Occupation of the Channel Islands - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

were occupied

Military occupation

Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...

by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

for much of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, from 30 June 1940 until the liberation on 9 May 1945. The Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

are two British Crown dependencies and include the bailiwick

Bailiwick

A bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and may also apply to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal or imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of...

s of Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

and Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

(which are not parts of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

) as well as the smaller islands of Alderney

Alderney

Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...

and Sark

Sark

Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...

(both part of the bailiwick of Guernsey). The islands, which are closer to Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

than they are to Britain, were the only portions of the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

to be invaded and occupied by German forces

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

during the war.

Demilitarisation

On 15 June 1940, the British government decided that the Channel Islands were of no strategic importance and would not be defended. They decided to keep this a secret from the German forces. So, in spite of the reluctance of Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

, the British government gave up the oldest possession of the Crown "without firing a single shot". The Channel Islands served no purpose to the Germans other than the propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

value of having occupied some British territory. The "Channel Islands had been demilitarised and declared...'an open town

Open city

In war, in the event of the imminent capture of a city, the government/military structure of the nation that controls the city will sometimes declare it an open city, thus announcing that they have abandoned all defensive efforts....

' ".

Evacuation

The British Government consulted the islands' elected government representatives, in order to formulate a policy regarding evacuation

Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II

Evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....

. Opinion was divided and, without a policy being imposed on the islands, chaos ensued and different policies were adopted by the different islands. The British Government concluded their best policy was to make available as many ships as possible so that islanders had the option to leave if they wanted to. The authorities on Alderney recommended that all islanders evacuate, and nearly all did so; the Dame of Sark, Sibyl Mary Hathaway, encouraged everyone to stay. Guernsey evacuated all children of school age, giving the parents the option of keeping their children with them, or evacuating with their school. In Jersey, the majority of islanders chose to stay.

Invasion

Since the Germans did not realise that the islands had been demilitarised, they approached them with some caution. Reconnaissance flights

Surveillance aircraft

A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance — collecting information over time. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, observation , border patrol and fishery...

were inconclusive. On 28 June 1940, they sent a squadron of bomber

Bomber

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...

s over the islands and bombed the harbours of Guernsey and Jersey. In Saint Peter Port, what the reconnaissance mistook for troop carriers were actually lorries lined up to load tomato

Tomato

The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...

es for export to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Forty-four islanders were killed in the raids.

While the German Army

German Army

The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

was preparing to land an assault force of two battalions to capture the islands, a reconnaissance pilot landed in Guernsey on 30 June to whom the island officially surrendered. Jersey surrendered on 1 July. Alderney, where only a handful of islanders remained, was occupied on 2 July and a small detachment travelled from Guernsey to Sark

Sark

, which officially surrendered on 4 July.

Occupation

The German forces quickly consolidated their positions. They brought in infantry, established communications and anti-aircraft defences, established an air service with mainland France and rounded up British servicemen on leave.

Government

In Guernsey, the Bailiff, Sir Victor Carey

Victor Carey

Sir Victor Gosselin Carey was Bailiff of Guernsey .During his term of office, Guernsey was occupied by the German military during World War II. During the Nazi Occupation of the Channel Islands German authorities seized control of the Bailiwick...

and the States of Guernsey

States of Guernsey

The States of Guernsey is the parliament of the island of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guernsey also apply to Alderney and Sark as "Bailiwick-wide legislation" with the consent of the governments of those islands...

handed overall control to the German authorities. Day-to-day running of island affairs became the responsibility of a Controlling Committee, chaired by Ambrose Sherwill

Ambrose Sherwill

Sir Ambrose James Sherwill KBE MC was Bailiff of Guernsey from 1946 to 1959.Sherwill was commissioned into The Buffs in 1916 and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917, being promoted Lieutenant shortly afterwards...

. Scrip

Scrip

Scrip is an American term for any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrips were created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money is unavailable, such as remote coal towns, military bases, ships on long...

(occupation money) was issued in Guernsey to keep the economy going. German military forces used their own scrip for payment of goods and services.

The German authorities changed the Channel Island time zone from GMT

Greenwich Mean Time

Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...

to CET

Central European Time

Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

in order to bring the islands into line with continental Europe, and the rule of the road was also changed from left to right.

Alderney concentration camps

The Germans built four concentration camps

Alderney concentration camps

The Alderney concentration camps were prison camps built and operated by Nazi Germany during its World War II occupation of the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands were the only British Commonwealth soil to be occupied by the Nazis....

in Alderney. The camps

Nazi concentration camps

Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...

were subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp outside Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

and each was named after one of the Frisian Islands

Frisian Islands

The Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands or Wadden Sea Islands, form an archipelago at the eastern edge of the North Sea in northwestern Europe, stretching from the north-west of the Netherlands through Germany to the west of Denmark...

