page_title: Inter-community conflict in the German-occupied Channel Islands
section_title: Red Cross Messages
hierarchical_section_title: Inter-community conflict in the German-occupied Channel Islands / Communications / Red Cross Messages
caption_attribution_description: English: Red Cross letter sent from Guernsey to England in December 1941
context_page_description: Life as a civilian during the five years of occupation of the Channel Islands by the German army, which started in June 1940 was difficult and as the war progressed, became much harder. The winter of 1944-45 was particularly hard when food and fuel were in short supply and liberation seemed so close and yet so far away
  There were major events, milestones in the occupation, however between these, life continued as best as it could given the circumstances. It became a matter of survival awaiting liberation.
  Overall, and considering that at times there were two German soldiers and one Organisation Todt worker for every five civilians in the very small land area in the islands, there was minimal contact and socialising between the three groups. The bulk of the civilian population kept itself apart, for very good reasons.
context_section_description: Red Cross messages became very important to the islanders. Normally routed via Germany then Sweden or Portugal, it could take weeks or months to arrive. The number of words written on the cards was limited, as well as vetted. Many islanders placed secret codes in their messages to their evacuated relatives. Many Red Cross letters were published in a monthly magazine, The Channel Islands Monthly Review created in Stockport, England by adult Channel Island evacuees.
  This was one area where restriction were gradually lifted, the number of words increased from 10 to 25. The number and frequency of cards one could send also increased. The requirement to come and collect your message changed to simply posting the message to recipients.
  Nearly one million messages were dealt with by the bureau volunteers before the islands were isolated in late 1944 and messages stopped.
caption: December 1941 Red Cross letter from England
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "HC-X800", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.1.00", "Image DateTime": "2016:04:07 15:15:40", "Image ExifOffset": "186", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/50", "EXIF FNumber": "3/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:04:07 15:15:40", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:04:07 15:15:40", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "33/5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "6/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "71/25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4896", "EXIF SensingMethod": "Three-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "30", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}