Check the listing for details. WW2 German Occupation of Jersey 'Organisation Todt' Mann's Rucksack 1941-1945. Condition: Used. Listed at 238.48 USD. A superb near mintWorld War Two'German Occupation of Jersey'M.31 Ruck-sackissued to the Organisation Todt Personneloverseeing the fortifications being constructed inthe British Channel Islands between 1940 & 1945. In 1940, after the German invasion of France & The Low Countries the UK government ordered the evacuation of theBritish Channel Islands(Crown Dependency islands off the coast of France)and the Germans simply flew in advance troops, uncontested , and took over the undefended islands,so beginning a long occupation of these beautiful Norman-French island communities. What followed was a long, tough but ultimately benign occupationas chronicled in Brian Matthews' 50' TV documentary'Channel Islands Occupied'. Hitler, fearing an Allied attempt to take back these 8 islands,began a massive fortification programme as a part of his famousAtlantic Walland the islands were slowly covered with heavy coastal gun batteries, anti-tank walls and the famous tunnels, all built by The Organisation Todt... But an attack never came and so the islands settled downto an uneasy truce for the next 6 yearsof Guernsey civilians militarily ruled by the German occupiers After the Allied D-Day invasion of the Normandy coastline on June 6th 1944the islands were by-passed, becoming instead temporary medical facilities for German troops injured across the water inThe Battle for Normandy The island's underground munitions tunnels now becamemake-shift field hospitals on the twomain islands of Guernsey & Jersey and asmaller one of the northern-most island of Alderney As the war raged across North-West Europe the islands wereeffectively cut off and the winter of 1944/1945 became a nightmare as food & supplies ran out. However the International Red Cross launched a rescue missionand sent the medical ship SS Vega to the islandswith much-needed relief..but for the civilian communities only...the Germans had to make do with very little...if nothing at all! Happily at war's end on May 8th 1945, the islands German garrisons surrendered the day after on May 9th without a shot being fired. With both Ruck-sack leather straps in situ and stampedO.T AUSR.(Organisation Todt Equipment)the top tie-cord is also in placeand all the leather sewn-on cotton is in a clean, white condition,. With a quick release shoulder strap on one side and just the minimum of wear on the inner side, this is a reallysuperb looking para-military ruck-sack and a terrific souvenir fromNazi Occupied Britain 1940-1945 Found & acquired in recent years on the Channel Island of Jersey. (Photos courtesy of The Tomahawk Films WW-II German Archive)(Coloured Photos of Alderney Courtesy of Brian Matthews) Thanks for looking..!