: Lager Norderney

Lager Norderney

Lager Norderney was a Nazi concentration camp on Alderney, in the Channel Islands, named after the East Frisian island of Norderney.The Germans built four concentration camps on the island, subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp...

located at Saye, Lager Borkum

Lager Borkum

Lager Borkum was a Nazi concentration camp on Alderney, in the Channel Islands, named after the East Frisian Island of Borkum.The Germans built four concentration camps on the island, subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp...

at Platte Saline, Lager Sylt

Lager Sylt

Lager Sylt was a Nazi concentration camp on Alderney in the British Crown Dependency, the Channel Islands, in operation between March 1943 and June 1944. The Germans built one concentration camp and three Labour camps on the island, subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp...

near the old telegraph tower at La Foulère and Lager Helgoland

Lager Helgoland

Lager Helgoland was a Nazi concentration camp on Alderney in the Channel Islands, named after the Frisian Island of Heligoland , formerly a Danish and then British possession located off the German North Sea coastline and belonging to Germany since 1890.The Germans built four concentration camps...

in the northwest corner of Alderney. The Nazi Organisation Todt

Organisation Todt

The Todt Organisation, was a Third Reich civil and military engineering group in Germany named after its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi figure...

operated each subcamp and used forced labour to build bunker

Bunker

A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...

s, gun emplacements, air-raid shelters, and concrete fortifications. The camps commenced operating in January 1942 and had a total inmate population of about 6,000.

The Borkum and Helgoland camps were "volunteer" (Hilfswillige) labour camps and the labourers in those camps were treated harshly but marginally better than the inmates at the Sylt and Norderney camps. The prisoners in Lager Sylt and Lager Norderney were slave labourers forced to build the many military fortifications and installations throughout Alderney. Sylt camp held Jewish enforced labourers. Norderney camp housed Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an (usually Eastern

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

but including Spaniards) and Soviet enforced labourers. Lager Borkum was used for German technicians and "volunteers" from different countries of Europe

Europe

. Lager Helgoland was filled with Soviet Organisation Todt workers.

In 1942, Lager Norderney, containing Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

and Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

POWs, and Lager Sylt, holding Jews, were placed under the control of the SS Hauptsturmführer

Hauptsturmführer

Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...

Max List. Over 700 of the inmates lost their lives before the camps

Nazi concentration camps

were closed and the remaining inmates transferred to Germany

Nazi Germany

in 1944.

Resistance and collaboration

There was no resistance movement

Resistance movement

A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...

in the Channel Islands on the scale of that in mainland France. This has been ascribed to a range of factors including the physical separation of the islands, the density of troops (up to one German for every two islanders), the small size of the islands precluding any hiding places for resistance groups and the absence of the Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

from the occupying forces. Moreover, much of the population of military age had already joined the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

. Because of the small size of the islands, most resistance involved individuals risking their lives to save someone else.

Resistance involved passive resistance, acts of minor sabotage

Sabotage

Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...

, sheltering and aiding escaped slave workers (see, for example, Albert Bedane
Albert Bedane
Albert Bedane lived in Jersey during the German occupation during World War II, and provided shelter to a Jewish woman and others, preventing their capture by the Nazis....

) and publishing underground newspapers containing news from BBC Radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...

. The islanders also joined in the Churchill's V sign campaign by daubing the letter 'V' (for Victory) over German signs. A widespread form of passive resistance (albeit taking place in secret within the confines of islanders' homes) was the act of listening to BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

Radio, which was banned in the first few weeks of the occupation and then (surprisingly given the policy elsewhere in Nazi-occupied Europe) tolerated for a period before being once again prohibited. Later the ban became even more draconian with all radio listening (even to German stations

William Joyce

William Joyce , nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an Irish-American fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster to the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He was hanged for treason by the British as a result of his wartime activities, even though he had renounced his British nationality...

) being banned by the occupiers backed up by the widespread confiscation of wireless sets. Nevertheless, many islanders successfully hid their radios (or replaced them with homemade crystal sets) and continued listening to the BBC despite the risk of being discovered by the Germans or being informed on by neighbours.

Artists Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun was a French artist, photographer and writer. Her work was both political and personal, and often played with the concepts of gender and sexuality.-Early life:...

and Suzanne Malherbe

Suzanne Malherbe

Suzanne Malherbe , also known by the alias Marcel Moore, was a French illustrator and designer. She was the partner of Claude Cahun, surrealist writer and photographer....

produced anti-German fliers from English-to-German translations of BBC reports, pasted together to create rhythmic poems and harsh criticism. The couple then dressed up and attended many German military events in Jersey, strategically placing them in soldiers' pockets, on their chairs, etc. Also, fliers were inconspicuously crumpled up and thrown into cars and windows. In 1944 they were arrested and sentenced to death, but the sentences were never carried out.

