They Had Lived in the Islands for Years - Then They Were Given Hours to Leave

They Had Lived in the Islands for Years - Then They Were Given Hours to Leave

Over the past few posts, I have been looking at what everyday life became like in the occupied Channel Islands - the restrictions, the shortages and the quieter forms of resistance.

But in 1942, something happened that must have brought home just how little control some islanders now had over their own lives.

They were ordered to leave.

In September 1942, the German authorities began deporting British civilians from the Channel Islands to internment camps in Germany.

It was largely an act of retaliation. German civilians working in British-occupied Iran had been detained and deported to Australia, and Hitler ordered the deportation of British residents of the Channel Islands in response.

In Jersey, the deportation order arrived on the 15th of September 1942. It applied to certain British residents who were not permanent residents of Jersey or who had not been born there, along with members of their families.

For some, the warning was frighteningly short.

Many had less than 12 hours to make arrangements for their homes, possessions and businesses.

Among those affected was Nellie May Faulder. Nellie had been born in Jersey, but her husband Robert had been born in London. Under the deportation rules, that meant the couple were liable to be sent away.

On the 18th of September 1942, Nellie and Robert were deported to Germany.

Channel Islanders would eventually find themselves in civilian internment camps including Biberach, Wurzach, Laufen and Dorsten.

Many had made their lives there. They had homes, neighbours, jobs and friends - and suddenly they were being taken hundreds of miles away into an uncertain future.

As people were taken away from Jersey, crowds gathered to see them leave. On one occasion, patriotic singing broke out between those standing on shore and those being carried away.

Further deportations followed in 1943.

For those left behind, occupation had already meant living with rules imposed by someone else.

Now it also meant watching friends and neighbours disappear.

Can you imagine being told that within hours you had to leave your home, not knowing when - or even if - you would see it again?

If you would like to read more about what happened to the deportees and what life was really like inside the internment camps, I’ll be sharing a much longer version of their story with my subscribers.

Have a cuppa and let’s discover history together.

Image: German deportation notice issued in Jersey, 15 September 1942. Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain.

William Had Won at Hastings - But England Had Not Surrendered

William Had Won at Hastings - But England Had Not Surrendered

On the 14th of October 1066, Harold Godwinson was dead and his army had been defeated at the Battle of Hastings.

But William of Normandy was still not King of England.

Winning the battle had removed Harold, but William still had to secure recognition as England’s king.

In London, the English did not immediately surrender.

With Harold dead, leading figures turned to Edgar Ætheling. The young grandson of Edmund Ironside was chosen as king, although he was never crowned.

Edgar was probably only in his early teens and had little military experience, while William had an experienced army already operating in the south.

William took Dover, where the town was burned and fortifications were established. From there, he moved on through Canterbury, but London itself was not yet his.

After encountering resistance at Southwark, William turned west and began a much wider march around London.

His army devastated areas of the countryside as it went, increasing the pressure on those still considering resistance.

William eventually crossed the Thames at Wallingford.

By then, Edgar’s position was becoming increasingly difficult. William had survived Hastings, secured important territory and shown that his army was prepared to continue the campaign.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Edgar Ætheling, Archbishop Ealdred of York and the powerful earls Edwin and Morcar were among those who submitted to William at Berkhamsted.

After the submission there, the way was open for William to enter London and prepare for his coronation.

Less than three months after landing in England, he had gone from Norman duke and claimant to the throne to the man preparing to be crowned King of England.

But even his coronation would not go entirely according to plan.

It took place on Christmas Day 1066, and what happened outside Westminster Abbey during the ceremony caused panic inside.

Do you think things might have been different if Edgar Ætheling had been crowned immediately after Hastings?

Image: William the Conqueror depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, 11th century. Public domain/CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The War Was Almost Over - But the Channel Islands Were Still Occupied

The War Was Almost Over - But the Channel Islands Were Still Occupied

By the beginning of 1945, people in the Channel Islands could see that the war was moving towards its end.

But for them, occupation was not over.

The Allied landings in Normandy on the 6th of June 1944 had eventually cut the islands off from their main supply routes through France. By the winter, food, fuel and other essentials had become desperately scarce.

Then, on the 31st of December 1944, the Red Cross ship Vega arrived in Jersey carrying badly needed relief supplies for civilians.

The parcels made an enormous difference. They contained food such as tinned meat, milk powder, chocolate, biscuits, sugar and other items that had become almost impossible to obtain locally.

But the arrival of the Vega did not mean normal life had returned.

Gas and electricity had failed, fuel remained desperately scarce, and people were exhausted after more than four years of occupation. The German garrison was also increasingly isolated from the rest of Europe.

News was still getting through. Islanders who had managed to hide wireless sets continued listening secretly to the BBC and passing on what they heard. Germany was being pushed back, and as Allied armies advanced further into Europe, there must have been a growing feeling that the occupation could not last forever.

