HOUSE TO HOUSE

For a more domestic perspective on Guernsey under German occupation go straight to the German Occupation Museum. http://www.germanoccupationmuseum.co.uk 

Lest we forget; The Channel Islands were the only British Territory to be occupied by the Germans during WW2. 

Here, through ration books, newspaper articles, posters diaries and hundreds of photographs all pinned to the walls you get a sense of what it was really like to be occupied, the shortages, privations and day-to-day living under martial law. 

Yes, we all endured the Covid lock down and some really suffered, really recently.  Guernsey’s  was a five-year lock down, with no nightly cheering at 8pm. This was hardship. hunger and sacrifice. Relief came, for some, with an international Red Cross boat in 1944

 

Many islanders resisted the German Occupation by defiance and acts of sabotage. Those caught suffered appallingly in prisons on the continent. Some did not return.

 

The Germans invaded on June 30, 1940, and grudgingly surrendered on May 9, 1945.

 

This is Excellent museum #3.  The ‘Most Thoughtful Layout And Curation Award’ goes to this museum.

Gun emplacements across the island 

Sian completes a weapons check

In the spotlight: this was a common sight from 1940-45

 
R&R? a German officer and his girlfriend