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The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are British Crown dependencies in the English Channel , near the coast of Normandy .
German soldiers in Jersey. 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.
The Channel Islands, comprising the Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey, which also comprised Alderney and Sark, fell under German control on 30 June 1940.. Prior to this, the lightning Blitzkrieg resulting in the fall of France gave the British government and the island governments just enough time to evacuate those who were willing to leave the islands immediately.
Channel Islands Liberated- the End of German Occupation, Channel Islands, 1945 D24595. Receiving a message from the Germans agreeing to a meeting at midnight on 8–9 May, the ships returned to the same south west coast location off Guernsey and a German minesweeper M4613 came out to meet HMS Bulldog. The German second in command, Generalmajor ...
During the German occupation of the Channel Islands, there was limited resistance.The islands had a very high number of German soldiers compared to the civilian population, one soldier for every 2-3 civilians, which reduced options; this linked to the severe penalties imposed by the occupiers meant that only forms of non-lethal resistance were used by the population.
Between 1940 and 1945, the Channel Islands were the only British territory to come under Nazi occupation. On these islands were entrenched almost 40,000 German soldiers, sailors and airmen, behind fortifications that had consumed more than 10% of the concrete used in the Atlantic Wall which stretched from Norway to the Pyrenees.
The Alderney camps were camps built and operated by Nazi Germany on the island of Alderney during its World War II occupation of the Channel Islands. [1] Alderney had four forced/slave labour sites, including Lager Sylt, the only Nazi concentration camp on British soil during the wartime occupation. [2]
On 2 June 1941 Adolf Hitler asked for maps of the Channel Islands; these were provided the next day. By 13 June Hitler had made a decision. He ordered additional men to the Islands and, having decided the defences were inadequate, lacking tanks and coastal artillery, he instructed the Organisation Todt (OT) to undertake the building of 200-250 strongpoints in each of the larger islands.