World War II in Photographs
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1940
THE OCCUPATION OF
THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
The Channel Islands were the only part of the United Kingdom to
be occupied by German forces. The two main islands, Jersey and
Guernsey were bombed on June 28, and German troops began
unopposed landings two days later. The occupation was in fact
harsher than was once suggested, and there is evidence of collabora-
tion by the islands' authorities in round-up and deportation of Jews.
This uncomfortable image, with its heavy propaganda message,
shows a policeman opening the door for the German commandant
of the Channel Islands, whose hotel headquarters on Guernsey still
bears the Automobile Association emblem awarded in happier times.
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1940
FRANCE
On the night of 16-17 June the French government formed
by Marshal Philippe Petain requested an armistice. But not
all Frenchmen were prepared to accept it. Charles de Gaulle,
a recently-promoted brigadier general who had fought with
some success in the campaign, left for England, and on June 18,
he broadcast on the BBC, urging his countrymen to continue
the fight on, and ten days later the British recognized him as the
leader of all free Frenchmen. The relationship between Churchill
and de Gaulle was never comfortable, but thanks to de Gaulle
the flame of France's national honour was kept alight.
ABOVE
Charles de Gaulle accompanies King
George VI in an inspection of Free
French troops, summer 1940.
BELOW
Marshal Petain, head of the French
state established at the spa town of
Vichy, shaking hands with Hitler.
1940
LEFT
The British were concerned that the
French fleet, the fourth largest in the
world, would fall into German hands.
This photograph shows part of a
powerful squadron, including the modern
battle-cruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg,
in the Algerian port of Mers-el-Kebir.
BELOW
The British demanded that the ships
at Mers-el-Kebir should join the British
fleet or be scuttled, handed over or
neutralized; they attacked when the
French, hardly surprisingly, refused.
The old battleship Bretagne blew up
and Dunkerque was crippled: almost
1300 French sailors died. This very painful
incident caused the Vichy government
to break off relations with Britain, but it
showed the international community
just how determined the British now were.
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1940
ABOVE
The battle of France was still being fought
when these little evacuees left London:
a policeman is checking one little tot's label
to make sure she boards the right train.
BRITAIN PREPARES
With the fall of France Britain stood alone, and Churchill
presciently informed his countrymen that Hitler would have to
"break us in this island or lose the war." Serious preparations
were made to meet an invasion, although, with so much of its
equipment lost in France, the army was pitifully weak.
The evacuation of children from London and other major cities,
begun the previous year but reversed (despite government pleas)
as many children returned to the cities when air attacks did not
materialize, resumed, and Britain braced itself for a long war.
OPPOSITE
Signposts and other direction indicators which
would have helped invaders to find their
way around the country were taken down.
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Most evacuees soon found their feet.
These children, photographed in the
winter of 1940-41, are from the home
at Kilronan, funded by money raised
by the Junior American Red Cross.
RIGHT
Beach defences transformed the
British coast. These little girls look
wistfully at the wired-off sand.
LEFT
When Churchill was asked what should
be done with "enemy aliens", German
and Italian citizens in England at the
outbreak of war (many of them refugees,
Jewish and non-Jewish), his reply was
characteristic: "Collar the lot." Here on
May 29, women and children, escorted by
police and officials, board a train which will
take them to internment on the Isle of Man.
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1940
ABOVE
Saucepans into Spitfires. With Britain's
isolation, some key raw materials became
scarce, and householders were urged to give
up aluminium cooking utensils for recycling.
RIGHT
There was much emphasis on "business as
usual", and the original caption to this
1940 photograph points out that these
bales of woollens are being exported.
OVERLEAF
On May 15, Churchill asked President
Roosevelt for the loan of American
destroyers. Roosevelt was initially negative,
but once he had been nominated for a third
term in office and seen British determination
at Mers-el-Kebir, he authorized a "destroyers
for bases" agreement. Although only nine
destroyers were delivered by the end of 1940
their portent was enormous. These sailors
are British, but two have obtained caps
from their vessel's original US Navy crew.
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