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| 17 June
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Jersey ships sent to St Malo to help troops evacuate
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| 18 June
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Home Office again decides to evacuate women, children and men of military age at meeting attended by Jurat Edgar Dorey
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| 19 June
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Lieut-Governor informed of UK decision to demilitarise the islands and evacuation plan announced in Evening Post
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| 20 June
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Last troops leave Jersey and Militia disbands. 23,000 people register for evacuation in Jersey. Jurat Dorey tells the States of Jersey of his ‘disgust’ at prospect of local people (‘who should be rooted to the soil’) leaving. Bailiff Alexander Coutanche speaks to crowd in Royal Square urging people to keep calm. German Admiral commanding France, Karl-Georg Schuster, receives orders from Berlin that the occupation of the Channel Islands is ‘urgent and important’.
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| 21 June
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Lieut-Governors leave Jersey and Guernsey, leaving Bailiffs to assume their civil responsibilities.
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| 22 June
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Home Office press release announcing demilitarisation is prepared but withheld.
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| 24 June
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King George VI sends message to Bailiffs. Coutanche chairs first meeting of emergency council.
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| 28 June
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German air raids on the islands (33 killed in Guernsey, 11 in Jersey). Demilitarisation announced on BBC 9 pm news.
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| 30 June
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US Ambassador in London, Joseph Kennedy, asked to inform Germans of demilitarisation.
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| 1 July
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German ultimatum dropped on Jersey and first troops arrive, commanded by Major Gussek. Major Albrecht Lanz, first Military Commander of Channel Islands, arrives in Guernsey. Orders issued in Jersey regarding curfew and other controls.
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| 2 July
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Alderney occupied.
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| 4 July
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Sark occupied.
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| 8 July
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Second set of German orders issued in Jersey.
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| 10 July
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Lieutenants Philip Martel and Desmond Mulholland land in Guernsey on reconnaisance mission.
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| 15 July
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British attempt to land three parties totalling 140 men in Guernsey fails.
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| 28 July
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After hiding with family members, Martel and Mulholland give themselves up. Sent to France as prisoners of war.
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| August
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Jean Louis Jouault represents Jersey on Purchasing Commission for islands which starts work in France.
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| 9 August
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The civil affairs unit, Feldkommandantur 515, arrives in Jersey commanded by Colonel Schumacher.
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| 10 August
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Census estimates Jersey’s population as 41,101.
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| 4 September
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Further military landings in Guernsey to reconnoitre German troops. Plan to land Robert Le Masurier in Jersey abandoned.
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| 17 September
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Communal meals for children begin in Jersey.
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| 19 September
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Gussek leaves, handing military responsibilities to Prinz von und zu Waldeck; civil duties have been taken up by Schumacher.
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| 26 September
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Oberst Rudolf Graf von Schmettow appointed CI military commander.
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| 27 September
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First Order against Jews registered in Jersey, four weeks before Guernsey.
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| 11 November
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Confiscation of wireless sets ordered in Jersey because of ‘cases of espionage’ in Guernsey
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| December
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Red Cross messages begin to arrive.
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| June
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Infantry Division 319 relieves Infantry Division 216 in the islands. Major General Erich Müller appointed military commander based in Guernsey, Von Schmettow remains in charge in Jersey.
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| June
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Hitler asks to see maps of the islands’ defences.
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| 13 June
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Hitler orders reinforcement of the islands.
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| 25 June
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Traffic switches to drive on right side of road
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| August
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Bread rationing introduced, following all other basic foodstuffs. Seasonal fruit and vegetables remain unrestricted.
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| 3 September
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Dr Wilhelm Casper becomes Chief Administrator at Feldkommandantur 515.
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| 12 September
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Hitler suggest deportation of 10 islanders for an German taken hostage by Britain in Iran.
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| October
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Germans demand lists of various categories of Jersey residents, including those born in the UK, British officers and reserve officers. Organisation Todt workers ordered to islands. Eventually up to 16,000 will arrive throughout the islands. Fuel rationing begins in Jersey.
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| 21 September
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22-year-old Denis Vibert escapes to England in 8-foot dinghy. Produces report for British Government on the situation in Jersey.
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| 4 October
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Colonel Knackfuss succeeds Schumacher, who resigns on health grounds.
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| 20 October
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Hitler issues order regarding fortification.
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| November
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Dr Fritz Todt, head of the Organisation Todt, visits CI
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| 17 March
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Frenchman Francois Scornet shot at St Ouen’s Manor for trying to escape from France to England.
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| 7 April
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German military counter-intelligence (Abwehr) in France suggests ban on all islanders' radios.
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| 21 April
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Three foreign single Jewish women deported from Guernsey to France. Sent to Auschwitz in July and die there.
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| May
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Trial of 17 Guernsey policemen for stealing from German stores. Guernsey police force put under German supervision.
