Here is a link to a short film about the Lopez Rubio family in Jersey and how they came into existence during the German Occupation through the marriage of one forced labourers brought to the Island and a Jersey girl. Those of you who might have been on one of my tours on the German Occupation of the Channel Islands …
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Conflict Archaeology of the German Occupation
Conflict archaeology of the German Occupation is everywhere you look around the Channel Islands. Some of us have it in our homes and gardens! I live right next to the coast on the south of the Island. All around the coast there are examples of conflict archaeology and reminders of both English/British military fortifications (from the period from the early …
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Fort de la Cité d’Alet, St Malo – Roman to WW2 German fortifications
Having a couple of hours to spare in St Malo before catching the ferry or the train, the Fort de la Cité d’Alet, St Malo is well worth a visit. For those who have an interest in the international boundary and front line which existed in the area around the Channel Islands between warring England / Britain and France over …
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Nazi Germany occupies part of the British Isles – (The German Occupation of the Channel Islands Part 2)
The British government hoped that as open towns, the islands would be spared a German attack which would be costly in civilian lives as well as property damage. Indeed they even naively considered that the Germans would not even bother occupying the undefended islands, which might be able to sit out the war in isolation. For the Germans, victoriously sitting in Normandy …
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After 603 years of defending their home, Jersey Militia is disbanded in face of Nazi advance in June 1940. (The German Occupation of the Channel Islands, Part 1)
In June 1940, following the defeat of the British Expeditionary Force in the face of the German blitzkrieg and the evacuation at Dunkirk, the Channel Islands waited with great apprehension to see whether the war would reach them. The Jersey Militia, now voluntary since the First World War, had been preparing since the outbreak of war to defend the Island, albeit …
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Squadron Leader Henri Gonay, DFC, CdeG (1913-1944)
A short memorial video to a Belgian pilot in the RAF, Henri Gonay who crashed and lost his life in Jersey shortly after D-Day in June 1944. It is believed that Squadron Leader Gonay had been attacking German shipping to the south of Jersey when his Hawker Typhoon fighter was hit by anti-aircraft fire. His body was recovered from the wreckage …
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76 Years Ago – Memories of a 5 year old boy.
A few years ago, my father, Silvanus Yates, wrote down what he remembered about that time, when he and the rest of the family were evacuated to England with the British military forces in the Island. Here is an extract of what he said (and which has not hitherto been published): “During 1938, the British Army had set up a …
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