During the five-year German occupation of the Channel Islands (30 June 1940 to 9 May 1945) civilian life became much more difficult. During that time, the Channel Islanders had to live under and obey the laws of Nazi Germany and work with their occupiers in order to survive and reduce the impact of occupation. Given no guidance on how to behave by the British government, there were individuals who got close to the enemy and others who undertook resistance activities.
Most felt they had no choice but to accept the changes and depredations to their lives and hope that external forces would someday remove the forces of occupation. The winter of 1944–45 was particularly hard; food and fuel were in short supply.
Overall, and considering that at times there were two German soldiers and one Organisation Todt (OT) worker for every five civilians in the very small land area in the islands, there was minimal contact and socialising.
Milestone events A number of events greatly affected the whole civilian population in the Channel Islands:
June 1940 evacuation of children and adults to the UK 28 June 1940 bombing of islands by the Luftwaffe July 1940 German troops arrive and occupation starts Winter 1941–42 when the islands were inundated with soldiers and construction workers
September 1942 and February 1943 deportations of civilians to Germany October 1943 Funeral of sailors from HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne particularly in Guernsey Resistance in the German-occupied Channel Islands#Passive resistance 6 June 1944 Normandy landings 27 December 1944 SS Vega bringing Red Cross parcels
9 May 1945 Liberation
Evacuation
A number of civilians, mainly men, had left the islands in the winter of 1939–40 to join the armed forces. With the invasion of Belgium in May 1940 a few people decided to leave the islands using their own resources. In June, there was a fear the trickle would become a flood. Arrangements were made by the UK and island governments to provide shipping and recommendations to evacuate Guernsey children were issued at short notice. This resulted in most school children leaving. Teachers were ordered to leave with them. Parents, however, were initially not normally permitted to travel with them unless there was a child under school age. In Jersey no order was given for schools to be evacuated.
Evacuation was then opened up for other people, but with the shortage of shipping and to avoid panic, people were recommended to "stay put". Confusion reigned, with all but a handful leaving Alderney, very few leaving Sark, only 6,600 leaving Jersey and 17,000 departing Guernsey. Some ships sailed from Jersey empty.
The decision to leave or stay was personal. Reasons for leaving ranged from noble (to join the fight), to fearful. Reasons for staying included defiance (not willing to be intimidated), age (too old to move), money (not wanting to abandon businesses or houses), caring (not wanting to abandon elderly parents or pets), or duty (civil servants and other essential workers were asked not to leave). Some literally missed the boat. King George VI sent a message of hope to the Bailiffs of each Island, with the request that it be read out to the people.
Over 25,000 people had been evacuated to Britain, including most children, but 41,101 remained on Jersey, 24,429 on Guernsey, and 470 on Sark. Alderney had just 18. The governments in Jersey and in Guernsey were operational, though the emergency services were understaffed due to the evacuation to the UK.
The British Government had decided on 15 June to demilitarise the islands, so all military personnel, weapons, and equipment had been taken to England. They did not tell the Germans, and on 28 June German bombers appeared in the skies and bombed and strafed various places on both islands, including the harbours of Saint Peter Port and Saint Helier, killing 44 and wounding over 70 civilians. A ship in Guernsey harbour returned ineffective fire.
While the German commanders were finalising their plans for Operation Grünpfeil (Green Arrow) to invade the islands with assault troops, a German Dornier Do 17 pilot decided to land on 30 June at Guernsey airport and have a look around. He returned to France and notified his superiors that the island appeared to be undefended. More aircraft were sent over. A Junkers Ju 52 landed, and the Germans were given a note by the head of the police confirming the islands were not defended. The next day, aircraft brought German troops to both islands: the occupation had begun. Everyone who had stayed became trapped for almost five years in the islands.
Guidance on occupation While Great Britain had occupied distant overseas territories in the past, there was little to no advice on how citizens were expected to behave under occupation. The British Treason Act 1800, as amended, gave the consequences of treason. The British Treachery Act 1940 was only passed as a law in the UK on 23 May 1940. The only Jersey law on treason dated from 17 June 1495.
The island governments, headed by their bailiffs, Victor Carey in Guernsey and Alexander Coutanche in Jersey, had been ordered by the British government to remain on their islands to maintain law and order and to do what they could for the civilians. This put them under a duty of care. When the lieutenant governors, who were the king's representatives on each island, departed on 21 June 1940, their powers and duties were vested in the bailiffs, namely to protect the islands and their population. Taking on the duties of the lieutenant governors added a further duty of care.