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| 3 May
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Dennis Audrain, Peter Hassall and Maurice Gould attempt to escape from Jersey. Audrain drowns, Hassall and Gould sent to Germany. Gould dies in 1943. Hassall survives.
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| 30 May
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Knackfuss informed about decision to confiscate radios under Article 53 of Hague Convention.
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| 6 June
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Bailiff of Jersey informed of confiscation of radios.
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| 8 June
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Notice of confiscation in Evening Post
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| 9 June
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Guernsey Bailiff writes to Coutanche about his protest against radio confiscation
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| 13 June
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10,050 Jersey radios confiscated indefinitely.
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| 20 June
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Ten hostages taken in response to distribution of 'Patriots' bulletin denouncing confiscation of radios. Authors, the Gallichan brothers, give themselves up and receive prison sentences.
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| 22 July
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Hitler talks about the future of the CI claiming that fortifications will prevent them being retaken by the British and that they will become a Ley health resort after the war.
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| 13 August
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Over 1,000 foreign workers arrive in Jersey.
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| September
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Hitler reissues deportation order, after discovering that 1941 order was not carried out.
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| 15 September
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Coutanche learns of deportation order and protests to Knackfuss, threatening resignation. Instructs Constables not to select deportees.
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| 16 September
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Superior Council decides States will provide ‘food, clothing, footwear, toys, books, education material, sewing machines and other articles’. 280 deportees leave Jersey.
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| 18 September
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346 deportees leave Jersey.
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| 22 September
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Superior Council protests on basis of the Richthofen surrender document, guaranteeing inviolability of the lives, well-being and property of Channel Islanders in case of peaceful surrender.
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| 29 September
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560 deportees leave Jersey, bringing total to 1186.
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| December
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Red Cross parcels arrive at internment camps.
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| 18 December
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Order for the Protection of the Occupying Authorities creates an offence of not reporting an infraction of German orders.
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| January
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1011 internees, all but 20 from CI, counted by Red Cross in Biberach.
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| February
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201 further deportees
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| 3 March
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Joseph Tierney arrested in St Saviour wireless case
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| 9 April
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St Saviour wireless case trial. The sentences for ringleaders harsher than usual. Four eventually taken to the Continent, including Canon Clifford Cohu, who dies at the SS ‘work education camp’ in Zöschen, in September 1944.
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| May
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Allied raids on shipping in the CI area lead to German decision to reduce food rations to British nationals. Coutanche threatens appeal to Red Cross. Cuts moderated but extended to all islanders. Ration levels reinstated after three months. While investigating robbery, Jersey police informed that James Davey and Frederick Page have radios. Germans informed. Page will die in German prison. Wehrmacht strength in islands reaches 26,800 (13,000 in Guernsey, 10,000 in Jersey, 2,850 in Alderney).
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| January
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484,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete have been used on CI fortifications, one twelfth of the total for the Atlantic Wall. Eelven heavy batteries with 38 strongpoints, more than along the 600 mile stretch of French coastline from Dieppe to Saint Nazaire.
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| 2 March
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Feldkommandant Knackfuss leaves Jersey, to face trial over ‘defeatist remarks’.
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| 19 May
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Baron von Aufsess becomes principal German administrator.
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| June
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Allied landing in Normandy. CI German garrison put on high alert.
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| 30 June
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One of the last groups of prisoners, including Louisa Gould and Harold Le Druillenec, reaches St Malo, together with slave workers from Alderney.
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| 22 July
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German military governor in France contemplates evacuation (to the UK) of all islanders not active in food production and essential infrastructure, or an approach to the International Red Cross for relief measures.
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| August
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St Malo recaptured by Allied forces and last CI link with France is cut.
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| 31 August
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Coutanche sends memo to the Germans on food supplies. Allies drop leaflets.
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| 1 September
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Two letters on SHAEF notepaper are dropped in the Channel Islands for the attention of von Schmettow.
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| September
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German High Command orders reduction of food distribution to the civilian population to the absolute minimum, or evacuation. Gas supply ceases in Jersey.
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| 22 September
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Allies seek early surrender but Von Schmettow refuses to meet envoys off the coast of Guernsey.
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| 27 September
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British government informed by Swiss of the food situation in the CI, and German preparedness to accept evacuation of the civilians or relief through Red Cross. Churchill demands pressure on Germans to surrender.
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| October
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Germans launch campaign of islands-wide searches for food hoards.
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| 30 October
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Superior Council hands communication to the Protecting Power to von Aufsess.
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| November
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Requisitions of food continue. Medical services grind to standstill. Insulin running low.
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| 7 November
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Churchill agrees to send relief to the islands.
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| December
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Red Cross vessel ‘Vega’ leaves Lisbon on 20 December for first of several trips to the CI, docking at Guernsey on 27 December and Jersey three days later, carrying 750 tons of supplies saving the population from starvation.
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