They were British, they were handy to exploit, they could be used as bases for their E-Boats and they certainly didn't want the British operating from them.
They took them and occupied them. England was ill equipped to defend them while their very shores were threatened. It was a sacrifice that had to be made for the greater good of the UK.
Yes, I think so. Certainly all the inhabited ones anyway....
They were weak
The Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey. In the Mediterranean the Germans also pounded Malta from the air, but did not invade. The British and Germans had a vicious battle on the Greek island of Crete, which the Germans won, ejecting the British.
The Germans used the Channel Islands mainly as a military hospital and recuperation camp. I don't believe the Italians were there at all.
Austria, Czecoslovakia, Poland, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Danzig, Memel Territory, Yugoslavia, Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, USSR, Channel Islands and Italy
The Germans invaded Guernsey on June 30, 1940 during World War II as part of Hitler's strategy to occupy British territory. The occupation lasted for nearly five years until May 9, 1945 when the Channel Islands were liberated by the Allies.
The Channel Islands, south of England were occupied in WW2 and the Germans used them as R&R bases and military hospitals. The Germans built many huge and strong gunposts around the islands to repel British warships.
The Germans were fooled into believing that the Allies would invade France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, to land in or near calais. The landing in Normandy, was initially viewed by the Germans as a diversion.
They didn't, although they did occupy the channel islands from June 30th 1940 until 9th May 1945.
Yes, they invaded and occupied the channel islands. ----- Actually, no. They did invade the channel islands, but the channel islands are not part of England or even of the UK. They are a crown dependency. They are remnants of the old Duchy of Normandy, which never reverted to France, and are separate. It is for this reason that one of the titles of Queen Elizabeth II is Duke of Normandy (note: properly "duke," not "duchess," in this case).
To fool the Germans that the Allies intended to invade France at Dunkirk, rather than at Normandy.
The Channel Islands (Norman: Îles d'la Manche, French: Îles Anglo-Normandes or Îles de la Manche) are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy.The islands were the only part of the British Commonwealth occupied by Germany during the Second World War.Source: Wikipedia
2001
400 a.D.