Changes to government operation In Guernsey, the States of Deliberation had voted on 21 June 1940 to hand responsibility for running island affairs to a Controlling Committee, under the presidency of HM Attorney General Ambrose Sherwill. Sherwill was selected rather than the bailiff, Sir Victor Carey, as he was a younger and more robust person. The committee had been given almost all the executive power of the States, and had a quorum of three persons under the president (who could nominate additional members). The Controlling Committee initially had eight members. Sherwill was imprisoned by the Germans as a result of his attempts to shelter the British servicemen in the fallout from Operation Ambassador in 1940. He was released but banned from office in January 1941. Jurat John Leale replaced him as president of the Controlling Committee.
The States of Jersey passed the Defence (Transfer of Powers) (Jersey) Regulation 1940 on 27 June 1940 to amalgamate the various executive committees into eight departments each under the presidency of a States member. The presidents along with the Crown Officers made up the Superior Council under the presidency of the bailiff.
Since the legislatures met in public session, the creation of smaller executive bodies that could meet behind closed doors enabled freer discussion of matters such as how far to comply with German orders.
Working with the German occupiers
The governments of the islands enacted emergency legislation to manage the crisis and, when the occupiers arrived, had to come to arrangements to reduce the impact of the occupation on the civilians under their care. Businesses had to conform to the changing rules and regulations, including how to deal with a German customer or suffer reprisals. Individuals generally tried to avoid contact.
On arrival in the islands, the Germans issued proclamations imposing new laws on the resident islanders. As time progressed, additional laws restricting rights were posted and had to be obeyed.
Anyone caught and sent to prison may have had to wait until space became available. Short sentences were served in the islands, which was very difficult. Rations were roughly half of what civilians got; and if sent away to prison, it was even worse, and the risk of dying increased. As the war progressed, prisoners sentenced for possession of radios were released early to reduce the demand on German supplied food rations.
Assemblies in churches and chapels were permitted and prayers for the British royal family and the welfare of the British empire could be said although nothing could be said against the honour or interests of the German government or forces. German soldiers were free to attend services. Open air meetings were banned as were The Salvation Army, the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows and the Ex-Servicemen's clubs. La Sociéte Guernesaise and La Sociéte Jersisise were permitted to continue holding meetings.
Resistance took place with little success. Amongst the notable events was feeding and hiding a few OT workers, at the cost of a number of civilians being imprisoned and the death of Louisa Gould in Ravensbrück concentration camp.
German orders The German Feldkommandantur 515 (FK515) led by Colonel Rudolf Graf von Schmettow until October 1941, then Colonel Friedrich Knackfuss until February 1944, and finally Major Heider, dealt with civilian matters with the island civil authorities.
The military consisted of varying numbers of troops, around 25,000 in October 1944, with an additional 15,000 Organisation Todt (OT) workers once fortification of the islands began in October 1941.
There was some animosity between the troops in the garrison and FK515 men who were mainly civilians.
Soldiers were punished for crimes against civilians. As the war progressed and soldiers were rotated out to other war zones, however, the quality of soldiers decreased, affecting their manners and attitudes. Serious problems started to arise in the last year of occupation when food was in short supply.
The local German command seems to have tried to keep the civilian population as happy as possible, letting them govern themselves, paying them for work done and not enacting too many draconian orders sent over from France. Resistance activity by islanders would not be tolerated, however. Punishment of the guilty served as a deterrent to others.
The Germans used propaganda on the islanders. Open air band concerts were promoted, and one of the 1942 deportees, Irishman Denis Cleary, was returned to the island with glowing reports of centrally-heated huts, soldiers carrying the luggage of the internees and abundant food.
There were no Waffen-SS troops except in Alderney, although some people seeing the few men wearing a black panzer uniform with a deaths head collar badge mistook these tank men for SS.
Discipline German soldiers would without fail obey orders from their superiors. The discipline imposed over the German soldiers was generally very good, although as troops were rotated and poorer quality Ostlegionen soldiers serving in the German army began to arrive, there was a fall. Most men realised that they had a safe and secure billet and would not risk a transfer to the eastern front.
Soldiers quickly discovered that the islanders did not consider themselves British but were loyal to the King and Queen, simply looking forward to the day when the Germans would depart. Most soldiers kept their distance from the islanders although some fraternisation took place and a few soldiers returned after the war to marry their sweethearts.
Off-duty the soldiers were entertained in many ways. There were locally produced newspapers and going to the cinema or church. Live entertainment and sport was encouraged. Soldatenheime were established, being similar to a British NAAFI or American PX, and officers established clubs. Freudenhaus or brothels were established in Guernsey and Jersey, importing women to work in them. There were hobbies such as photography and visiting beaches.
The islands were promoted as a tourist destination for German soldiers with guide book Die Kanalinseln: Jersey – Guernsey – Sark by Hans Auerbach which was printed in 1942 in Paris, France.
Civil authorities