill

Sir Ambrose James Sherwill (12 February 1890 – 25 September 1968) was Bailiff of Guernsey from 1946 to 1959. In the early months of World War II, he helped in the administration of the Channel Islands when they were occupied by the Germans.

Early life Educated in Guernsey and in Cherbourg he worked for a lawyer in Guernsey before passing the qualification of Licencié en Droit at Caen University (necessary to practice law in Guernsey) in 1914, just before the war broke out.

Although a member of the Royal Guernsey Militia, Sherwill volunteered as a dispatch rider but was called up as an air mechanic in the Royal Navy Air Service Armoured Car Division and served as a petty officer until he was commissioned into The Buffs in 1916. Sherwill was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for services at the battle of Messines in 1917, where he was wounded,

Standing for election to the States of Guernsey, he served as a Deputy from 1921 to 1926 whilst continuing to practice law. In 1935 Sherwill became His Majesty's Attorney General (with the duties of public prosecutor), having to give up private practice and accept the reduced income associated with public office.

Sentenced to two months in prison, taken to France in a Junkers Ju 52, he spent November and December 1940 in several prisons including 45 days in the very unpleasant Cherche-Midi Prison in Paris. On his return he was informed he would no longer be allowed any contact with the German authorities.

Controversy

Sherwill has been variously accused of excessively cordial relations with the German occupying troops, and acquiescing without due resistance to the Feldkommandant. Most notable perhaps is the episode of August 1940, when Sherwill, with the professed intention of reassuring those evacuated Guernsey citizens who anxiously awaited news of their loved ones who had chosen to remain on the Island, recorded a broadcast for Radio Bremen assuring of the 'kindly' treatment of islanders at the hands of the German troops. No doubt Sherwill's intentions were noble, but his naivety was nonetheless exploited by the German propaganda machine in their desire to show that the realities of German occupation were far removed from the bleak picture propagated by British communiqués and propaganda.

Post 1945 He returned to Guernsey after the War, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in December 1945. He served as Bailiff of Guernsey between 1946 and 1959. He was knighted, when made a Knight Commander in 1949. In 1960, he retired to Alderney, then later moved to Guernsey with his wife to live with his son and daughter-in-law, Rollo and Jenny Sherwill. He died at his son's home on 25 September 1968 at the age of 78.