page_title: German fortification of Guernsey
section_title: German Troops
hierarchical_section_title: German fortification of Guernsey / German Troops
caption_attribution_description: English: Insignia of the German 319th Infantry Division
context_page_description: After the Wehrmacht occupied the Channel Islands on 30 June 1940, they assessed the existing defences to determine if they would be of use. The Germans found the Islands' fortifications antiquated and woefully inadequate for modern warfare.
  Because the Germans expected to invade the United Kingdom in the autumn of 1940, they decided that expenditure on defences for the islands would be a waste. Initially the Germans built only feldmässige Anlage positions. By 1941 the prospect of conquering Britain had decreased and the probability of an eastern war increased, requiring defences to be built to reduce the number and quality of troops required to defend the western ocean areas. Whilst the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine had their roles in protecting the islands from the Allies, the occupying forces put their main effort into land defences aimed at repelling a seaborne or airborne assault.
  The resulting construction work in the Channel Islands was extensive; it required thousands of workers and massive supplies of cement and steel. Tiny Guernsey received special treatment.
context_section_description: 319 Infantry Division (319 ID), which had been created in November 1940 and was designed as a static division for service in occupied Europe, was allocated to the islands. Reinforced with additional Heer units including 16th Machine Gun Battalion and 213th Panzer Battalion, and Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe units.
  This took the troops in Guernsey up to 12,000. The civilian population in Guernsey was 23,000. Guernsey had to pay for the German troops, providing them with and paying for their food, accommodation and transport.
  319 ID provided the bulk of troops for the whole of the Channel Islands, it became the largest division in the German army. Only about 30% of the original 319 ID personnel were still with the unit in June 1944, the fitter men having been sent to the Eastern Front, to be replaced with less fit and non German troops. Army troops were rotated to Alderney for three month tours of duty.
  In September 1944 there were 10,980 troops in Guernsey comprising:
  Heer - Infantry 4,150 - Anti-tank 430 - Tank 180 - Artillery 520 - Coastal Artillery 1,130 - Engineers 90 - Signals 180 - Supply 720
  Luftwaffe 1,850
  Kriegsmarine 1,420
  Construction 310
caption: 319 Infantry Division
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