German occupation of Guernsey

[timshatz]

Yeah, bummer about your pop. Funny about the German, of all the ways he could've handled it (most of them very bad for your father), he chose to handle it in the most direct and effective method short of bloodshed or loss of life. The ole' boot up the ass! Works wonders.

Would be a good movie, if movies were made any good anymore. Most of them suck. Been so long since I've seen a good flick that I've given up. Hollywood gets all preachy and the story is lost in grandstanding and politicing.

[norbert yeah]

There has been a lot of debate about the relative inactivity of resistance within the Channel Islands during WW2, many media types have made an issue of collaboration without actually looking further into the situation the 70,000 channel islands found themselves in, in 1940.

The total land area of the Channel Islands is approximately 200 km2 which when compared to, lets say France at 640,000 Km2, is not exactly big. Into this area was squeezed a population of 70,000 people and a German garrison of approximately 35,000. It was quite crowded !!!!!

For real acts of resistance to be carried out, the perpetrators needed a bolt hole, a place to lie low in until the dust had settled. Can you imagine what the reprisals on the population would have been if scores of Occupying troops had been killed in guerrilla attacks.

To say acts of resistance didn’t happen would be wrong, but in comparison to mainland Europe they were small and really only token. Some went un-notice for quite sometime, for instance the chap who was responsible for cutting the grass landing strip at the airport, did his job too well and efficiently. For sometime the Germans were loosing aircraft to landing accidents before they realised that this man was purposely cutting the grass to short, and making it, somewhat, like ice. A friend of mine was involved in mischief making, over a period of nights; he and several “School” friends broke into a German store house. Ironically they broke in at exactly the same time each night, while the guard’s backs were turned. The Germans were that efficient they didn’t think to change the times that the guards patrolled in order to catch out the perpetrators of the robberies. On their last raid, my friend and his mates had the foresight to leave a Operation Todt forage cap, in a suitable position as evidence. By all accounts it worked wonders.

Sometime later the same friend was knocked off his bicycle by what was known as a Blitz Lorry. The driver was rather concerned for his wellbeing and tried to take him to hospital to get him checked over. However my fiend vehemently refused to go, why ??? Because in the panniers of his bicycle he had several hundreds of rounds of rifle ammunition, which if discovered would have had dire consequences.

In time, he and several of his mates were arrested by the occupying troops, tried, found guilt and sentenced to several years imprisonment. Three of them escaped, towards the end of 1944 and he went into hiding with a local family, he finally came out of hidng on May 9th 1945 as allied troops Liberated the Islands.

[timshatz]

I gotta agree with ya' Norbert. Open hostility in a place where the population is unarmed, the occupying force has a ratio or 1 for every 2 islanders and there is no safe have is suicide. Further, open operations would do the Nazis work for them. Once you are out in the open, you're toaste. Passive resistance is a much better and wiser method.

Amazing stories though. Pretty slick move with the grass. Thought it up and did it. That guy definitely was definitely smart and had a set.

It's amazing the Germans didn't shoot the kids when they found them guilty. Sounds like the occupation of the Islands wasn't as heavy handed as it was on the mainland. Am I guessing wrong on this?

[comiso90]

Was there any real tactical or strategic sense for the Germans to garrison the channel islands? Did it greatly contribute to the axis effort?

Other than depriving the allied power of the real estate for use as a radar station or spotter or listening post.... that is.

[norbert yeah]

No real tactical or strategic reason or importance, unlike Malta which controlled the Med, the Channel Islands could in theory control the Bay of St Malo. For the Germans it was more of a propaganda exercise and something of an obsession for Mr Hitler.

To be honest the Germans would not have left the Channel Islands to their own devices they were too close to mainland Europe, and could have been used by the allies as a jumping off point for raids etc…. However when the Germans occupied the islands, the allies weren’t in too much of a hurry to get them back, because it tied up 30-40,000 German troops that could have been used elsewhere.

[norbert yeah]

Originally Posted by timshatz

It's amazing the Germans didn't shoot the kids when they found them guilty. Sounds like the occupation of the Islands wasn't as heavy handed as it was on the mainland. Am I guessing wrong on this?

That's where the nail is hit squarely on the head, and why the British media are so angled towards the Collaboration thing. I think it smarts abit with them, because if the Germans had made it across the Channel in 1940, there would have been elements of British society willing to help the axis aims.

My Great Uncle was a local historian and wrote the Occupation diary which is a definitive account of life in Jersey during those years, I can remember him saying one day, that there was a very fine line between collaboration and cohabitation.

Is the guy digging a hole in the road to restore water to a number of local households, but in the meantime restoring the supply to a house occupied by German troops a collaborator ?????

[comiso90]

Originally Posted by norbert yeah

To be honest the Germans would not have left the Channel Islands to their own devices they were too close to mainland Europe, and could have been used by the allies as a jumping off point for raids etc…. However when the Germans occupied the islands, the allies weren’t in too much of a hurry to get them back, because it tied up 30-40,000 German troops that could have been used elsewhere.

