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
German fortification of Guernsey Guernsey comprising: Commanding Officer of the German garrison, Lieutenant-General Graf von Schmettow, nephew of Gerd von Rundstedt commander of OB West (Commander-in-Chief West), ordered the writing of a 500-page book that described the fortifications in great detail, illustrated with maps, photographs and coloured drawings. A copy was destined for Hitler. The chapters from the original book have been reproduced in a set of ten paperbacks. "Festung Guernsey" (fortress Guernsey). Whether the Islands were impregnable was never tested, except for "Battery Bluecher" in Alderney. Alderney was considered too well-protected against aircraft attack so HMS Rodney was tasked with shelling it. "Rodney"