The archaeology of occupation, 1940-2009: a case study from the Channel Islands

Abstract

The occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II and its subsequent commemoration, memorialisation and re-enactment as heritage offers a parable for the advent of materiality in many other periods and places. The author draws a contrast between the official and the clandestine at the time of occupation, and points out the even more illuminating contrast between first hand domestic memories gradually fading with the generations and the public recognition of the events in museums, monuments and memorials – which on some islands took more than half a century to come to pass.