A number of islanders escaped (including Peter Crill

Peter Crill

Sir Peter Leslie Crill KBE was Bailiff of Jersey from 1986 to 1995.- Early years :Crill attended Victoria College, Jersey between 1932 and 1943...

), the pace of which increased following D-Day

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

, when conditions in the islands worsened as supply routes to the continent were cut off and the desire to join in the liberation of Europe increased.

The policy of the island governments, acting under instructions from the British government communicated before the occupation, was one of passive co-operation, although this has been criticised (see Bunting), particularly in the treatment of Jews in the islands. The remaining Jews on the islands, often Church of England members with one or two Jewish grandparents, were subjected to the nine Orders Pertaining to Measures Against the Jews, including closing of their businesses (or placing them under Aryan administration

Aryanization

Aryanization is a term coined during Nazism referring to the forced expulsion of so-called "non-Aryans", mainly Jews, from business life in Nazi Germany and the territories it controlled....

), giving up their wirelesses, and staying indoors for all but one hour per day. These measures were administered by the Bailiff and the Aliens Office.

Some island women fraternised

Fraternization

Fraternization is "turning people into brothers"—conducting social relations with people who are actually unrelated and/or of a different class as though they were siblings, family members, personal friends or lovers....

with the occupying forces, although this was frowned upon by the majority of islanders, who gave them the derogatory nickname Jerry-bags. Records released in 1996 by the Public Records Office suggest that as many as 900 babies of German fathers were born to Jersey women during the occupation.

One side-effect of the occupation and local resistance was an increase in the speaking of local languages (Guernésiais in Guernsey and Jèrriais

Jèrriais

Jèrriais is the form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, off the coast of France. It has been in decline over the past century as English has increasingly become the language of education, commerce and administration...

in Jersey). As many of the German soldiers were familiar with both English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

and French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, the indigenous languages enjoyed a brief revival as islanders sought to converse without the Germans understanding.

A shortage of coinage in Jersey

Jersey pound

The pound is the currency of Jersey. Jersey is in currency union with the United Kingdom, and the Jersey pound is not a separate currency but is an issue of banknotes and coins by the States of Jersey denominated in pound sterling, in a similar way to the banknotes issued in Scotland and Northern...

(partly caused by occupying troops taking away coins as souvenirs) led to the passing of the Currency Notes (Jersey) Law on 29 April 1941. A series of two shilling

Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

notes (blue lettering on orange paper) were issued. The law was amended on 29 November 1941 to provide for further issues of notes of various denominations, and a series of banknotes designed by Edmund Blampied

Edmund Blampied

Edmund Blampied was one of the most eminent artists to come from the Channel Islands, yet he received no formal training in art until he was 16 years old...

was issued by the States of Jersey in denominations of 6 pence (6d), 1, 2 and 10 shillings (10/-) and 1 pound (£1). The 6d note was designed by Blampied in such a way that the wording of the word six on the reverse incorporated an outsized "X" so that when the note was folded, the result was the resistance

Resistance during World War II

Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation and propaganda to hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns...

symbol "V" for victory

V sign

The V sign is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted, while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the cultural context and how it is presented...

. A year later he was asked to design six new postage stamps for the island of ½d to 3d. As a sign of resistance, he cleverly incorporated into the design for the 3d stamp the script initials GR (for Georgius Rex) on either side of the '3' to display loyalty to King George VI

George VI of the United Kingdom

George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

British Government reaction

The British Government's reaction to the German invasion was muted, with the Ministry of Information issuing a press release shortly after the Germans landed.

On 6 July 1940, 2nd Lieutenant Hubert Nicolle, a Guernseyman serving with the British Army, was dispatched on a fact-finding mission to Guernsey. He was dropped off the south coast of Guernsey by a submarine and rowed ashore in a canoe under cover of night. This was the first of two visits which Nicolle made to the island. Following the second, he missed his rendezvous and was trapped on the island. After a month and a half in hiding, he gave himself up to the German authorities and was sent to a German prisoner-of-war camp

Prisoner-of-war camp

A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...

.

On the night of 14 July 1940, Operation Ambassador

Operation Ambassador

Operation Ambassador was an operation carried out by British Commandos on 14–15 July 1940 within the context of the Second World War. It was the second raid by the newly formed British Commandos and was focused upon the German-occupied Channel island of Guernsey.The raiding party consisted of 40...

was launched on the German occupied island of Guernsey

Guernsey

by men drawn from H Troop of No. 3 Commando

No. 3 Commando

No. 3 Commando was a battalion-sized commando unit raised by the British Army for service during the Second World War. Formed in July 1940 from volunteers for special service, it was the first such unit to carry the title of "Commando"...

under John Durnford-Slater

John Durnford-Slater

John Frederick Durnford-Slater, DSO & Bar was a British Army officer who was credited with raising the first Army commando unit during the Second World War....

and No. 11 Independent Company. The raiders failed to make contact with the German garrison.

