The WW2 Guernsey getaway that turned into a five-year holiday from hell
6-7 minute read
By Ellie Ayton | April 22, 2025
Imagine deciding to escape the harrowing grip of war in 1940, only to find yourself trapped on an island occupied by the Nazis. This is the story of an ordinary British family and how their two-week holiday turned into five years of fear.
In 1940, Britain was living under the long shadow of the Second World War. Rationing was the norm, everyone carried an identity card, and loved ones marched off to fight.
It’s no wonder the Dunkleys of Ramsgate, an ordinary family, longed for a peaceful break. But where would William, Olive, and their son go for a spot of R & R? Young Leonard, aged 19, chose Guernsey – the family already had fond memories of the Channel Islands from a previous visit.
Little did they know that the island that once promised rest and tranquillity would soon become a prison. Their planned vacation fortnight turned into five years.
Find your family's WW2 story
Search the 1939 Register
Barely days into their holiday, enjoying the sights of the pier, they heard the drone of planes in the distance. The war had come to Guernsey, and escape for the Dunkley family was impossible, as new research from Findmypast's Research Specialist Jen Baldwin shows.
The German Occupation of the Channel Islands
In the weeks before the Dunkleys' arrival, Europe was already engulfed in the horrors of the Second World War. France had fallen to the Nazis, and the Channel Islands, once a quiet retreat off the coast of Britain, became a strategic prize. The British government made the fateful decision not to defend the islands.
With the threat of invasion looming, thousands of civilians were evacuated from Guernsey, particularly children, and they fled to the safety of mainland Britain. Some completed ‘wish to return forms’, which can now be explored online for the first time.
Boys evacuated from Guernsey making their journey home from Manchester in 1945, from the Findmypast Photo Collection.
Then, as the sound of engines rumbled in the distance, German forces began their invasion of Guernsey on 28 June 1940. Bombers attacked St Peter Port, and 33 civilians were killed in the chaos.
Mrs Dunkley later recalled:
"We had a terrifying experience soon after we arrived at Guernsey. We were all on the pier one day when some German planes came over and began to drop bombs…we were very fortunate to escape."
By 30 June, the Germans landed unopposed in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, beginning their five-year occupation of the island.
German soldiers marching past a Boots pharmacy in the Channel Islands. By Unknown author - Unknown source, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.
The Dunkleys, who had only planned for a brief holiday, found themselves trapped.
Life under Nazi occupation
Life changed overnight for the Channel Islanders. The Dunkleys and other civilians now faced a life of imposed regulations, fear, and uncertainty.
A page from the German Occupation Orders, detailing initial orders from the German Commandant. You can view the full page here.
Newspapers, once filled with local goings-on, now came printed in German, with lessons on the language and hints of the occupation's harsh reality. "God Save the King" was banned, and anyone caught speaking out of turn to a German soldier could face 15 years in prison. The cinemas that once offered an escape now showed German films, complete with English subtitles.
This newspaper article went into detail about early life under German occupation. You can view the full article here.
Food was rationed and was of ‘poor quality’, the bread made of potatoes ‘indigestible’. The above report goes on to say that electricity and gas supplies were not expected to last the autumn. All of this was a cruel reminder of how the world for Channel Islanders had changed.
A Ministry of Food photographer took this image of Mrs A J Bell of Guernsey in 1945, when the island received its first British food provisions since 1940. From the Findmypast Photo Collection.
Identity cards were issued to control movement around the island, enforce curfews, provide access to rationed goods, and separate residents from foreign labourers brought to Guernsey. The German military had taken over all aspects of life.
Like all others in Guernsey at the time, each of the Dunkleys received an identity card.
We’ve published the original identity forms, many of which include the photographs that were added in 1941, and we can come face-to-face with the family who simply found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The next two years on the island were hard for the Dunkley family, just as they were for other civilians.
William’s occupation form from Guernsey. You can view the full record here.
William and Leonard found work, and the family lived in furnished apartments. Vegetables were expensive and difficult to come by. Every part of their day-to-day life was regimented. Crucially, the Dunkleys were not permitted to leave.
But another change was on the horizon.
From Guernsey occupation to civilian prisoners of war
As if the occupation wasn’t enough, life for the Dunkleys took an even darker turn. In 1942, they were deported from Guernsey to Germany and sent to Oflag V-B in Biberach, a camp for civilians taken from the Channel Islands.
Olive’s occupation form. You can view the full record here.
Amidst the deprivation, there was a glimmer of kindness from the Red Cross. Olive Dunkley later recalled:
"Living conditions were miserable and the food rations completely inadequate...but for the Red Cross parcels we would have starved."
Olive was separated from her husband and son at Biberach, but she was permitted to see them each day and do their washing and mending for them. It was barely a glimmer of the life they were used to before the war.
Young Leonard’s occupation form. You can see the full record here.
For William, the experience of being detained during wartime was not unfamiliar. Long before the dark days of the 1940s, he had already endured the harsh realities of war and captivity. A seasoned veteran of the First World War, William had been no stranger to battlefields and the anguish of imprisonment.
As a private in D Company of the 6th Buffs, he was captured on November 30, 1917, at Bon Avis. He spent years in the notorious Münster 2 Prisoner of War camp, where he faced the brutalities of war from the enemy's side. The scars of that time would stay with him, but they were only a prelude to the hardship he would face again decades later.
William’s prisoner of war record, which you can view in full here.
In the years that followed, the Dunkley family's remarkable story would capture the nation's attention.
What became of the Dunkley family?
As the world emerged from the grip of a six-year war, the tale of the Dunkleys became a symbol of endurance, survival, and the unbreakable spirit of a family determined to weather the storm.
Photos of Olive and William in the Thanet Advertiser, 17 April 1945. You can read the full article here.
Then, after a long five years, the Dunkley family finally returned home to Ramsgate in 1945 and were relieved to see their home did not bear the scars of war, as they perhaps did. Their quiet bravery, like that of the Channel Islanders, was a symbol of strength and defiance.
Childhood memories. New connections. Legacies preserved forever. The Guernsey Collection can unlock emotional, real-life family stories.
What poignant tales will you discover?
Related articles recommended for you
This is what it was like to be in London on VE Day in 1945
The Findmypast Community
The brave teenage codebreaker who helped pave the way for VE Day
Discoveries
These brave women secret agents died defending their countries
History Hub
