Fortress Guernsey

Guernsey has always been in a position where its defence is top of the agenda. This fortress on the north-west coast is a perfect example. It was built in the 1600's. The next major threat came from Napoleon in the early 19th century. So the fortress was painstakingly re-fortified to keep out "old Boney".

In 1941, Adolf Hitler decided that Guernsey should be fortified as a great naval bulwark. The island remained much more heavily protected than mainland Europe itself. Yet again, this fortress was worked over as part of the very complex pattern of naval defense towers, gun emplacements, and fortresses that ringed the island.

So the defences were built by the British against the French, and then a little later by the Germans against the British. How very peculiar.

The last fortification exercise was particularly painful. Thousands of "Todt workers" were imported by the Germans. These slaves came from all over Europe - and they were used as nothing more than an expendable and temporary asset - to work until literally they dropped and died from disease, malnutrition or other violent treatment.

It was a black and shameful time. In the event, Fortress Guernsey was never put to the test - because the Allied invasion of Europe bypassed the islands and went straight for the coast of Normandy. But the concrete bunkers and towers still cover the island to this day.