In October 1942, there was a British Commando raid on Sark, named Operation Basalt

Operation Basalt

Operation Basalt was a small British raid conducted during World War II on the German occupied British Channel Island of Sark.On the night of 3–4 October 1942 ten men of the Special Operations Executive's Small Scale Raiding Force, and No...

.

In 1943, Vice Admiral Lord Mountbatten

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...

proposed a plan to retake the islands named Operation Constellation

Operation Constellation

Operation Constellation was the name of one of a number of missions proposed by Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1943 to take back the Channel Islands from German occupation during World War II. It was never mounted...

. The proposed attack was never mounted.

Fortification

As part of the Atlantic Wall

Atlantic Wall

The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...

, between 1940 and 1945 the occupying German forces and the Organisation Todt

Organisation Todt

The Todt Organisation, was a Third Reich civil and military engineering group in Germany named after its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi figure...

constructed fortifications round the coasts of the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands were amongst the most heavily fortified, particularly the island of Alderney

Alderney

which is the closest to France. Hitler had decreed that 10% of the steel and concrete used in the Atlantic Wall go to the Channel Islands. It is often said the Channel Islands were better defended than the Normandy beaches.
Light railways were established in Jersey and Guernsey by the Germans for the purpose of supplying coastal fortifications. In Jersey, a one-metre gauge line was laid down following the route of the former Jersey Railway

Jersey Railway

The Jersey Railway was opened in 1870 and was originally a standard gauge railway, long, in Jersey in the Channel Islands. Converted to narrow gauge in 1884 and extended, the line closed in 1936. It is not to be confused with the Jersey Eastern Railway....

from Saint Helier to La Corbière

La Corbière

La Corbière is the extreme south-western point of Jersey in St. Brelade. The name means "a place where crows gather", deriving from the word corbîn meaning crow...

, with a branch line connecting the stone quarry at Ronez in Saint John

Saint John, Jersey

Saint John is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands.-Geography:Saint John is in the north of Jersey and borders St Mary on its west, Trinity to the east, and St Lawrence and Saint Helier on its south....

. A 60cm line ran along the west coast, and another was laid out heading east from Saint Helier to Gorey

Gorey, Jersey

Gorey is a village in the parishes of St. Martin and Grouville on the east coast of Jersey. It is one of the three main harbours of the island....

. The first line was opened in July 1942, the ceremony being disrupted by passively-resisting Jersey spectators. The Alderney Railway

Alderney Railway

The Alderney Railway in Alderney is the only working railway in the Channel Islands. It opened in 1847 and runs for about two miles , mostly following a coastal route, from Braye Road to Mannez Quarry and Lighthouse....

was taken over by the Germans who lifted part of the standard gauge line and replaced it with a metre gauge line, worked by two Feldbahn

Feldbahn

A Feldbahn is the German term for a narrow gauge railway, usually not open to the public, which in its simplest form provides for the transportation of agricultural, forestry and industrial raw materials such as wood, peat, stone, earth and sand...

0-4-0 diesel locomotive

Diesel locomotive

A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

s. The German railway infrastructure was dismantled after the Liberation in 1945.

The majority of the workforce constructing bunkers were German soldiers (photo evidence recorded) although around one thousand Soviet soldiers were also used as slave labour.

In Alderney, a concentration camp, Lager Sylt

Lager Sylt

, was established to provide slave labour for the fortifications.

A large number of the German bunkers, batteries and tunnels can still be seen today throughout the Channel Islands, a number of them have been restored and are now open to the general public to visit. Only a small percentage of the German fortifications are open to the public due to the tragic deaths of souvenir hunters through lack of oxygen, many such as the large tunnels complexes (similar to Ho8) are now sealed off as a result.

Following the occupation the islanders used the German fortifications to their advantages, one bunker being turned into a fish hatchery and a large tunnel complex being converted into a mushroom farm.

Deportation

In 1942, the German authorities announced that all residents of the Channel Islands who were not born in the islands, as well as those men who had served as officers in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, were to be deported. The majority of them were transported to the southwest of Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, notably to Ilag V-B at Biberach an der Riss

Biberach an der Riß

Biberach is a town in the south of Germany. It is the capital of Biberach district, in the Upper Swabia region of the German state of Baden-Württemberg...

and Ilag VII

Oflag VII-C

Oflag VII-C was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located in Laufen Castle in south-eastern Bavaria from 1940 to 1942. Most of the prisoners were British officers captured during the Battle of France in 1940. To relieve overcrowding, some of the officers were transferred to...

at Laufen, and Wurzach

Bad Wurzach

Bad Wurzach is a small town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is a well known health-resort destination, and home to the oldest moor-spa in Baden-Württemberg, as well as one of the biggest connected high-moor areas in Europe. It is situated 25 km northeast of...

