They Were Living Under Occupation - But Not Everyone Was Willing to Obey Quietly

They Were Living Under Occupation - But Not Everyone Was Willing to Obey Quietly

Over the past few days, I have been following what happened in the Channel Islands after the German occupation began in the summer of 1940.

But what was it actually like for the Islanders who stayed behind - and did they resist?

Resistance did not take the form of a large armed underground movement. The islands were small, heavily garrisoned and isolated from Britain. Open defiance could bring imprisonment, deportation or worse.

Much of what happened was therefore far quieter.

When wireless sets were ordered to be surrendered in 1942, some Islanders hid theirs. Listening to the BBC was forbidden, but people still found ways of hearing the news and passing it on.

In Jersey, Canon Clifford Cohu was one of those involved. News obtained from secret wireless sets was written down and circulated, and Cohu passed information to others, including patients at the hospital. He was eventually arrested and deported and did not survive the war.

Some of the ways people kept themselves informed were remarkably inventive. Jersey radio engineer Bernard Holley secretly repaired wireless sets for Islanders. One remarkable crystal radio preserved by Jersey Heritage even had some of its parts hidden inside the shell of a walnut.

In Guernsey, the Guernsey Underground News Service - GUNS - secretly produced and distributed news gathered from BBC broadcasts. Those involved knew the risks they were taking. Several were eventually arrested and sent to prisons on the continent.

Some Islanders also took much greater personal risks to help others.

In Jersey, Louisa Gould helped to hide Fyodor Burriy, a Russian forced worker known to her as Bill. She was arrested and deported and later died at Ravensbrück.

Resistance could also take much smaller forms - forbidden news passed between neighbours, patriotic symbols and V signs painted in public places.

For the Islanders who stayed behind, these were often small acts, but the consequences of being caught could be enormous.

Next time, I want to look at the prisoners and forced workers who were brought to the Channel Islands - who they were, where they came from and what happened to them.

Image: German occupation notice concerning the V-for-Victory campaign in Jersey, June 1941. Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.