Occupation!

The headline on the 'German Guernsey Newspaper' says: 'Our Fanatical Will' and is the leader to a statement from Goebbels with 'up-to-date information on the military and political war situation'; the date is 3rd March 1945.

The Front Bookshop for the Channel Islands - Guernsey is dated War Christmas 1943.  The heading says 'Book and Sword, the symbol of our Times'.

The light railway carried cement, troops, ammunition and supplies around the island.  It did not seem to reach down to Torteval, where the rangefinder towers were built, or inland to where the four Mirus guns were located.

There were 37 of these deadly 88mm anti-aircraft guns on the island.

Four of these 30.5 cm (12 inch) Russian naval guns were installed as a battery in the south of the island, disguised as houses.

The native people listed to the BBC on crystal radio sets, though it was of course forbidden.  The Guernsey Police acted in tandem with the Feldgendarmerie, the military police, to investigate crimes by both sides.  The mannequin is wearing a cape, which was standard issue to British police until the 1970s (it was useful for hiding a cigarette while on patrol).

The Channel Islands were cut off from France after D-Day and all the guns and most of the military equipment was left on Guernsey after the German surrender.  More importantly, food supplies were drastically reduced for both sides after June 1944, and the plight of the islanders led to the SS Vega bringing in Red Cross food parcels from Canada and New Zealand, which the Germans handed over to the people, later exchanging things like binoculars for food.  Hence the headline of the Daily Express on 11th May 1945:

Photos taken at the Occupation Museum.