Excuse Me I'm Occupied: Story of life on the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation and what it means to be a 'Guernsey Donkey' being able to ... be pushed and very stubborn and proud of it.

by Pearl White Regan

This is a story of a young girl's life in the beautiful island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands of Britain and how it dramatically changed when the Island became occupied by Nazis during World War II. People who are born in the beautiful Island of Guernsey are known as Guernsey Donkeys. The reason being, they can carry a very heavy load physically and mentally, they are willing to be led, but refuse to be pushed, and they are very, very stubborn and are proud of it. With all this in mind, at the end of the German occupation of our Island I painted on canvas what I thought was a fair indication of how we Islanders felt, and so am using it as the cover for my book. The painting was entitled “The Donkey did not Yield”.

150 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2011

Reviews

[Thelma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read the Guernsey Potato Skin Pie book, and seen the movie, I am glad I read this short book, which is a true account. It's a pleasant read, basically filled with anecdotes and poems written in the 40s by the author. A nice first-hand account.

[Benedict · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Channel Islands occupation memoir I was inspired to read after it's mention in When The Germans Came; Pearl was a young girl of Guernsey who lived into her teenage years under the Nazi occupation of the island. This is her story from those years.

It reads as short stories, not nessessarily in chronological order. I'm familiar with her story from her inclusion in 'When the Germans Came' but it's good to read her own account, though the book could use an editor - it contains a few gramatical and formatting errors.

Another good memoir, but nothing mind-blowing.