There was still one enormous question.

How would it actually end?

The Channel Islands had been heavily fortified as part of the Atlantic Wall, and thousands of German troops still remained. Liberation might have been getting closer, but there was no guarantee that the occupying forces would simply surrender when the time came.

For the people of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark, the final months of the war became a strange period of waiting. After nearly five years of occupation, freedom finally seemed close enough to imagine, but nobody yet knew exactly when it would come.

Next, I want to look at the extraordinary final days of the occupation and how the German surrender of the Channel Islands actually happened.

Can you imagine knowing the war was almost over, but still having no idea when your own freedom would come?

Image: German occupation fortifications at Noirmont, Jersey. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Some Victorian Children Were Too Poor Even for School - And Ragged Schools Tried to Reach Them

Some Victorian Children Were Too Poor Even for School - And Ragged Schools Tried to Reach Them

For many poor children in Victorian England, going to school was not a matter of just turning up each morning.

Some had no suitable clothes. Some had no shoes. Others spent their days working, begging or trying to find enough food to survive.

Ragged schools developed to provide free education for children living in severe poverty who might otherwise receive little or no schooling. Some also provided food, clothing and practical training as well as lessons.

In 1849, Lord Ashley - later the Earl of Shaftesbury and one of the movement’s strongest supporters - described an investigation involving 33 young people living in extreme poverty in London.

Twenty-four had no parents. Twenty had no shirts. Nine had no shoes. Some had already been imprisoned. When Ashley privately questioned several of them, they admitted surviving through begging and stealing, with picking up old bones providing their only legitimate way of earning a penny.

Ragged schools were deliberately established in some of the poorest districts, where they tried to reach children who were unlikely to receive an education elsewhere.

Lessons could include reading, writing, arithmetic and religious instruction. Some schools also taught practical skills such as tailoring or shoemaking, particularly for children who needed a way of earning a living.

Evening classes were particularly important because many of the children spent their days working, begging or simply trying to survive.

These schools were not a complete answer to Victorian poverty, but they filled an important gap. When the ragged-school movement expanded during the 1840s and 1850s, England and Wales still had no national system of compulsory elementary education.

By the 1860s, Parliament was openly discussing the work being done by ragged schools in places including London, Manchester and Salford. In 1869, more than 10,000 children in Manchester and Salford were described in Parliament as regularly attending them.

What stays with me is that Ashley’s evidence described children who had already been repeatedly imprisoned, while elsewhere in the same evidence he described destitute youngsters who could not even read or write.

The ragged schools could not change every part of their lives, but for many children they offered something they had previously been denied - an education.

Had you heard of Victorian ragged schools before?

Image: The Lambeth “Ragged School” (Boys), London, wood engraving published in The Illustrated London News, 11th April 1846. Public domain. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, via Wikimedia Commons

Even Going Out After Dark Could Become an Offence - Everyday Life in Occupied Jersey

Even Going Out After Dark Could Become an Offence - Everyday Life in Occupied Jersey

Occupation did not only change who controlled Jersey. It changed the small freedoms people had once taken for granted.

After German forces arrived in the summer of 1940, islanders were faced with a growing list of orders and restrictions. Curfews limited when people could be outside, access to military and other restricted areas was controlled, and permits became part of everyday life.

Private motoring became increasingly restricted. Vehicles were taken for German use, while those still considered essential could only be driven with the necessary permit. Bikes became increasingly important, and cycle traffic was also regulated.

The occupation also brought a new system of registration.

Under Jersey's Registration and Identification of Persons Order of 1940, the civilian population had to be registered. From 1941, residents aged 14 and over were issued their own registration cards, while younger children were recorded on their father's card.

Even finding out what was happening beyond the island became difficult.

The Evening Post operated under censorship, leaving the wireless as an important connection with Britain. Then, on the 6th of June 1942, the German authorities ordered radios to be surrendered. Jersey Heritage estimates that more than 10,000 wireless sets were confiscated during the following month.

Not everybody obeyed.

Some people hid radios and secretly listened to BBC broadcasts, knowing that discovery could lead to imprisonment. Some also recorded what they heard and secretly passed the BBC news on to others.

Children experienced the occupation too. Schools continued, although buildings were commandeered, teachers were in short supply and normal routines were disrupted. In 1943, an order even required children in Jersey to be taught German.

For nearly five years, things that had once required no thought at all could suddenly be controlled.

Which everyday freedom do you think you would have missed the most?

For a longer more indepth post join my subscriber page.

Image: German curfew notice, Jersey, 1941. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

England Knew a Spanish Invasion Was Coming - But Was It Actually Ready?

England Knew a Spanish Invasion Was Coming - But Was It Actually Ready?

By 1587, the threat of a Spanish invasion of England was becoming very real.

Relations between Elizabeth I and Philip II of Spain had been deteriorating for years. England was supporting the Dutch rebels fighting Spanish rule in the Low Countries, while English privateers had repeatedly attacked Spanish shipping and possessions abroad.

