​​The arrival of the OT almost coincided with the issuing of Adolf Hitler’s Fortification Directive for the Channel Islands in October 1941. It stated, ‘With regard to the permanent fortifications of the Islands, to convert them into an impregnable fortress (which must be pressed forward with the utmost speed).’ Even before then 3,500 tonnes of cement had been unloaded at St Malo for onward shipping to Jersey.

​The OT wasted no time establishing themselves by requisitioning hotels and other buildings for purposes including administration, vehicle repair, laundry, ration, materials and fuel stores. By November 1941 diarist Leslie Sinel noted, ‘Germans are absolutely pouring in, including civilians…there were over forty different steamers and barges in the harbour today, all unloading. German building firms are trying to get local labour…’

​Cranes were later imported from France to handle the huge influx of vessels and cargo. Many local lorries were appropriated and they inaugurated their railway in July 1942 to move building materials and troop supplies around the Island. Construction of a steam power-station began the same year when huge stone crushing plants were imported for the Island’s quarries.

​The impact of all this on the Island was huge. As stated by Leslie Sinel on 30 April 1942, ‘one cannot walk anywhere without seeing a gun position, sentries, barbed wire and sandbags…Railway tracks are laid down anywhere, regardless of reason or convenience, and it will take years, if ever, to restore the Island to its former charm; in some of the most beautiful bays huge walls have been erected.’

​The fortification programme continued at a relentless pace until the late summer of 1943 when the OT began to withdraw. By that time the landscape had been transformed. Sinel was there again to document it. ‘The Island is in a state of destruction that must be seen to be believed; railway tracks are running all over the country parishes and the harbours, while gun emplacements etc. have sprung up in every conceivable spot…cement still comes in large quantities.’

​To compensate for the withdrawal of German troops in the summer of 1943, men of the Russian Liberation Army (POA) were brought in whilst Frenchmen were replacing German men as OT employees and brigades of Italian troops arrived.