194030 June 1940 – 9 May 1945 · Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney

German occupation of the Channel Islands

A whitewashed tunnel marked with a red cross inside the Jersey War Tunnels, the German underground hospital — Photo: fw190a8. CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Demilitarised and partly evacuated, the Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles occupied by Germany. Hitler ordered them fortified into part of the Atlantic Wall using forced and slave labour, and on Alderney, where the SS ran Lager Sylt, hundreds of forced labourers died. In 1942 about 2,000 English-born islanders were deported to internment camps in Germany. Liberation came on 9 May 1945.

Sites

Site 1: Jersey War Tunnels, St LawrenceUnfinished tunnel complex dug by forced labourers, now the occupation museum.Map ↗
Site 2: Liberation Square, St HelierHarbourside square with the liberation sculpture.Map ↗
Site 3: German Underground Hospital, GuernseyBare concrete tunnels dug by forced labourers for a military hospital.Map ↗
Site 4: Lager Sylt, AlderneyGateposts and foundations of the SS camp, with a memorial.Map ↗

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Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.