Editing English Channel (section)

=== Second World War ===
[[File:Battle of Britain map.svg|thumb|right|British radar facilities during the [[Battle of Britain]] 1940]]

During the [[World War II|Second World War]], naval activity in the [[European Theatre of World War II|European theatre]] was primarily [[Battle of the Atlantic|limited to the Atlantic]]. During the [[Battle of France]] in May 1940, the [[Wehrmacht|German forces]] succeeded in capturing both [[Battle of Boulogne (1940)|Boulogne]] and [[Siege of Calais (1940)|Calais]], thereby threatening the line of retreat for the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]]. By a combination of hard fighting and German indecision, the port of [[Dunkirk]] was kept open allowing 338,000 Allied troops to be evacuated in [[Operation Dynamo]]. More than 11,000 were evacuated from [[Le Havre]] during [[Operation Cycle]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Operation Cycle, the evacuation from Havre, 10-13 June 1940 |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_cycle.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423063550/http://historyofwar.org/articles/operation_cycle.html |archive-date=23 April 2015 |access-date=2 July 2014}}</ref> and a further 192,000 were evacuated from ports further down the coast in [[Operation Aerial]] in June 1940.<ref>[http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_aerial.html Operation Aerial, the evacuation from north western France, 15–25 June 1940] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016033459/http://historyofwar.org/articles/operation_aerial.html |date=16 October 2012 }}. Historyofwar.org. Retrieved on 29 July 2013.</ref> The early stages of the [[Battle of Britain]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fact File: Battle of Britain |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a1057330.shtml?sectionId=2&articleId=1057330 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128175240/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a1057330.shtml?sectionId=2&articleId=1057330 |archive-date=28 January 2012 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> featured German air attacks on Channel shipping and ports; despite these early successes against shipping the Germans did not win the [[air supremacy]] necessary for [[Operation Sealion]], the projected cross-Channel invasion.

The Channel subsequently became the stage for an intensive coastal war, featuring submarines, [[minesweeper (ship)|minesweepers]], and [[Fast Attack Craft]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Campaigns of World War II |first=Naval History Homepage |title=Atlantic, WW2, U-boats, convoys, OA, OB, SL, HX, HG, Halifax, RCN ... |url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsStartEurope.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113180911/http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsStartEurope.htm |archive-date=13 January 2011 |access-date=24 July 2007}}</ref>

The narrow waters of the Channel were considered too dangerous for major warships until the [[Normandy Landings]] with the exception, for the German [[Kriegsmarine]], of the [[Channel Dash]] (Operation Cerberus) in February 1942, and this required the support of the [[Luftwaffe]] in [[Operation Donnerkeil|Operation Thunderbolt]].

[[File:Batterie Les Longues sur Mer - panoramio.jpg|thumb|150 mm Second World War German gun emplacement in Normandy]]
[[File:German World War II tower Jersey.jpg|thumb|As part of the [[Atlantic Wall]], between 1940 and 1945 the occupying [[Wehrmacht|German forces]] and the [[Organisation Todt]] constructed fortifications round the coasts of the Channel Islands, such as this observation tower at Les Landes, Jersey.]]
[[Dieppe, Seine-Maritime|Dieppe]] was the site of an ill-fated [[Dieppe Raid]] by Canadian and British armed forces. More successful was the later [[Operation Overlord]] ([[D-Day]]), a massive invasion of [[Nazi Germany|German]]-occupied France by [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] troops. [[Caen]], [[Cherbourg-en-Cotentin|Cherbourg]], [[Carentan]], [[Falaise, Calvados|Falaise]] and other Norman towns endured many casualties in the fight for the province, which continued until the closing of the so-called [[Falaise pocket|Falaise gap]] between [[Chambois, Orne|Chambois]] and [[Montormel]], then liberation of [[Le Havre]].

The Channel Islands were the only part of the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]] [[German occupation of the Channel Islands|occupied by Germany]] (excepting the part of [[Egypt]] occupied by the [[Afrika Korps]] at the time of the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]], which was a protectorate and not part of the Commonwealth). The German occupation of 1940–1945 was harsh, with some island residents being taken for [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|slave labour]] on the Continent; native Jews sent to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]]; [[partisan (military)|partisan]] resistance and retribution; accusations of [[collaborationism|collaboration]]; and slave labour (primarily Russians and eastern Europeans) being brought to the islands to build fortifications.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Occupation Memorial HTML Library |url=http://www.thisisjersey.co.uk/hmd/html/organisationtodt.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114235621/http://www.thisisjersey.co.uk/hmd/html/organisationtodt.html |archive-date=14 January 2016 |access-date=10 February 2013 |publisher=Thisisjersey.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=4 May 2013 |title=World War II: British Channel Islands--German Fortifications (1941-43) |url=http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/eng/ci/w2b-cif.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305194320/http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/eng/ci/w2b-cif.html |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=6 September 2018 |publisher=Historical Boys' Clothing}}</ref> The [[Royal Navy]] blockaded the islands from time to time, particularly following the [[Invasion of Normandy|liberation of mainland Normandy]] in 1944. Intense negotiations resulted in some [[Red Cross]] humanitarian aid, but there was considerable hunger and privation during the occupation, particularly in the final months, when the population was close to starvation. The German troops on the islands surrendered on 9 May 1945, a day after the final surrender in mainland Europe.