The demilitarisation or the Channel Islands came as some- thing
of a shock to British newspaper readers, who first heard of it last Saturday, June 29th. But the local Jersey papers had long since published full reports of the sittings of the "States," as the Jersey Parliament is called, at which the situation was revealed. The session of June 17th, it is true, was secret, "to discuss matters of extreme urgency," but the public session of June 19th was marked by a certain dramatic element, for while evacuation and the prospect of demilitarisa- tion was actually being discussed, a message was brought in to the Lieutenant-Governor from the War Office that demili- tarisation had been definitely decided on by the Cabinet. The demeanour of all concerned in face of an impending German occupation (the islands lie close to the French coast and are therefore indefensible) was clearly admirable.
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