Children of the Occupation

Thanks to Visit Guernsey for kindly permitting us to share these stories from children of the occupation. They feature interviews with members of our community who as children lived through the German occupation of Guernsey talking about food rations and the evacuation.
Food Rations:
German forces occupied Guernsey from the 28th June 1940. A system of rationing was promptly introduced, with livestock and fishing monitored by the occupiers and farmers directed as to the crops they should grow. During the early Occupation, provisions were imported from mainland France. However, following the D-Day landings in June 1944, France was cut off and supplies mostly ceased. By Christmas 1944, both Islanders and the German troops were at the brink of starvation.
Listen to first-hand accounts filmed in 2018, from Islanders Molly Bihet, Derek Le Page, Dick Le Tissier and Diana Chesney as they recount the food shortages during this period and their joy in receiving food parcels from the Red Cross, and from Richard Heaume, owner of the German Occupation Museum, as he describes this devastating period of Guernsey’s history.
Evacuation:
On the 19th June 1940, parents were faced with the impossible choice to separate the family by evacuating their children to England, or to stay as a complete family unit living under German rule.
This was a time of mass fear and panic and, ultimately, agonising heartbreak for the parents of the 5,000 children who were evacuated. Listen to first-hand accounts filmed in 2018, from Islanders Molly Bihet and Derek Le Page, who remained with their families in occupied Guernsey, and to Joyce Girard who was evacuated to England, little knowing she would be parted from her sister and parents for five long years.
Remember to share with us how you spent Liberation Day at Home by using the hashtag #Liberate75Together
Further information can be found on our website - www.liberationday.gg.

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My cousin Laura Palmer was on Jersey with her four children for those five years.