. This deportation decision came directly from Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

, as a reprisal for German civilians in Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

being deported and interned. The ratio was twenty Channel Islanders to be interned for every one German interned. Guernsey nurse Gladys Skillett

Gladys Skillett

Gladys Skillett, born Gladys Eileen Dillingham, was a British Guernsey nurse. In September 1942, during World War II and the German occupation of the Channel Islands, Skillett was one of 834 people from the Bailiwick of Guernsey to be deported to Germany...

, who was five months pregnant at the time of her deportation to Biberach, became the first Channel Islander to give birth while in captivity in Germany.

Representation in London

As self-governing Crown Dependencies, the Channel Islands had no elected representatives in the British Parliament. It therefore fell to evacuees and other islanders living in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

prior to the occupation to ensure that the islanders were not forgotten. The "Jersey Society in London", which had been formed in 1896, provided a focal point for exiled Jerseymen. In 1943, a number of influential Guernseymen living in London formed the Guernsey Society to provide a similar focal point and network for Guernsey exiles. Besides relief work, these groups also undertook studies to plan for economic reconstruction and political reform after the end of the war. The pamphlet Nos Îles published in London by a committee of Islanders was influential in the 1948 reform of the constitution of the Bailiwick.

Bertram Falle

Bertram Falle, 1st Baron Portsea

Bertram Godfray Falle, 1st Baron Portsea , known as Sir Bertram Falle, Bt, between 1916 and 1930, was a Jersey-born barrister and politician in the United Kingdom.-Background and education:...

, a Jerseyman, was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

(MP) for Portsmouth

Portsmouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Portsmouth was a borough constituency based upon the borough of Portsmouth in Hampshire. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.- History :...

in 1910. Eight times elected to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

, in 1934 he was raised to the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

with the title of Lord Portsea.
During the occupation he represented the interests of islanders and pressed the British government to relieve their plight, especially after the islands were cut off after D-Day.

Committees of émigré Channel Islanders elsewhere in the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

also banded together to provide relief for evacuees. For example, Philippe William Luce (writer and journalist, 1882–1966) founded the Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

Channel Islands Society in 1940 to raise money for evacuees.

Under siege

During June 1944, the Allied Forces launched the D-Day

D-Day

landings and the liberation of Normandy

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

. They decided to bypass the Channel Islands due to the heavy fortifications constructed by German Forces (see above). However, the consequence of this was that German supply lines for food and other supplies through France were completely severed. The islanders' food supplies were already dwindling, and this made matters considerably worse - the islanders and German forces alike were on the point of starvation.

Churchill's reaction to the plight of the German garrison was to "let 'em rot", even though this meant that the islanders had to rot with them. It took months of protracted negotiations before the International Red Cross

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...

ship SS Vega

SS Vega

A number of steamships have carried the name Vega, including, Nordenskiöld's ship on his discovery of the Northeast Passage*SS Vega, ex Gambia renamed in 1915, sunk in 1916 by a U-Boat near Barcelona...

was permitted to relieve the starving islanders in December 1944, bringing Red Cross food parcels, salt and soap, as well as medical and surgical supplies. The Vega made five further trips to the islands before liberation in May 1945.

In 1944, the popular German film actress Lil Dagover

Lil Dagover

Lil Dagover was a German stage, film and television actress whose career spanned nearly six decades.-Early life:...

arrived on the Channel Islands to entertain German troops on the islands of Jersey and Guernsey with a theatre tour to boost morale.

The Granville Raid

Granville Raid

The Granville Raid occurred on the night of 8 March 1945 – 9 March 1945 when a German raiding force from the Channel Islands landed in Allied-occupied France and brought back supplies to their base.-History:...

occurred on the night of 8 March 1945 – 9 March 1945 when a German raiding force from the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

successfully landed in Allied-occupied France and brought back supplies to their base.

Liberation

Although plans had been drawn up and proposed by Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, in 1943, for Operation Constellation

Operation Constellation

, a military reconquest of the islands, these plans were never carried out. The Channel Islands were liberated after the German surrender.

On the 8 May 1945 at 10 am, the islanders were informed by the German authorities that the war was over. Churchill

Winston Churchill

made a radio broadcast at 3pm during which he announced that:

Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight to-night, but in the interests of saving lives the "Cease fire" began yesterday to be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed to-day.