Plus as was mentioned earlier, the high concentration of people would have made for extensive collateral damage and civilian deaths. Once taken, the allies would be faced with the same problem... now the place has to be garrisoned and fortfied. Too bad they couldn't have temporarily transferd ownership of the islands to the Swiss for the duration of the War.

Thanks for all the insight norbert... keep it coming if u can!

[norbert yeah]

My fathers only other act of defiance was early in the occupation, he and a mate were cycling through the centre of St Helier when they came across a German Soldier, walking casually along with a local girl on his arm (Usually referred to as a JerryBag), his mate spotted a tomato (That dates it to early occupation as they were rare later on) in the gutter, picked it up and hurled it at the Woman. Unfortunately he wasn't a good shot, missed the woman and hit the German squarely in the nape of the neck.

Both dad and his mate took to their bikes, but as quickly as they could peddle the German seemed to be gaining, that is until they came to a split in the road and they were able to go in different directions, loosing the German in the process.



House searches were quite common, however my father only recalled one occasion when his home was visited, sometime after the Normandy landings when food was getting scarce, a German soldier came through the back garden and stole a couple of slices of bread from the kitchen table and disappeared.

[bigZ]

There is a book on life under occupation in the Channel Islands(unfortunately can't remmember the title). In it the author mentioned how he as a civilian was taken to see the Katyn Wood massacre by the Germans. He also states that the British POW's present treated him with mistrust.

[norbert yeah]

Can't say I have read that one, the majority of these books don't reveal anything new about the occupation and in general cover ground already turned over.

Sinels Occupation diary gives a day to day account of the occupation in Jersey, as does Falles for Guernsey.

The After the Battle book on the Occupations is also a good reference and typical of the series gives a then and now, however it was written several years ago and many of the scenes have changed, and in most cases not for the best.

If visiting the islands I would recommend the Guernsey occupation museum, it is well run and packed full of interesting artifacts, including many weapons and also the remains of several aircraft from both sides.

In Jersey there are a few museums, the War Tunnels under went a face lift a couple of years ago, they employed some marketing people and in my view, because of this, it has lost a lot of its realism.

The other small museum is to the west on the north end of the Five Mile Road at St Ouen, it's a private venture opened during the summer months.

Many of the bunkers are now reopened and run on a volunteer basis by the Channel Island Occupation Society. If anyone does venture this way this year, drop me a PM or email and I will happily (If I have time) take you off the beaten track to some of the hidden sites and memorials.

[comiso90]

I though i'd open this back up in case any of the newer people have anything to add.. or learn

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[Haztoys]

Once more .."something I never knew about"... Thanks

[Njaco]

I believe in the beginning of the movie "The Eagle Has Landed" there are some scenes shot in Guernsey.

from "The Battle of Britain" Time/Life:

"It was a Sunday morning at the end of June 1940, when the first armed German arrived on Guernsey, one of a group of tiny British islands set down in the English Channel just off the French coast. Landing a plane on Guernsey's grassy airfield, the German drew his pistol and alighted. Suddenly 3 British planes buzzed by overhead. The interloper nervously scrambled back to his aircraft, dropping the revolver, and took off. Later that day, however, another German plane touched down and this time 3 men got out. One carefullt retrieved the gun; another announced to an unruffled policeman that they intended to take over the island."

"Thus began Hitler's occupation of the Channel Islands, which was undertaken to create stepping stones for the invasion of Britain and ended with the Islands being the only bit of native British territory to be seized by the Germans during WWII. By the general standards of Nazi take-overs, it was a strangely peaceable, polite conquest, at least in the early stages. the bobby at the airport was actually expecting both the airmen and the German ground troops who soon arrived by boat. So was just about everybody else in the Channel islands. Since Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark were within 30 miles of France, newly conquered by Hitler and nearly 80 mies from Britain, His Majestey's Government considered them indefensable - and so informed the residents."

"Not that the occupation lacked certain discomforts for the natives; a curfew; liquor prohibition; Nazi films in movie houses; the construction of bristling shore and AA defenses. But generally, the islanders, obeying their leaders, were careful to show no hostility. When one old Guernseyite stood in his doorway with a rifle threatening to 'shoot the first German who tries to come in', his realtives gently disarmed him. And the Dame of Sark, feudal ruler of her 2 square mile fief, was so relaxed with the invaders that it was hard to tell just who had conquered whom. When one of the visitors asked if she were not frightened, she sweetly replied, in German, 'Is there any need to be afraid of German officers?"

and a pretty decent site.
Guernsey Forts & Museums

[Graeme]

How did a 'H' with a "7" in the middle come to represent 'Death to Hitler'?

[comiso90]

Haz... It's amazing story that many pepl dont know about. It makes me want to visit there.

Thanks Njaco.. I wonder if the Brits ever considered putting up a fight? They made the right decision though.
No Alcohol!!!! Yikes!


Graeme, did the photo disappear?