Law of Guernsey by the Court of Alderney at a special sitting on Saturday 28 January 2017. King John, who reigned from 1199 to 1216, lost the English-controlled territories in Normandy in France following the 1204 Siege of Château Gaillard, the remaining Norman lands being the Channel Islands. King John promised the islands independence and the right to continue governing themselves after they confirmed their allegiance to the English Crown. Agents of the Crown called bailiffs would enforce the laws and run the courts, one in Jersey and one in Guernsey; the areas under the authority of these bailiffs were called bailiwicks. In
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"