In 1940 the Channel Islands became the only part of Britain to fall under Nazi rule. Now in this film Islanders speak from the heart about one of the most extraordinary periods in our history. Reliving in their own words the horror of the first air raids, the shock of occupation and the islands' gradual five year long decent into privation and starvation before experiencing the capitulation of the German forces and the joy of liberation.

Nazi Britain

In 1940, carried on a wave of rumour and panic, thirty thousand Channel Islanders fled their homes, their livelihoods and the islands for five long years in exile. Arriving in England with just one small case and only twenty pounds in cash, they were sent by rail across the country from Oldham to Glasgow. Children separated from parents, all cast adrift in an alien culture. Homeless and jobless, the adventures that befell them helped forge friendships the length and breadth of Great Britain which survive to this day. This is their story.

Fleeing the Reich

In 1941 Hitler deported over 2000 British men, women and children from the Channel Islands to the heart of Nazi Germany. It was a terrifying journey into the unknown and some killed themselves rather than go. Others had just hours to pack one bag, destroy their pets and leave. However, the initial horror of the camps and the struggle to survive in the primitive conditions was replaced with a determination not just to survive, but to thrive, as Hitler's crime created one of the most bizarre episodes of the war.