Civilian life under the German occupation of the Channel Islands

Milestone events

A number of events greatly affected the whole civilian population in the Channel Islands:

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, however parents 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), 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 Bailiff's of each Island, with the request it be read out to the people.

Everyone who stayed, 41,101 on Jersey, 24,429 on Guernsey 470 on Sark and on Alderney there was just 18, became trapped for almost five years in the islands.

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. The restrictions included:

Anyone unfortunate to be caught and sent to prison may have to wait until space became available. Short sentences were served in the islands, which was bad, with rations roughly half those for civilians, however if sent away to prison, it was 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 Oddfellows Society and the Ex-Servicemens 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 but at the cost of a number of civilians being imprisoned and the death of Louisa Gould in Ravensbrück concentration camp.

Morale

Every individual had personal highs and lows to morale throughout the occupation caused by family and close friend difficulties and tragedies. There were few positive personal events. The level of morale affecting the bulk of civilians were affected by island, national and international events. The discovery that locals could converse almost safely in Patois raised morale. At no time did the islanders allegiance to the British Crown falter. Early in the war at a large German parade the Commandant asked the watching civilians to raise their left hand if they were French citizens, very few raised an arm, he then asked people to raise their right arm if they were British. A photograph was taken and published with a caption stating islanders were saluting Hitler and shouting Sieg Heil, a simple trick.

Civilian morale in July 1940 was low, after having almost all the children removed from the islands, then being occupied by German soldiers. Over the next two months islanders listened to Britain fighting what would be named the Battle of Britain and watched German planes flying from the islands, some coming back damaged. The fact that there was no invasion of Britain in 1940 raised morale and life under occupation settled down into a routine that was liveable, with the occupiers being polite and professional. A few papers providing news were dropped by the RAF in late 1940.

Morale fell in November 1940 when radios were confiscated to be replaced with joy at Christmas on their return. Attempts in 1941 at defiance using the V sign were closed down after a few weeks by German fines, threats and imprisonment of offenders. In June 1941 the invasion of the Soviet Union showed that Britain was no longer a target but Germany was very strong. The Red Cross message system that started in 1941 lifted morale. Keeping up with the international news, the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 bringing the USA into the war was a massive boost.

The building of fortifications in the islands starting in the winter of 1941/2 indicating Germany was going on the defensive. During 1942 the German armies advanced on all fronts, as did the Japanese in the far east, with small American forces landing in North Africa in May the confiscation of radios in June 1942.and then in September, the forced deportation of mainly British born civilians to Germany resulted in a number of suicides, indicating fear of the future and very low morale. It also gave an opportunity to show defiance, with some individuals in Jersey involved in fights and singing, resulting in tough imprisonment sentences to put fear into potential future offenders.

The Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942 followed by the German defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943 left islanders with a hope that the occupation would not last for ever. The funeral for HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne sailors in Guernsey in October 1943 gave an unexpected opportunity to show solidarity and defiance, 5,000 people, laying 900 wreathes, turned up for the funeral, boosting island morale and worried the Germans.

An opening of a second front in Europe was expected by the Germans and islanders. When it came on 6 June 1944 the joy and expectation of a swift liberation were slowly shattered when it became clear that the islands would be ignored. The isolation of the islands turned to fear, fuel and food supplies had been cut and there was the prospect of a long cold winter. German morale went into free fall.

The rumours of help from the Red Cross proved true when the SS Vega (1913) docked with a cargo of parcels in Guernsey on 27 December 1944, before moving on to Jersey. Morale grew by the week in 1945, despite the suffering, as it became clear Germany would soon collapse. Open signs of defiance began to emerge, with Germans not retaliating. Their own level of morale was now very low. The news of the death of Hitler reduced the risk that the Germans would fight to the last bullet. Many listened openly on radios at 3pm on 8 May to the speech by Churchill when he mentioned "our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today". On 9 May 1945 morale went off the scale when the islands were actually liberated and British Tommy’s came ashore.

German morale was given a boost in March 1945 following Kommando-Unternehmen Granville, the successful raid on Granville from Jersey.

There were suicides during the war despair tipping men, rather than women, over the edge. Civilians, OT workers and Germans were affected. Civilian suicides were recorded as linked to the fear of the occupation, a Jew and several over deportation fears. A number of soldiers, both officers and men committed suicide to avoid transfer to the eastern front, after hearing of family losses from bombing Germany and others in May 1945 on hearing of the death of Hitler. In addition there would be a number of elderly people who died having just given up the will to live however for most, when at a depressing low, something always occurred to raise morale, even if it was only a rumour.

Morals

German soldiers were well behaved and polite at the start of the occupation. When these soldiers were transferred away, second grade soldiers arrived and were kept under reasonable control by their officers however when these went off the islands received many eastern Soviet soldiers who had volunteered to fight for Germany, they were badly treated and fed and levels of theft and criminal activity rose.

A total of around 4,000 islanders were sentenced for breaking laws during the occupation (around 2,600 in Jersey and 1,400 in Guernsey); 570 prisoners were sent to continental prisons and camps, and at least 22 persons from Jersey and 9 from Guernsey did not return. It may seem a high level of crime, but equates to 12 people per 1,000, per annum, similar to the 2010-2014 conviction rates in England and Wales. If you exclude crimes against Germans and conviction of offences that had not existed in 1939, such as breaking curfew, it indicates a level of general good behaviour. The severe penalties imposed by Courts no doubt had had an effect on the level of crime, fines could be as high as several years pay or even the value of a house. Despite people becoming more desperate as the occupation progressed.