The following morning, 9 May 1945, HMS Bulldog

HMS Bulldog (1930)

HMS Bulldog was a of the British Royal Navy that saw service throughout World War II, seeing service on convoy duty in the Atlantic and Arctic...

arrived in St Peter Port

St Peter Port

Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2001 was 16,488. In Guernésiais and in French, historically the official language of Guernsey, the name of the town and its surrounding parish is St Pierre Port. The "port" distinguishes this parish from...

, Guernsey

Guernsey

and the German forces surrendered unconditionally aboard it at dawn. British forces landed in St Peter Port shortly afterwards, greeted by crowds of joyous but malnourished islanders.

HMS Beagle

HMS Beagle (H30)

HMS Beagle was a of the British Royal Navy that saw extensive service throughout World War II; in Norway, the Atlantic, North Africa, on Russian Convoys, and in the Normandy landings.-Construction:...

, which had set out at the same time from Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

performed a similar role in liberating Jersey

Jersey

. Two Naval Officers, one of who was Surgeon Lt MacGregor, were met by the Harbour Master who escorted them to the then Harbour Masters Office where they together hoisted the Union Jack, before raising it also from the Flagstaff on the Pomme D'Or Hotel. This is re-enacted every year, with the current Harbour Master Captain Howard Le Cornu now having performed this for a number of years (since 2003). His father (John E. Le Cornu [Dcd], bn 31/12/1929) and uncle (David M. Le Cornu) were in the crowds and witnessed the occasion on the 9th May 1945.

It appears that the first place liberated on Jersey might have been the British General Post Office

General Post Office

General Post Office is the name of the British postal system from 1660 until 1969.General Post Office may also refer to:* General Post Office, Perth* General Post Office, Sydney* General Post Office, Melbourne* General Post Office, Brisbane...

Jersey repeater

Repeater

A repeater is an electronic device that receives asignal and retransmits it at a higher level and/or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances.-Description:...

station. Mr Warder, a GPO linesman, had been stranded on the island during the occupation. He did not wait for the island to be liberated and went to the repeater station where he informed the German officer in charge that he was taking over the building on behalf of the British Post Office.

Sark was not liberated until 10 May 1945, and the German troops on Alderney did not surrender until 16 May 1945. The German prisoners of war were not removed from Alderney until 20 May 1945, and its population was unable to start returning until December 1945, after clearing up had been carried out by German troops under British military supervision.

Aftermath

Following the liberation of 1945 allegations against those accused of collaborating with the occupying authorities were investigated. By November 1946, the UK Home Secretary was in a position to inform the UK House of Commons that most of the allegations lacked substance and only 12 cases of collaboration were considered for prosecution, but the Director of Public Prosecutions

Director of Public Prosecutions

The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...

had ruled out prosecutions on insufficient grounds. In particular, it was decided that there were no legal grounds for proceeding against those alleged to have informed to the occupying authorities against their fellow-citizens.

In Jersey

Jersey

and Guernsey

Guernsey

, laws were passed to retrospectively confiscate the financial gains made by war profiteers and black marketeers, although these measures also affected those who had made legitimate profits during the years of military occupation.

During the occupation, 'Jerry-bags' were women that had fraternized with German soldiers. This activity had aroused indignation among some citizens. In the hours following the liberation, members of the British liberating forces were obliged to intervene to prevent revenge attacks.

For two years after the liberation, Alderney was operated as a communal farm. Craftsmen were paid by their employers, whilst others were paid by the local government out of the profit from the sales of farm produce. Remaining profits were put aside to repay the British Government for repairing and rebuilding the island. Resentment from the local population towards being unable to control their own land acted as a catalyst for the United Kingdom Home Office to set up an enquiry that led to the "Government of Alderney Law 1948", which came into force on 1 January 1949. The law organised the construction and election of the States of Alderney

States of Alderney

The States of Alderney is the parliament/council and the legislature of Alderney, part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The origin of the States is unknown, but has operated from the mediaeval period...

, the justice system and, for the first time in Alderney, the imposition of taxes. Due to the small population of Alderney, it was believed that the island could not be self-sufficient in running the airport and the harbour, as well as in providing an acceptable level of services. The taxes were therefore collected into the general Bailiwick of Guernsey revenue funds (at the same rate as Guernsey) and administered by the States of Guernsey. Guernsey became responsible for providing many governmental functions and services.

Particularly in Guernsey

Guernsey

, which evacuated the majority of school-age children ahead of the occupation, one enduring legacy of the occupation has been a contribution to the ongoing loss of the indigenous culture of the island. Many felt that the children "left as Guerns and returned as English". This was particularly felt in the loss of the local dialect - children who were fluent in Guernesiais when they left, found that after 5 years of non-use they had lost much of language.

