19. Thousands Chose to Evacuate the Islands
When the British government announced that they were basically going to give up the Channel Islands to the Germans, they gave every citizen the option of leaving on ships. Many children were sent to England without their parents, while they stayed behind to watch over their houses. The vast majority of the remaining population were adults, but some people chose to keep their families together. In retrospect, it almost seems obvious that they should choose to leave. However, at the time, people truly debated their options. Some were afraid of the evacuation boats being shot by German submarines.
The ones who chose to stay behind called the people who left “cowards”, and said that it was their duty to protect their homes. Over 25,000 people chose to leave before the Germans got there, but tens of thousands of people stayed, despite knowing the potential danger they were putting themselves in. On the island of Jersey, 41,101 people remained (470 on Guernsey, 470 in Sark, and only 18 in Alderney.) They did not want to leave their homes, or they may not have had anywhere else to go on the mainland. Those who chose to stay would later regret it, because the Germans did not show any mercy. According to one survivor, the German planes flew over the beaches in Geurnesey and shot at a crowd of very young children, killing them all.