‘My War Time Love Story'

With The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society now out on DVD, JoanCoutanchetells Duncan Barrett about her own Channel Islands romance and an encounter with German soldiers

- Duncan Barrett

I was 16 when my sister got married in June 1940. We lived in Jersey, and the day before the wedding Churchill had withdrawn the British troops from the Channel Islands. The Germans were coming, and people were rushing to escape to England.

My sister’s new husband was from Guernsey, and he had brought some friends over with him for the wedding.

The reception was at a local hotel. Someone had left a little puppy behind and I spent most of the afternoon playing with it, along with one of the wedding party – a sweet young Guernseyman called Harry. We only spent a few hours together, but we both felt a real connection.

Harry went back to Guernsey with my sister and her husband. We wrote to each other, but when the Germans put a stop to the mail we lost touch.