Living with the Enemy: An Outline of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands with First Hand Accounts by People Who Remember the Years 1940-1945: Amazon.co.uk: Roy McLoughin, Simon Lee Watkins: Books

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About Living With The Enemy and the German Occupation of the Channel Islands

During the Second World War the Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by German forces. Living with the Enemy tells the unique and true story of life in the Islands under Nazi rule. With eyewitness accounts from both Islanders and German soldiers this book gives an accurate insight into this ill-assorted community at war and portrays how it felt to be living in the shadow of a foreign power. A sample of what the United Kingdom would have experienced should it have fallen. The book is 224 pages and includes over 125 original war time photographs of the Islands under Nazi rule and has a foreword by international best seller Jack Higgins.

Foreword

by Jack Higgins, Master thriller writer and international bestseller

The Channel Islands hold a unique place in British history, not least because during the Second World War they were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by the Nazis. For five long years the Swastika flew here in place of the Union Jack and all the worst excesses of Nazi rule were present in some form or other.

The iron fist in the velvet glove policy did not last long. The Secret Field Police employed Gestapo operatives on secondment and many Islanders soon experienced the horror of the early morning knock on the door leading to brutal interrogation in a manner familiar elsewhere in occupied Europe.

Only those who experienced the Occupation know the anguish of it and it has always been particularly distressing to those who lived through it when outsiders complain that there was no resistance movement in the Islands.

Logic alone makes it clear that such action was simply not possible in so small an area and yet many thousands of Channel Islanders received prison sentences of one kind or another for contravening the law of the jackboot.

To be a Jew was a crime under the anti-Semitic laws and even keeping a radio to listen to the BBC news broadcasts meant a stiff prison sentence.

Many Islanders went further, assisting Russian slave workers and others on the run, eventually being sentenced to terms in French prisons or concentration camps such as Ravensbruck and Belsen. In some cases they died there.

As in all occupied countries a small number of people collaborated with the enemy. That fact is meaningless when considered in the context of the unfailing loyalty of the vast majority of Channel Islanders who stubbornly persisted in the face of armed might and brute force in fighting their own war of non co-operation. They never lost faith in their belief that one day liberation would come.

Living with the Enemy is a stunning account of how a small population with a belief in themselves, their own integrity and loyalty to the Crown were able to stand up to a country which at the time controlled the whole of Europe but most importantly played their own part in the eventual destruction of the Third Reich.

About Jack Higgins

Jack Higgins was a soldier and then a teacher before becoming a full-time writer. The Eagle Has Landed turned him into an international bestselling author and his novels have since sold over 250 million copies and been translated into fifty-five languages. Many of them have also been made into successful films.

Jack Higgins has lived in Jersey for over 30 years, in which time he has taken a special interest in the German Occupation of the Channel Islands. He is also Patron of The Jersey Film Society.

From the Publisher

We produce a large number of books about the German Occupation of the Channel Islands and this has been our best seller by far.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

A GREAT READ 20 Jun 2000

By hyant@hotmail.com

Format:Paperback

This is a great book! LIVING WITH THE ENEMY covers the Channel Island Occupation by the Germans from '40 to '45.

I am bewildered by the stories of the Occupation. And befuddled that this part of history is relatively unknown outside the Channel Island.

I have rarely come across a historical book that is so easily read, intelligent, heart-touching, hardhitting and thought-provoking.

LIVING WITH THE ENEMY has opened an important piece of history to me that otherwise I would not have known.

It is a true legacy to history and belongs up there with the serious tomes of WWII.

Highly recommended.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

A unique record in British history. 27 Jun 1999

By A Customer

The German occupation of the Channel Islands is a subject which has always caused controversy.This book is both well researched,well balanced,and lays to rest many myths.

It has the interesting aspect of first hand accounts from both the occupying German forces and the British people,as well as a superb range of photographs.It also brings into focus the human element while relating them to the wider perspective of Europe at war.

A good read for military historians and Joe public alike.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Excellent. 19 July 1999

This book is excellently written. It tells the real story of how life was when the Channel Islands was occupied by Germany. Real people tell their own story in their own words which makes it easy to read and to see what they went through during that time. It is very educational and should be read.