Alderney, third largest of the and lying seven miles west of the northern tip of the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, possesses one of the finest concentrations of 19th and 20th century military architecture in north-west Europe.

During the Second World War, the Germans invaded the Channel Islands after the fall of France in 1940. The occupation, and subsequent of the Islands, has always been considered to be due to 's personal obsession with the possession of British soil. Eventually they were to become one of the most heavily fortified sections of the Atlantic Wall and by 1944, with an allied invasion imminent, were designated as one of twelve 'Fortresses' that were to be defended to the last man.

Although far smaller than either or , was fortified to a greater degree, for its size, than the other islands, having thirteen infantry strongpoints and twelve resistance nests, five coastal batteries, twenty-two anti-aircraft batteries, three defence lines and over 30,000 landmines. The island was eventually to have a German garrison of nearly 3,500. As well as individual coastal batteries and strongpoints, the majority of the 18 Victorian forts and batteries, constructed to defend Alderney’s new harbour during the 1850s, were refortified by the Germans.

During 1942 and 1943 there were nearly 4000 forced labourers on the island who constructed the majority of the larger concrete bunkers under the supervision of the Organization Todt. Four labour camps were constructed for these workers, with one, Lager Sylt, eventually becoming a concentration camp under the control of SS Baubrigade 1 - a SS construction unit.

Trevor Davenport January 2014