Louisa Gould 1891-1945

"I have to do something for another woman's son."

When the Island was occupied by German forces Mrs Louisa Gould ran the general store at La Fontaine, Millais, St Ouen.

Her husband had died before the outbreak of the war and both her sons were serving in the British armed forces.

Louisa Gould - Jersey victim

In 1941 her eldest son, Edward, was killed in action in the Mediterranean. When the order came to hand in all wirelesses Mrs Gould hid hers and continued to listen to the BBC news and then passed on the information to her customers.

In early 1943 Feodor "Bill" Buryiv, a Russian prisoner who had been on the run for about four months asked her for help to which she replied: "Then you are coming with me. I have lost one of my boys in the war and the other is away and I'll try and make up by looking after you."

Towards the end of 1943 they were betrayed by a neighbour's anonymous letter. Although she was warned and "Bill" managed to get away, evidence of his stay was found along with the illegal radio.

Fedor Buriy, slave worker aided by Louisa Gould

Louisa was arrested in late May 1944 along with six other Islanders, including her brother and sister, and on 22 June 1944 was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. It is said that the guns of the Allied advance in nearby Normandy could be heard in the courtroom.

On 1st July she was shipped out of the Island to France. She was moved from the prison in Rennes, Brittany, less than a week before it was liberated. At Belfort, near the German border, she met her brother, Harold Le Druillenec, who had been given a five-month sentence.

In early August 1944 Louisa was transported to Ravensbrueck concentration camp. On 13 February 1945 she was murdered in the Ravensbrueck gas chambers.