[RandFan]

This is on UK TV this week. Very interesting about the Channel Islands which was seized and under Nazi occupation for much of the war.

They couldn't have done it without collaborators and such.

It's quite controversial apparently....

[BobL]

“Did you know a part of Britain was under Nazi Occupation for 5 years?”

...and counting.

[wally_bert]

I saw some mini series on PBS a long time ago about the channel islands taken by the Germans.

Give me the classic Bergerac series for anything Jersey related entertainment.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks. BTW, there are couple of earlier TV shows on the occupation, both of which are available on Prime Video. I started watching one of them over a year ago (I think "Enemy at the Door") but only saw one or two episodes as it was the normal melodramatic WW II fare.

• Island at War (2004): A British drama set on the fictional island of St Gregory, representing Guernsey and Jersey. Follows three families (Dorrs, Mahys, Jonases) and German officers during the occupation. Six 70-minute episodes, filmed in the Isle of Man. Focuses on moral dilemmas and daily life under Nazi rule. Criticized for historical inaccuracies but praised for compelling drama.
• Enemy at the Door (1978–1980): Set in Guernsey, this British series explores daily life under German occupation, focusing on islanders like Dr. Philip Martel and German Major Dieter Richter. Two seasons, filmed in Jersey, showing tensions, collaboration, and resistance. Noted for nuanced portrayal of both sides, though criticized for softening grim realities.
• Britain Under the Nazis: The Forgotten Occupation (2025): A two-part Channel 4 documentary marking the 80th anniversary of the islands’ liberation. Uses eyewitness accounts, diaries, and letters, with historians Gilly Carr and Louise Willmot. Covers collaboration, resistance, and persecution, including Jewish deportations.

The Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark) were the only British territories occupied by Nazi Germany (1940–1945). These shows depict the complex dynamics of occupation, though historical accuracy varies.

[DallasBiff]

[Vigilanteman]

National Geographic (before it went all global warming and climate change all of the time) published a great article on the Channel Islands some years ago.

As I recall, around D-Day, the Nazis got their more vicious officers off the islands because they were needed on the mainland.

The lower ranked guys who replaced them actually worked with the locals to preserve the heritage dairy cattle breeds named after the two main islands despite considerable hardship in doing so.

[Sirius Lee]

Considering what England has become, what the hell is the difference?

[rktman]

There is a dramatization of this on one of the networks. Pretty decent show as I recall. But, I can’t remember the name of it.

[Fungi]

An article posted on FR a long time ago dealt with this. It recounted how locals would skim off the cream so butter was hard to make and then criticized the German authorities on how they could not make butter.

[Navy Patriot]

Did you know a part of Britain was under Nazi Occupation for 5 years?

Yes, after the war, it spread slowly across all of the UK.

[9YearLurker]

Yeah, until M Markle dragged Prince Ding-Dong to the US with her!

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Channel Islands. I remember reading of this decades ago. I believe there was a movie with this occupation as a start.
Triple Cross (1966 film) comes to mind.

[dfwgator]

Pretty good movie about a fictional Nazi occupation of Britain.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Yes, I did. There are couple movies made about this.

[Bringbackthedraft]

I wonder if all the cows survived???

[cuban leaf]

They made a drama about it back around six or seven years ago. Great movie:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1289403/

[MotorCityBuck]

Yep.
Some Channel Islands.

[ABStrauss]

YES

It’s been portrayed on TV for 60 years.

[Blue Highway]

Been to the Channel Islands near Santa Barbara.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

Yes, I did. About ten years ago I came across a book called “Agent Zig-Zag”, about Eddie Chapman, a British crook/con artist who became a spy for the Nazis, but became a double agent. I did not remember him being in the Channel Islands, though.

About a year ago I started watching a movie, “Triple Cross”, starring Christopher Plummer, which I realized was the same story, or a version of it. The movie starts with Chapman being captured by British police on one of the Channel Islands, just before the Nazi occupation. They spring him from jail and start training him as a spy. This was the first time I realized that the Channel Islands had been occupied.

The movie started rather slowly, and I did not stick with it once I figured out I’d read about it before.