​​The camp was built for, and seemingly by, Spanish Republican forced workers. One such worker, Vincente Gasulla-Sole, later recalled: ‘We had to build a camp at St John’s…Rations consisted of a tiny piece of what was called cheese, a few carrots and vegetables and some bread. There was no meat. People ate worms, there was so little food. We did some petty sabotage such as derailing trains and breaking cement mixers.’

​The Spanish forced workers, and later Soviet slave workers here, worked at Ronez Quarry. An initially relaxed attitude by OT over their starving workers resulted in numerous robberies throughout St John and St Mary.

​Ukrainian Bokejon Akram was brought to Jersey as a slave worker in July 1942 and kept a written account of his experiences: ‘They put us in one big camp at first, then separated us into smaller ones, and I was sent to St John’s. There we had a big shed to sleep in, where bunks had been built for us in three tiers. But the wood they were made of was evidently not very strong, for the very first night the whole thing cracked and fell over. Five men were badly injured and one died. We were at St John’s about five months, digging stone from the quarry, from six in the morning to six at night, our food consisted of soup at mid-day and a very meagre portion of bread and some butter at tea-time. We had no breakfast. We suffered greatly from dirt and lice. The Germans never allowed us soap or hot water for washing, even in the winter, nor did they give us any more clothing even though some of us were in rags and barefoot. For the slightest thing we were brutally beaten. We were beaten, indeed, all the time, and if we could not work we were starved and beaten again, they would never believe we were sick. During those five months six of our gang of forty-four died.’

​Bokejon escaped in spring 1943, seeking shelter with the Le Breton and Arthur families of St Mary. He survived in hiding until Liberation but was not heard from once he left the Channel Islands for repatriation.

​Lager Prien closed shortly after Ronez Quarry in late 1943 when Russian workers were permitted to attend Christmas Day service at St John’s Parish Church.