War crime trials

After World War II

World War II

, a court-martial case was prepared against ex-SS Hauptsturmführer Max List (the former commandant of Lagers Norderney

Lager Norderney

and Sylt

Lager Sylt

), citing atrocities on Alderney. However, he did not stand trial, and is believed to have lived near Hamburg

Hamburg

until his death in the 1980s.

Legacy

Since the end of the occupation, the anniversary of Liberation Day (9 May) has been celebrated as a National holiday
National Day
The National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. This nationhood can be symbolized by the date of independence, of becoming republic or a significant date for a patron saint or a ruler . Often the day is not called "National Day"...

. But in Alderney there was no official local population to be liberated, so Alderney celebrates "Homecoming Day" on 15 December to commemorate the return of the evacuated population. The first ship of evacuated citizens from Alderney returned on this day.
Many islanders and evacuees have published their memoirs and diaries of this period.
The "Channel Islands Occupation Society" was formed in order to study and preserve the history of this period.
The "Liberation Jersey International Music Festival" was set up in Jersey in 2008 to remember the period of occupation.
A number of documentaries have been made about the Occupation, mixing interviews with participants, both islanders and soldiers, archive footage, photos and manuscripts and modern day filming around the extensive fortifications still in place. These films include:
- High Tide Productions' In Toni's Footsteps: The Channel Island Occupation Remembered - 52min documentary tracing the history of the Occupation following the discovery of a notebook in an attic in Guernsey belonging to a German soldier named Toni Kumpel.
There have also been a number of TV and film dramas set in the occupied islands:
- Appointment with Venus
  Appointment with Venus
  Appointment with Venus is a novel by Jerrard Tickell published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1951, leading to a film adaptation the same year...
  
  , a film set on the fictional island of Armorel (based on the island of Sark
  Sark
  Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...
  
  ).
- ITV
  ITV
  ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
  
  's Enemy at the Door
  Enemy at the Door
  Enemy At The Door is a British television drama series made by London Weekend Television for ITV. The series was shown between 1978 and 1980 and dealt with the German occupation of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, during the Second World War...
  
  , set in Guernsey and shown between 1978 and 1980
- A&E
  A&E Network
  The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
  
  's Night of the Fox (1990), set in Jersey shortly before D-Day in 1944.
- ITV
  ITV
  ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
  
  's Island at War
  Island at War
  Island at War is a British television series that tells the story of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands. It primarily focuses on three local families: the upper class Dorrs, the middle class Mahys and the working class Jonases, and four German officers. The fictional island of St...
  
  (2004), a drama set in the fictional Channel Island of St Gregory. It was shown by US TV network PBS as part of their Masterpiece Theatre
  Masterpiece Theatre
  Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
  
  series in 2005.
- The 2001 film, The Others
  The Others (2001 film)
  The Others is a 2001 psychological horror film by the Spanish-Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar, starring Nicole Kidman. It is inspired partly by the novella The Turn of the Screw....
  
  starring Nicole Kidman
  Nicole Kidman
  Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
  
  was set in Jersey in 1945 just after the end of the occupation.
A stage play, Dame of Sark by William Douglas-Home
William Douglas-Home
William Douglas Home was court-martialled in World War II for his refusal to obey orders as a British army officer and later became a successful British dramatist.-Early life:...

is set in the island of Sark
Sark
Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...

during the German Occupation, and is based on the Dame's diaries of this period. It was televised by Anglia Television in 1976, and starred Celia Johnson. It was directed by Alvin Rakoff and adapted for the small screen by David Butler.
The following novels have been set in the German-occupied islands:
Higgins, Jack
Jack Higgins
Jack Higgins is the principal pseudonym of UK novelist Harry Patterson. Patterson is the author of more than 60 novels. As Higgins, most have been thrillers of various types and, since his breakthrough novel The Eagle Has Landed in 1975, nearly all have been bestsellers...

(1970), A Game for Heroes, New York : Berkley, ISBN 0440132622
Tickell, Jerrard
Jerrard Tickell
Edward Jerrard Tickell was an Irish writer known for his novels and World War II historical books.Tickell was born in Dublin and educated in Tipperary and London. He joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1940 and was commissioned in 1941, when he was appointed to the War Office...

(1976), Appointment with Venus
Appointment with Venus
Appointment with Venus is a novel by Jerrard Tickell published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1951, leading to a film adaptation the same year...

, London : Kaye and Ward, ISBN 0-7182-1127-8
Robinson, Derek (1977), Kramer's War, London : Hamilton, ISBN 0-241-89578-2
Edwards, G. B.
Gerald Basil Edwards
Gerald Basil Edwards , was a British author.- Biography :Edwards is known for The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, which was published posthumously in 1981...

(1981), The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page is a novel by Gerald Basil Edwards first published in United Kingdom by Hamish Hamilton in 1981, and in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf in the same year...

