Axis enclaves by passed after D-Day.

I keep seeing references to areas in Western Europe that were by passed by the Allies as they moved through France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Channel Islands , some of the sub-pen areas, an area in Normandy that stayed in German hands in a kind of local cease fire zone as well as Dutch and Belgian islands and peninsulas that were "sealed off", many it appears to the end of the war. Is there any book(s) or reference that one might read to learn more about this ? It seems to be difficult to "search" for as it has no clear subject...to me at least. I am curious how it worked, how were they supplied, to what extent this occurred....

GB

 

From the Wikepedia data:-

Brest was surrounded and eventually stormed by the U.S. VIII Corps. The fight proved extremely difficult, as the German garrison was well entrenched and partially made up of elite Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) forces.

The German paratroopers lived up to their reputation, as the Allies had experienced previously in battles such as Monte Cassino. Whilst some less capable units surrendered quite easily, the Fallschirmjäger defended their ground under considerable odds, heavy shelling, air strikes and American assaults. The attackers had heavy losses for every small advance they made into the city.
As per their military doctrine, the Americans tried to use their superior artillery firepower and air superiority to overcome the defenders, instead of fighting them hand-to-hand. The Germans, on their side, had stocked a considerable amount of ammunition for the defense of the city and had weapons of all calibers (from light flak to naval guns) dug in fortifications and in pillboxes.
The fighting was intense, the troops moving house to house. The fortifications (both French and German built) proved very difficult to overcome, and heavy barrages were fired by the artillery on both sides.
Eventually the old city of Brest was razed to the ground during the battle. Only some old medieval stone-built fortifications were left standing.
General Ramcke surrendered the city on September 19, 1944 to the Americans after rendering useless the port facilities. These would not be repaired in time to help the war effort as it was hoped. By this time, Paris had already been liberated by the Allied Armies, and Operation Market-Garden was already under way in the Netherlands.
The costly capture of Brest resulted in the decision to only surround the remaining German-occupied ports in France with the exception of those that could be captured from the march, instead of storming them in a set-piece battle. The exception was Le Havre, which was taken by the British 2nd Army in August 1944. Some of these Breton ports surrendered only by May 9, 1945, one day after Victory in Europe Day.

 

My mother grew up in the Channel Islands before and after the war. Anecdotally, she has mentioned that the Islands provided all of their own food for the German garrisons and that by the end of the war, food was hard to find. I believe I have also read this elsewhere but I cannot lay my hands on the source at the moment.

 

The Channel Islanders very nearly starved during the occupation. They had a pretty horrible war & talking to residents who were there quickly turns to the disappearance of all cats and the grim business of Turnip Jam.
Ironically by the end of the occupation the tables turned somewhat and the German garrison actually suffered more from starvation than the Islanders for a while, as Red Cross ships began to arrive to feed the civilian population and the Germans received no supplies of their own.

You might want to look into the 1944-45 Siege of Dunkirk too, the Germans held onto it until the 9th of May 1945, only surrendering because the Reich collapsed, no successful assault having been mounted.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

I read that when the Germans first occupied the Channel Islands some of them were asking the local residents where trafalgar square was because they thought they were in London lol.

 

http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-general/21796-channel-islands.html

http://www.ww2f.com/battle-europe/23160-surrender-last-germans-give-up.html

http://www.ww2f.com/battle-europe/22139-europes-last-battlefield.html

 

And here is a repost of another .

http://www.ww2f.com/russia-war/24096-danish-island-bornholm.html#post337994