Philip was also preparing for something much bigger.

His plan depended on sending a great fleet through the English Channel and reaching the Low Countries, where the Duke of Parma had an experienced army waiting. The Armada would need to help secure the crossing so that Parma’s troops could be transported to England.

Preparations were already under way before Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in February 1587. Her death added another source of anger, but the conflict between England and Spain had been building long before it.

Elizabeth’s government knew that danger was coming.

England had been strengthening its navy during the 1580s, with new warships being constructed and existing ships prepared for fighting. Along the coast, an old warning system was also readied.

Beacons stood on high ground where one could be seen from another. If an enemy fleet appeared, fires could be lit and the warning carried from beacon to beacon and into surrounding areas.

In April 1587, Francis Drake sailed into Cádiz, one of Spain’s most important ports.

There he attacked shipping and destroyed or captured vessels and supplies being prepared for Philip’s expedition.

The attack became famously known as the “singeing of the King of Spain’s beard”.

It caused serious disruption and delayed Spanish preparations, but Philip did not abandon the invasion.

Through 1587 and into 1588, ships, sailors, soldiers, weapons and provisions continued to be gathered.

Across the Channel, England prepared for what might happen if the fleet finally appeared.

The navy would have to confront it at sea, but there was another frightening possibility.

What if Parma’s army actually managed to cross and land in England?

By the spring of 1588, this was no longer simply a distant threat discussed by Elizabeth and her councillors.

Along England’s southern coast, defensive preparations continued and the warning beacons stood ready.

Beyond the horizon, the Spanish Armada was preparing to sail.

Next, we’ll follow the Armada as it finally leaves Spain - and discover why its carefully planned invasion began encountering problems almost immediately.

Image: The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I, c.1588, artist unknown. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Who Was Guy Fawkes? The Real Story Behind Bonfire Night

Who Was Guy Fawkes? The Real Story Behind Bonfire Night

Every year, on the 5th of November, bonfires are lit and fireworks fill the sky as we remember Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot.

But Guy Fawkes was not actually the man who planned the conspiracy, and the events of 1605 involved far more than one man standing beside a collection of gunpowder barrels.

So, what really happened?

The Plot That Could Have Changed English History

Our story begins in England during the reign of King James I.

Religious divisions had created considerable tension. Catholics faced restrictions on practising their faith, and although some had hoped that James would introduce greater tolerance when he became king in 1603, those hopes were disappointed.

One man, Robert Catesby, decided that more drastic action was needed.

In 1604, Catesby began gathering a small group of conspirators who were prepared to use violence to bring about political and religious change.

Their plan was extraordinary.

They intended to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, killing the King and members of the country's political leadership.

Among those recruited was Guy Fawkes, an English Catholic who had spent years serving as a soldier abroad.

His military experience and knowledge of explosives made him particularly useful to the conspirators.

By the autumn of 1605, they had stored 36 barrels of gunpowder in an undercroft beneath the House of Lords.

Everything depended on the opening of Parliament on the 5th of November.

However, the conspirators had a problem. Their explosion would also kill Catholic members of Parliament, including people they might otherwise have regarded as allies.

On the 26th of October, Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away from Parliament.

The authorities were alerted, and searches followed.

During the night of the 4th and 5th of November, Guy Fawkes was discovered beneath the House of Lords with the gunpowder.

He was arrested, and the conspiracy began to unravel.

Catesby and several other conspirators fled London, but within days some had been killed and others captured.

Guy Fawkes was executed on the 31st of January 1606.

More than four centuries later, we continue to remember the failed plot every Bonfire Night.

But behind the fireworks lies a fascinating story of religious conflict, political intrigue, secrecy and betrayal.

And it is a story that children can enjoy investigating for themselves.

Bring the Gunpowder Plot to Life! 📚

If your children enjoy discovering history, I've created a printable activity pack that takes them back to the events of 1605.

My Guy Fawkes & The Gunpowder Plot History Activity Pack contains 43 printable pages and is designed for children aged 7–11.

Rather than simply reading about what happened, children can explore the story, investigate the people involved, follow the timeline and complete activities designed to encourage curiosity about the past.

Whether you're home educating, planning a classroom lesson or simply looking for something educational to enjoy together, the pack offers plenty to keep young historians busy.

What's Included in the Activity Pack?

- 9 illustrated history chapters exploring the events surrounding the Gunpowder Plot

- 9 chapter mission worksheets

- Meet the Plotters reference page

- Timeline challenges and quizzes

- Crosswords, puzzles and games

- Creative activities and crafts

- Think Like a Historian activities

- Answer pages to help with learning

The pack is supplied as a digital PDF, so you can download and print the activities you need.

It is designed for both A4 and US Letter paper.

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Over in my Etsy shop, you'll find a growing collection of printable history guides, educational resources and activities covering different periods of the past.

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