Channel Islands Occupation WW II

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davet

Lifer
May 9, 2015
3,815
330
Estey's Bridge N.B Canada
I was reading this and of course wondered about J.F.Germains and how that couldn't have been good for business, and we think Esoterica blends are hard to acquire. There must be some record of this, sounds like a job for our resident historians.
http://archaeology.org/news/3853-151104-channel-islands-archive

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Not the same geography, but I was stationed for eight months on Midway Island in the Mid-Pacific where there are significant remains of WWII pill boxes, ammo bunkers, hangars, and other adapted or abandoned military buildings. This was during Vietnam. But during WWII, the island was the objective of a Japanese effort to gain the island and airstrip as a stepping stone against the U.S. mainland. In what may have been the greatest naval battle of the Twentieth Century, the U.S. Navy took out major components of the Japanese fleet and established an offensive that was never reversed for the duration of the war. The Japanese had meant to cripple the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet at Pearl Harbor, but most of the carriers were stateside being refitted and repaired. Today, the U.S. Navy is no longer on Midway and it is maintained solely as a wildlife refuge for many species of birds, seals, sea turtles, and fish. Off and on there have been accommodations for tourists, although it is remote, as far from Honolulu as Omaha, Nebraska is to New York City, though it is part of the same island chain.

 

davet

Lifer
May 9, 2015
3,815
330
Estey's Bridge N.B Canada
I remember reading about Midway and that it was a stopping point for early trans Pacific flights. Very interesting reading about the battles for the islands. Another rarely heard of occupation was in the Aleutians.

 

nachman

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 27, 2013
228
3
A little off the subject of JF Germain, but there was a TV show in the UK called "Island at War" which was set in the channel islands during the German occupation which gave a lot of insight into the subject. If you can find it, you might want to watch it.

 

fnord

Lifer
Dec 28, 2011
2,746
8
Topeka, KS
Been years since I read it but, IIRC, Jack Higgins set one of his WWII novels on the Channel Islands.
Weren't the Channel Islands held by the Germans until almost the bitter end? Maybe even the surrender of Germany to the Allies?
Fnord

 

davet

Lifer
May 9, 2015
3,815
330
Estey's Bridge N.B Canada
2010-0628-645-ldlux4-german-occupation-museum-600x429.jpg


 

fnord

Lifer
Dec 28, 2011
2,746
8
Topeka, KS
That's beautiful, DaveT.
Good show.
Still, let's consider collusion. How much much was tolerated? And what was the line of demarcation between aiding and abetting the enemy?
How did J.F. Germain's keep rolling through the occupation?
Obviously, I don't expect you to have the answers, but I am curious.
Fnord

 

jitterbugdude

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 25, 2014
993
8
Always interested in anything WW2. What history doesn't really record is that the continued occupation of the Islands was actually the main downfall of Germany. It seems Hitler had a large contingent of men on the island waiting for the next batch of Germain tobacco. They sat and they sat.. delay after delay. Meanwhile tying up a large part of the German army... :wink:

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
When I read Channel Islands and WWII, the first thing I thought of was Jack Higgins. I don't remember which ones involved that setting, but they're all worth a read anyway!

 

fordm60

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 19, 2014
598
5
Night of the Fox was one. That is from memory but I think I remeber the name correctly. Higgins was a treasure as a writer, spent hundreds of hours with him.

 

davet

Lifer
May 9, 2015
3,815
330
Estey's Bridge N.B Canada
How did J.F. Germain's keep rolling through the occupation?
From the link I posted above;
The Second World War saw the island forced onto its own resources and enterprising local farmers grew their own tobacco leaf (with varying degrees of success) which they would bring to the factory on the harbour to be made up into something smokeable

.If a customer could provide enough leaf, he could have it made especially for him, otherwise it all went in together and he took `pot-luck' on the outcome! Even German troops would occasionally appear, much to the alarm of the proprietors and staff, for whom any visit from the Occupying Forces was not generally a good omen!

 

fnord

Lifer
Dec 28, 2011
2,746
8
Topeka, KS
"Higgins was a treasure as a writer, spent hundreds of hours with him. "
Me, too.
King Jack is 86 and still knocking out suspense thrillers. God bless him.
@DaveT:
You're in Australia, right? Bringing home two pix I've never seen before?
"Surreal."
Yeah, more than likely.
Nice.
Thank you.
Fnord

 
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