The Channel Islands were the only parts of the British Isles to fall under German rule in the war. Next month they mark 70 years of freedom. Chris Leadbeater hears their tale in Guernsey and Jersey.

Hitler considered the Channel Islands - Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm - a valuable landing stage for the invasion of mainland France, as they sat just 20 miles off the French coast.

When the Channel Islands were deemed indefensible by Winston Churchill, their occupation by the Germans became an inevitability. Adolf Hitler saw the five islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney ...

German soldiers standing at an intersection in Jersey during the WWII occupation of the Channel Islands. (Public domain) After their liberation in 1945, a silence fell over the islands about many ...

Yet, if someone in Jersey today speaks of “The Occupation”, there is no question they are referring to anything other than the occupation by Nazi Germany from 1 July 1940 to 9 May 1945.

The Channel Islands are marking 78 years of freedom. Credit: ITV Channel The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be invaded by German troops during the Second World War .

In the 1960s and 1970s, members of the Channel Islands Occupation Society (CIOS) decided to reopen these fortifications again. Malcolm Amy, from CIOS, has worked to restore the bunkers on the ...