Island At War (2004)

I just finished watching all the episodes and have to say that for the most part it was very good. Even though the show/movie takes place on a made-up island within the British Channel Islands it showed what the citizens had to endure under the German Occupation during World War 2. It was the only British territory to be occupied by the Germans during the war.

The fact that the British Government just abandoned the islands and didn't tell the Germans (which lead to the Germans bombing the docks) shows the extent of London's concern for the islands. From June 1940 to May 1945 the islands were left on their own. Only after the war did London finally come in and take control.

The islands not only had to deal with the occupying Germans (there were about 2 soldiers to every 1 islander) but also those on the island that were collaborators. There were the women who hung out with the Germans and were known as "Jerrybags", the Jews and the non-native islanders that were not born on the island (the Jews were deported to concentration camps in Germany and Poland while the non-native islanders were deported to camps in France.)

The islands also became part of the German fortification called the "Atlantic Wall." To create these defenses (since the Germans assumed the British would do anything they could to retake the islands) was to bring forced labor from Eastern Europe to the islands.

My only concern about the show/movie was that it just ended and didn't go til the end of the war. I guess it wasn't that popular in the UK - where it is filmed - and so it just left you hanging (sort of like how the London Government left the Channel Islands hanging during the war.)