Outpost of Occupation: The Nazi Occupation of the Channel Islands 1940-45

by Barry Turner

Once Britain had demilitarized the idyllic, unspoiled holiday islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark in 1940 their fate was sealed—in July the Germans invaded. The following five years in their history offer an intriguing, and often uncomfortable, virtual history of how Britain might have looked under Nazi rule—and how British people, more to the point, might have responded to it, whether through submission, courageous resistance, or even collaboration. Extremely fair-minded account and rich in personal testimonies, this account shows the extreme privations suffered by the Channel Islanders, so utterly cut adrift by Britain—even if for defensible reasons of wartime expediency—and above all the huge moral and civic task required of their pre-war governing class, several of whom could hardly have been expected to rise to the occasion. It also draws on newly released documents to reveal the messy confusion of Britain’s postwar attitude to the Channel Islands, a source of enduring resentment there.

Genres: History, World War II

340 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 20, 2010

About the author

Barry Turner has been a full-time writer for 30 years. He has worked as a journalist and broadcaster in the field of politics, biography, travel and education, and is the author of over 20 books. He is a regular contributor to The Times as a book reviewer and serializer, and is the editor of the annuals The Writer's Handbook and The Screenwriter's Handbook.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of what I knew about the Channel Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark came from three sources. (1) My mother gave me several books by Gerald Durrell (the naturalist, not the novelist): "The Overloaded Ark" (1953), "A Zoo In My Luggage (1960)", "Beasts In My Belfry" (1973), "My Family And Other Animals" (1956). Durrell (1925-1995) was the founder of the Jersey Wildlife Trust. (2) I began collecting Jersey and Guernsey postage stamps in 1969 and learned much from studying those issues. (3) I have a chum who belongs to the same on-line association of trivia-writing maniacs. She lives in the Channel Islands and we chat. The Channel Islands are "part" of Great Britain. They were the only British soil occupied by Nazy Germany during World War II. The story of that occupation is obscured by Nazi propaganda, by British propaganda, and by a widespread desire to forget all about it. Barry Turner (b. 1937) is an exceptionally diverse writer, editor, journalist, reviewer and broadcaster. Displeased with the lack of information and conflicting stories about the occupation of the Channel Islands, he set about intense research into original materials, German and British, to write a concise history. "Outpost of Occupation" is the result and it is very good. It is written for British audiences such that the language may be occasionally obscure or bumpy to American readers. I have never been to the Channel Islands. I have wanted to visit since childhood. Now I want to go even more to see the many places mentioned in this history.

[Hugh Dunnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having visited Jersey a couple of times and made and read my way through the museums and guide books I thought I had a good understanding of the Channel Islands' recent history. But this book given me so much more detail and deepened my comprehension of this time but not in a dry 'academic' way but with a rounded and understandable style, making much use of the personal testimony of ordinary islanders who had to live through the many years of occupation.
Obviously well researched, quite fascinating and occasionally surprising.

[Montana]

Fantastically written for factual information on the events and to keep the readers attention.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the book contains a great deal of first person historical narrative it is a very good respected. The author backs the narratives up with information online from a good deal of research.
The author makes some assumptive statements, such as "it is obvious this means" and "of course it was interpreted incorrectly" even on an issue that was still arguable. Every historian makes their own judgements. I prefer when they write use "this can be interpreted" or something similar, especially when there is still doubt about the decision made.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of a number of books I've read on the occupation of the Channel Islands by the Nazis during the second world war. Some of the main points of the book include:

One major reason the islands did not openly rebel against the Nazis was that all the British soldiers had been removed taking their weapons with them. There was no attempt to provide the islanders with weapons or with agents that could spearhead a rebellion.

One of the reasons that there was no attempt to remove all the islanders was 'we already have too many mouths to feed in the Untied Kingdom. This shows what I feel was a very cold attitude toward the islanders and what happened to them by Britain.

The islands were undefended. Undefended cities and islands were not supposed to be attacked. Unfortunately no one in England bothered to tell the Nazis that the islands were undefended and this led directly to the death of almost fifty islanders during a Nazi bombing of selected areas.

A lot of the young children that were evacuated ended up having to serve as maids and general workers in the homes that were supposed to have cared for them.

The Home Office was talking to someone on the phone, saying no Nazi attack was likely just as the attack took place and bombs could be heard falling.

This is just a sample of what the book has. There are even photographs and the book runs through the end of the war and beyond.

[Joshua Mowll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. I think it is quite an awkward subject area, the Channel Islands being the only part of Great Britain Hitler managed to occupy. Fascinating to see how the population reacted and coped. It is made more interesting by visiting the Channel Islands themselves, which are very beautiful.