Friendships between occupiers or OT workers and occupied led to some women earning reputations as "Jerry Bags". A few were love matches that resulted in marriage. Men and women were accused of collaboration. The worst fall in morals, which even some Germans found distasteful, was the informing on neighbours for breaking the law, such as having a radio.

OT workers, which included volunteer workers who were allowed great freedom and were well paid, down to starving "slave" workers. All categories committed many minor crimes, were involved in black market activities and more commonly in the theft of food. There was a moral aspect of helping a forced worker as against a volunteer worker, the forced worker normally appeared wearing worse clothes and was always hungry and evoked more sympathy and sometimes help. It did not stop OT conmen begging for food and clothes they could then sell. A civilian would see an OT worker being beaten or occasionally killed, such as a man who struck a German soldier, who retaliated by killing the Soviet worker with a spade. Facts like these would quickly circulate, as did rumours of torture, so islanders were all aware of German brutality.

Morals within a family could differ, a husband refused to live in the same house as his wife once she got a job washing clothes for the soldiers, irrespective of the money and better rations she would receive.

Many acts of Christian charity took place throughout the occupation, people helped look after friends, relatives and neighbours, as well as people in desperate need, irrespective of who they were. There were also many donations to charities, people and companies were very generous. Churches and Chapels were open to all comers, German ministers adopted some churches as Garrison churches, such as St James the Less in St Peter Port, others borrowed churches for military services on a weekly basis, some civilian services were conducted in joint languages of English and German, when attended by the occupiers, a few even included Russian words when Russian OT workers were in the congregation.

There were serious crimes committed in the islands that would not have been out of place in the 1930s or 1950’s, including murder, rape and assault, however the numbers were not high and the island police worked with the German military police if a soldier was involved, to apprehend and punish culprits. By 1945 morals had fallen due to hunger, it caused a dramatic rise in crimes of theft of food, in the last week of April 1945 there were 235 cases of theft reported to the police in Guernsey.

Property

German troops needed accommodation. The obvious choice was to use the empty hotels however within months the numbers of troops had increased and empty buildings, including schools and houses belonging to people who had evacuated in June 1940 were requisitioned, 2,750 houses in Guernsey,

Late in 1941 Hitler took the decision to fortify the islands and in the winter of 1941 and spring tens of thousands of soldiers and 15,000 construction workers arrived, all requiring accommodation. Some huts were built on camps for the OT workers, however many ended up being billeted in private houses that had a spare room. German soldiers and OT workers were billeted in 17,000 private houses in 1942.

If you had a soldier billeted on you, the island government paid you a few shillings a week, but you were required to do his laundry. One family had a soldier billeted on them and when he admired their young daughter saying that if ordered to do so, he would happily shoot her, they ejected him and he was re-billeted elsewhere.

Furniture was requisitioned or just taken and at the end of the war stores full of furniture had to be gone through by people looking for items taken from their houses. Jersey had 185,000 items of furniture looking for owners. A small number of people were ordered out of their houses on short notice when the house was requisitioned, this might be for accommodation or for fortification reasons, which could result in demolition. People had to get used to German soldiers just walking into their houses from the street for a look around or to "borrow" something.

The property market continued through the occupation, you could buy or sell a house. In January 1945 there was a high demand for houses in Guernsey and prices rose.

Work

Changes caused by the occupation affected most workers, but especially shop and office workers. Many people had been evacuated leaving vacancies, however many businesses had a dramatic fall in trade, so required less employees. Certain jobs vanished overnight, such as bus and taxi drivers, people in the building trade found that the main employer became the German army.

Unemployed people were reduced to charity from their Parish officials, so the island governments introduced a work programme before the end of 1940 to give employment to the increasing numbers of unemployed, 2,300 unemployed men in Jersey. This system continued throughout the occupation. Work undertaken included such things as road improvements., cutting timber for fuel and getting water mills working again. Jersey set up Summerland Factory which employed 250 people for sorting making and repairing clothes and shoes. Guernsey created a boot factory, even so the waiting list for a pair of shoes could be a year.

Employees in businesses undertaking essential services including utilities were required to provide telephone, electric and water services to German buildings, including the new fortifications being built, as well as continuing with their normal work.

Civil servants had their pay cut, the governments also established a weekly wage rate of 2 pounds 10 shillings. This was matched with a maximum price that could be charged for almost everything. There were complaints the prices were too low, leading to selling "under the counter".

The German pay rates were £1 a week higher, and attracted workers who could not live on the low wages paid in the civilian sector. The OT offered twice the normal island pay. In Jersey 600 were attracted by the higher wages.

In most European countries the Germans demanded workers and took adults away to Germany to work in factories and on the land, this did not happen to Islanders.

Food

The islands had been importing 80% of their food. Despite the reduction in the civilian population following the departure of evacuees up to June 1940, the increasing number of German soldiers and from 1942 OT workers made demands on limited resources.

Initially commercial growing provided the bulk of food, with supplements brought in from France. Anyone who had a garden was encouraged to grow their own vegetables. Seeds were obtained from France once local supplies ran out. Many people took to breeding hens and rabbits, however they were always prone to theft and had to be locked up and guarded.

Tobacco became very scarce, a pound of tobacco selling in 1945 for £112 (20% of the value of a small house). The Guernsey Tobacco Company made 50 million cigarettes during the occupation.

Flour ran out in February 1945, until a supply was brought by the SS Vega.

Substitute foods: