The War Illustrated, Volume 3, No. 45, Page 20, July 12, 1940.

On July 1st, 1940, German troops landed in the Channel Islands by air. Three days before the Home Office had announced that the Islands had been demilitarized, but, notwithstanding, Jersey and Guernsey were both bombed and defenceless civilians were machine gunned, the death toll on the one island being 29 and 10 on the other. The casualties would have been far heavier had the greater part of the population not been already evacuated. Evacuation became inevitable when the German occupied the coast of France. None of the islands are 40 miles distant from the coast of France. A great fleet of ships, including paddle-steamers, cargo boats and many small craft, carried men, women and children to western ports of England, though some of the islanders chose to remain behind.