MovieChat Forums > Island at War (2005) Discussion > Wrong Wrong Wrong

Wrong Wrong Wrong

posted 15 years ago by w_e_m_m
7 replies | jump to latest

I am from Guernsey, the island St Gregory most closely "resembles". It was here that the harbour was bombing by the German airforces mistaking trucks of tomatoes for army trucks on he quay, it was here that 2 spies landed early on in the occupation.

I, along with most people in the islands, watched this series with great anticipation only to be disappointed with the rubbish that was shown. I will admit that from what my family have said and what I have read the sense of confusion amongst the States (government of Guernsey) caused by the UK saying one thing then the opposite re evactuation & defense etc, that was conveyed in Episode 1 was fairly accurate but there was were it ended.

I have read all of these topics and I am sorry to say to all of the people who have written abut various love affairs depicted in this series what a lot of nonsense they all are. The island women were not all leaping into bed with Germans. In this ludicrous series most of the female characters married or not either are or are tempted to be hopping into bed with anyone with an 'allo 'allo accent.

I know this is a fictional series but it portrays people who suffered being abandonned by the government (twice), forced to share thier islands with the enemy and they left starving from the D-Day landings (1944) until the day after the war had finished (9th May 1945)*, in an extremely bad light.

*As the surrounding French coast was surrendered by the German, the Allies left the german held islands cut off with no food or fuel for nearly a year (the islands then as now import all fuel and almost all food). I must admit I would have been interested in this shocking state of affairs being revealed to a wider audience along with the deportation to camps in Germany of all islanders with British (as opposed to local) passports in 1942.

Thankfully this drivelling nonsense stopped after 1 series.

[–] Miinerva 15 years ago

Well it was an enjoyable series and probably not meant to be taken as a historical account. The Guernsey novel is a current bestseller in the States and perhaps you don't care for that either?

"Mr. Willoughby, you are not welcome here."

[–] suomi_metal 14 years ago

True, it may not have been written with the intent of being 100% historically accurate, however it could be argued that it's one of the lesser known WW2 events; had it been about the Blitz on London, for example, it might have been easier for viewers to identify inaccuracies as that is a more well-known event on the whole.

Maybe what w_e_m_m was worried about is that, although it's just a TV show, people believe what they see, and will get the wrong idea about the events and the people of the Islands. As it is a period piece, many viewers might assume that it IS entirely correct and may not bother to research the Channel Islands Occupation any further.

If I were from Guernsey, as w_e_m_m is, I'd probably be a little ticked off as well. ;) (Having said that, I did enjoy as basically a piece of fictional television, etc.)

Interesting question about the Guernsey Island Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-- w_e_m_m, what do you think of that, if you've read it?

Also, are there any interviews with the writers that anyone knows of where they address issues of inaccuracy?

Thanks! :)

[–] dan.adams 14 years ago

What a soap opera! Best watch "Enemy at the Door" :-)

[–] Ahdar 12 years ago

"I have read all of these topics and I am sorry to say to all of the people who have written abut various love affairs depicted in this series what a lot of nonsense they all are. The island women were not all leaping into bed with Germans. In this ludicrous series most of the female characters married or not either are or are tempted to be hopping into bed with anyone with an 'allo 'allo accent."
Actually it does seem there was a lot of that going on. Obviously, the women weren't advertising it at the time. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/04/news/04iht-dukes.t.html

[–] Broadsman 11 years ago

I find it extremly amusing the the person who claimed it to be WRONG WRONG WRONG!
WAS WRONG ON MOST COUNTS!
Actually Wrong on all counts!

[–] jvdesuit1 10 years ago

I just fully agree with your comments; I read the historical facts on wikipedia which I did not know about. Obviously in the mind of people only what happened on the main land was considered to this day worth caring for. And yes you're quite right only the first episode gives real facts.

Someone however on one of the reviews was shocked by the portrayal of the people with their naive behavior in front of the occupant. My belief unless proved otherwise is that it is consistent at the beginning of the invasion with what happened before the war was declared in 1939 by England.

Let's never forget that in 1933 England had secured a secret bilateral treaty with Germany to set naval military force in Germany and had not even told about it to its allies and that was in full breech of the Versailles treaty.

Churchill discovered a few months before the war that arms were sold by England to Germany.

Let's not forget the meeting of that stupid irresponsible fool of Chamberlain who in Munich after meeting Hitler said despite the Anschluss that he was a very courteous man! I remember having seen it on youtube not very long ago.

I do think that it took some months to occupied Islands people to realize the true reality of the situation and the kind of monsters who had robbed their territories.

But for the other episodes of the series it is a shameful production of the worst quality ever made by the British television.

[–] GladtobeGrey 8 years ago

I am very sorry to have to disagree with you with regards to Island women who fraternised with German soldiers during the occupation. Public Records information released in 1996 shows that very many did have affairs with the occupying forces and many of those relationships also produced children. Here is a link to 'The Independent' newspaper link containing an article about it:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/channel-island-people-profited-from-nazis-1353247.html