​​In the course of his job, Emile was unloading a vessel when ‘a set of wood fell from its sling on to a number of Germans passing the crane … All the pieces seemed to hit one German who was removed with some others to hospital.’ On 1 March 1944, he was arrested and deported from Jersey to Cherche-Midi prison.

​During the Allied advance into Normandy, that prison was evacuated and the prisoners moved to Buchenwald concentration camp, where they arrived on 20 August 1944. During the journey Emile was shot in the leg but received no medical attention. A Russian doctor in the camp eventually removed one of the bullets with the aid of a penknife, which was sterilised in the flame of a cigarette lighter. There were no anaesthetics, no medicines or ointments in the camp.

​Buchenwald was eventually liberated by the American forces in April 1945. By that time Emile had lost four stone (24.5 kilograms) in weight. For twelve months he recuperated, much of the time being only able to eat ‘baby food’. After his repatriation to the UK, Emile applied on 7 June 1945, with the aid of the Channel Islands Refugees Committee, to come back to Jersey.​