It's June 1940 and the people of Guernsey are preparing for the arrival of the German forces. For some it's too much and they prepare to flee with deadly consequences. Others stay and prepare to fight their own battle at home.
The Germans focus on the 'subversive' publications at the library, confiscating books they deem inappropriate. A scuffle leads to a SS officer becoming injured and Mrs Brown, the librarian, being placed under arrest. Her values and stiff upper lip lead her into deeper trouble.
It is Autumn, 1940. A dance is arranged by the Germans, a propaganda exercise by the SS commander. The plan miscarries and a young soldier is put on trial for his life.
A British landing on occupied Guernsey earlier in the year, starts to go awry almost from the start. The events lead with ruthless logic to violent tragedy.
Reconnaissance for an amphibious landing of British forces has been carried out. The assault takes place with unanticipated results. Clive Martel organises a rear-guard action and seeks refuge with friends who have flown.
Winter 1940, during the Nazi Occupation of the Channel Islands. The Kommandant orders a crackdown on civil disobedience. A young boy unwittingly aids the Germans.
Winter 1940. To counteract cold and hunger, the islanders plan to present an Ivor Novello comedy. But echoes of a death in Latvia seven years ago disturb the plans.
For a small Guernsey boy, dangerously ill, a new German drug is a matter of life and death. Dr Martel comes into possession of some of the missing tablets and falls under suspicion. The wily ex-Hamburg policeman Kluge and a local detective sergeant seek to use the situation to their own purpose and succeed.
After her father dies Betty takes a job at Nazi headquarters. A romance soon blossoms with one of the soldiers, Erich, and she inevitably becomes pregnant. When Erich is posted to Dresden, Betty fears she will never hear from him again.
A German General comes to the island on a mission of deadly secrecy. The stealth of his visit is matched by another who arrives at dead of night.
Edward Bree and his mother become pawns in a German scheme to re-site a gun emplacement. Meanwhile, Dr Martel finds himself the unwitting accessory to crime when he offers some advice.
A new adjutant arrives in Guernsey for battle training with his regiment. Hauptmann Manfred von Bulow is a Prussian aristocrat who knew Hauptsturm-Fuhrer Reinicke of the Waffen SS in Paris. But when he knows about Reinicke's past results in a death and a duel.
A British destroyer has been sunk by a new, fast German torpedo boat. Clare Martel and Peter Porteous are determined to send a picture of the German warship and a plan of its moorings back to London, a scheme which produces unanticipated and grave results.
Two years of occupation have eradicated both soldier and islander morale. Unable to forget a haunting incident, Clare Martel finds herself in trouble once again. Major Richter intervenes, but his sympathy is stifled by his colleagues.
While the islanders starve, the Germans throw a gala for a visiting general. With local rations depleted, businessman Foster-Smythe devises a dangerous plot to steal from the German stockpiles. Meanwhile, Clare Martel's depression becomes self destructive.
Dr. Philip Martel returns from six months in a war prison but his reunion is soured by Clare's unresponsive condition. The Germans investigate treason in their own ranks, accusing Hauptmann Anders of conspiracy.
Renegade Foster-Smythe is ruthless in his defiance of German forces. But when a soldier's recklessness proves fatal, he aligns with two men seeking revenge, serves justice to the Germans, and ultimately escapes the island.
Dr. Martel refuses to rejoin the committee to represent the islanders, even with Major Richter's firm endorsement. When the locals' water supply is cut off, Dr. Martel is forced to once again plead with officials.
Black marketeer Teddy Lupus benefits greatly from his German deals. When a bitter Peter Porteous returns from prison, he targets Lupus in revenge. A heated confrontation ends with Lupus dead and Porteous is charged with his murder.
The German military brass arrives on the tiny island of Sark to survey new air defense equipment. Their tour ends in turmoil when British soldiers launch a surprise attack. The battle to claim the island could lead to a turning point in the war.
An anonymous letter accuses Hertha Clifford of selling contraband cigars from her tea room. Her friend Lieutenant Helmut Wulf is forced to speak against her. Throughout Guernsey, rumors of mass deportation abound.
The Germans reinstate the Inter-Island Chess Tournament to boost morale. Heated Islander-soldier competition begins on and off the board. The Germans use deceitful tactics, but General Major Muller finds himself facing a worthy opponent.
Fathered by a German soldier, Betty Ridge's son has suffered horrible discrimination. The boy's uncle, Standartenfuhrer Grunwald, comes to the island to take Eric back to Germany, where he will have a chance for a better life.
Russian prisoner of war Kiril Kamerovsky assaults a Nazi guard and escapes, but is harboured by Jenny Glover. Sturmbannfuhrer Reinicke makes a personal commitment to track him down, defying German orders in the process.
Swedish reporter Nils Borg uncovers details about prisoners being worked to death at a local camp but refuses to reveal his sources. German propagandist Trudi Engel enlists her femininity to prevent an unflattering story.
Disorder rocks the island as thieves plunder local farms. Peter Porteus realises that joining the war effort is his only way off Guernsey. By placing his fate in the hands of a suspicious man, Porteous may finally be granted a future.
