13. Citizens Lived on Substitute Foods and Nearly Died of Starvation
Before the Germans had occupied the islands, there was an order to cull all of the cows, so that the meat could be handed out to the citizens. Some of it was handed over to the Germans when they were ordered to, but much of it was kept secret by the butchers. This only helped for a short while, obviously, and soon, there was little to no meat on the islands at all. Sea mines were all around the coast, so citizens could not fish and get food the old-fashioned way. Normally, farmers on the Channel Islands sold corn seed to England, but they were forced to plant it again and ground it into corn flour. The Germans gave them ration cards, and they ate what were called “substitute foods”.
After D-Day, one would think that British people got a lot of help from England to get back to normal, but the unfortunate reality was that food rations actually became far worse for the islanders. Without the Germans bringing in their supplies, they were left with a winter of absolutely no food. Even though the Red Cross did their best to help, people were surviving on seaweed and parsnip tea. They had to send a letter to England for help, but it took a very long time for the Red Cross to finally show up with more food.