Evacuation of civilians from the Channel Islands in 1940 one suitcase. The Lieutenant Governor of Jersey and Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey left their islands on board ships on 21 June 1940, the day France surrendered. Ships urgently needed to evacuate soldiers from France in Operation Ariel, were diverted to help civilians in the Channel Islands. Marshal Philippe Pétain requested an armistice on 17 June and on 19 June nearby Cherbourg was captured by German forces. 25 ships took people from Guernsey on 21 June alone, ships like the SS "Viking", built 1905, served as HMS "Vindex" until 1918. Requisitioned in 1939 as a troopship, she transported 1,800 schoolchildren from
Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service enjoyed by St John Ambulance (England and the Islands), the organisation of which Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service was formerly a constituent part. On 1 July 2012 St John Ambulance in Guernsey ceased to be part of the Priory of England and the Isles, and was established as an autonomous Commandery of the Venerable Order of St John. Thus both St John Ambulance (Guernsey) and the Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service (as sister organisations) remain under the umbrella of the Venerable Order of St John, but through independent local control, rather than the English Priory. Operating 24 hours a day,