(London : Hamish Hamilton, ISBN 0-241-10477-7) includes the Occupation of Guernsey.
Parkin, Lance
Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin is a British author, best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular Doctor Who and Emmerdale...

(1996), Just War
Just War (Doctor Who)
Just War is a novel by Lance Parkin from the Virgin New Adventures. The New Adventures were based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...

, New Doctor Who adventures series, Doctor Who Books, ISBN 0-426-20463-8
Binding, Tim (1999), Island Madness, London : Picador, ISBN 0-330-35046-3
Link, Charlotte
Charlotte Link
Charlotte Link is a German writer. She is among the most successful contemporary authors writing in German.- Life :Charlotte Link is the daughter of a well-known German writer and journalist, Almuth Link...

(2000), Die Rosenzüchterin [The Rose Breeder], condensed ed., Köln : BMG-Wort, ISBN 3-89830-125-7
Walters, Guy
Guy Walters
Guy Walters is a British author and journalist.-Life and career:Guy Walters was born in Kensington, London. A descendant of Richard Harris Barham and Edward Augustus Bond, he was educated at Cheam School, Eton College, Westfield College, University of London , and is studying for a PhD in history...

(2005), The Occupation, London : Headline, ISBN 0-7553-2066-2
Shaffer, Mary Ann
Mary Ann Shaffer
Mary Ann Shaffer was a writer, editor, librarian, and a bookshop worker. She is best known for her posthumously published work The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which she wrote with her niece, Annie Barrows.References1...

and Barrows, Annie (2008), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows published in 2008.According to WorldCat, there are over 2200 library holdings of this title.From the Book Flap...

, New York : The Dial Press, ISBN 978-0-385-34099-1
Cone, Libby (2009), War on the Margins, London: Duckworth, ISBN 9780715638767
Andrews, Dina (2011), Tears in the Sand, Trafford, ISBN 9781426970061
Horlock, Mary (2011), The Book of Lies
The Book of Lies
The Book of Lies may refer to:In Literature/Writing* The Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley, first published in London in 1913....

, Cannongate, ISBN 978-1847678850 - longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award, issued before 1999 as Guardian Fiction Prize or Guardian Fiction Award, is awarded to new writing in fiction and non-fiction.-History:...

2011.

The Blockhouse
The Blockhouse
The Blockhouse is a 1973 film, based on a novel by Jean-Paul Clébert. It was directed by Clive Rees and starred Peter Sellers and Charles Aznavour. It was filmed entirely in Guernsey in the Channel Islands and was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival...

, a film starring Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...

and Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...

, set in occupied France, was filmed in a German bunker in Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

in 1973.
A number of German fortifications have been preserved as museums, including the Underground Hospitals built in Jersey (Höhlgangsanlage 8
Hohlgangsanlage 8
Hohlgangsanlage 8 was a partially completed underground hospital complex in St. Lawrence, Jersey, built by German occupying forces during the occupation of Jersey during World War II. Over of tunnels were completed...

) and Guernsey.
Liberation Square in St. Helier, Jersey, is now a focal point of the town, and has a sculpture which celebrates the liberation of the island.
Saint Helier is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

(since 2002) with Bad Wurzach
Bad Wurzach
Bad Wurzach is a small town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is a well known health-resort destination, and home to the oldest moor-spa in Baden-Württemberg, as well as one of the biggest connected high-moor areas in Europe. It is situated 25 km northeast of...

, where numbers of deported Channel Islanders were interned.
On 9 March 2010 the award of British Hero of the Holocaust
British Hero of the Holocaust
The British Hero of the Holocaust award is a special national award given by the UK government in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust. On 9 March 2010 it was awarded to 25 individuals posthumously, and to two living people, Sir Nicholas Winton aged 100,...

was made to 25 individuals posthumously, among whom 4 Jersey people, by the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

government in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...

. The Jersey recipients were Albert Bedane
Albert Bedane
Albert Bedane lived in Jersey during the German occupation during World War II, and provided shelter to a Jewish woman and others, preventing their capture by the Nazis....

, Louisa Gould, Ivy Forster and Harold Le Druillenec. It was, according to historian Freddie Cohen
Freddie Cohen
Frederick Ellyer Cohen is a politician in the Bailiwick of Jersey.Born in Manchester, England, Cohen was educated in Jersey at Moorestown, St. Michael's Preparatory School, Victoria College and then studied accountancy at London South Bank University.Following a career in construction, he became...

, the first time that the British Government recognised the heroism of Islanders during the German Occupation.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Demilitarisation

Evacuation

Invasion

Occupation

Government

Alderney concentration camps

Resistance and collaboration

British Government reaction

Fortification

Deportation

Representation in London

Under siege

Liberation

Aftermath

War crime trials

Legacy

See also

External links