WEBVTT - The Cabbage King and Queen vs. the Nazis 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:05.040 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:15.600 and Mild from aarin Manky listener Discretion Advised. Twenty miles 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:18.840 off the northern coast of France in the English Channel 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:24.239 is a small island called Sark. Today about five hundred 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:27.800 people live on the island two square miles of land, 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:34.600 which is situated atop sweeping granite cliffs. No cars are allowed. 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:39.920 On the island. The only ambulance is a converted tractor. Historically, 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:44.400 the residents have farmed and fished, and many still do today. 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:49.199 But there's something that makes this otherwise simply pleasant island 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:54.520 totally unique. Until two thousand and eight, it was ruled 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:58.400 as a feudal state. In fact, it was the very 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:03.120 last feudal state in Europe, officially overseen by a signor 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:07.319 or a dame, who owed allegiance only to the British Crown. 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:11.759 Many of the island's ancient customs lasted all the way 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:16.800 into the twenty first century. Divorce was forbidden, income tax 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.920 didn't exist, and only the feudal lord was permitted to 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:27.240 breed pigeons or own an unspayed female dog. The various 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:32.120 lords of this peculiar island. Over the centuries included knights 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:36.520 of Queen Elizabeth, the First, renowned statesmen serving under King 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:42.000 George the Third, and devious privateers commissioned by Queen Victoria. 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:47.600 But in nineteen twenty nine the title to Sark passed 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:53.840 to an unsuspecting figure, an American businessman. A man named 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:59.120 Robert Hathaway legally ruled Sark from nineteen twenty nine until 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:03.920 his death in nineteen fifty four. His tenure was anything 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:09.959 but uneventful. In nineteen forty the German army seized the island, 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:13.640 and in nineteen forty one a story broke out in 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:19.000 American newspapers that Robert, lovingly referred to as Bob by 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.640 his family, had been forced to plow the fields of 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:27.240 his island alongside his wife, Sibyl. The New York Daily 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:31.560 News reported quote, Cabbages and kings turn out to have 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:35.800 something in common. After all. Bob was allowed to send 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:40.400 letters to his relatives in America, but German censorship made 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:44.760 it nearly impossible to convey the gravity of their situation. 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:49.480 In the middle of the English Channel, the first American 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:55.280 lord of the last fiefdom in Europe languished alongside his neighbors. 0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:00.160 Robert had never planned to become a feudal lord. He 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:04.440 had simply fallen in love with Sybil. He never planned 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.840 to stand side by side with the people of this 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:12.880 tiny Channel island amidst a war. But today he and 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.600 his wife both stand as two of the many heroes 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:22.520 in Sark's hallowed history. I'm Danish Schwartz and you're listening 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:31.800 to noble blood. In fifteen sixty three, Queen Elizabeth the 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:35.440 First of England granted the island of Sark to one 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:40.800 Sir Helier Decarterret. Queen Elizabeth inherited many islands in the 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:45.440 English Channel. Some were large, like the isles Guernsey and Jersey, 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:50.680 and some, like Sark, were tiny. Worried about a French 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:56.480 invasion and annoyed by pirate plaguing the English Channel, Elizabeth's 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.520 court stipulated that carter Itt bring forty men to Sark 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.600 from Jersey, each armed with muskets, in order to protect 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.920 and cultivate the land. To this day, descendants of those 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:14.320 first forty families still live on Sark. Until very recently, 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:19.159 those families retained the old custom of organizing a town 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:24.200 council that appointed a judge clerk and sheriff, all overseen 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:28.440 by the island lord, who held a limited veto power. 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:33.000 The island itself passed through many hands over the centuries. 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.080 Usually it was sold by a signor or dame who 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:41.119 was hard for cash. Such was the case centuries later 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:46.159 when the great great grandfather of Sibyl Collings bought the 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:50.159 island of Sark in eighteen forty four because its former 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:55.080 landowner could no longer run its silver mines profitably. In 0:04:55.160 --> 0:05:00.560 Sibyl's autobiography, she describes her grandfather as a t and 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:05.520 skilled statesman. In contrast, this is how she describes her 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:11.560 own father, William, who would become lord after his father quote, Unfortunately, 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:18.200 my father was extremely insubordinate, madly obstinate, fiercely self opinionated, 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:24.159 and prone to outbursts of uncontrolled rage. Needless to say, 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:27.640 Sybil did not get along with her father growing up. 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:31.520 She was forcibly sent off to a convent in France 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:36.039 against her will at fourteen. After she returned, she considered 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:40.240 marrying a British army officer who allegedly fell madly in 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.960 love with her. Sybil's mother broached the topic of that 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:48.599 marriage to Sybil's father but that only made him furious. 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:53.040 One night, Sybil bravely demanded that her father let her 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:56.800 do as she wished. Three weeks later, her father woke 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.360 her up in the middle of the night and violently 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.000 threw her out of the house. If it weren't for 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:07.000 the secret intervention of Sybil's mother, Sybil wouldn't have been 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.840 able to escape the island safely or rendezvous with her 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:15.200 British officer Dudley in London for their wedding. In nineteen 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:18.760 o nine, the couple settled down in England and had 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:23.120 their first child, a daughter, Bridget, the following year. This 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:29.000 prompted Sibyl's father, William, to reconnect with his daughter, congratulating 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.960 her but also lamenting that she hadn't given birth to 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:35.560 a son. In his first letter to Sybil after a 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:40.080 whole year of silence, he wrote, quote, sorry it was 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:45.800 a vixen. Sybil occasionally returned to Sark, sometimes tending to 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:50.240 her ailing mother, other times preventing her father from damaging 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:54.560 the island's reputation any more than he already had. In 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:58.080 her own words, quote he had never provided me with 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.040 a settlement, nor given me a penny, but I was 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:04.640 his heir, and I loved the island passionately, more than 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.159 anything or anyone in the world. When the time came, 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:10.720 I intended to do as much for Sark as my 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.200 grandfather had done. This was my future, and I had 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.720 no intention of allowing father to take it away from me. 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:22.320 Sybil officially moved back to Sark in nineteen twelve with 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.560 her children and took up cattle breeding. When her husband, 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:31.600 Dudley unexpectedly passed away from the Spanish flu in nineteen eighteen, 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.560 she was left with nothing but a widow's pension to 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:41.400 raise six children on. Her father refused every request for money, 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.080 Sybil had no choice but to move wherever she could 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.880 to support her family, from the nearby island of Guernsey 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:54.239 to Germany. Finally, in nineteen twenty seven, after a forty 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:59.200 five year reign, Sibyl's father died and Sybil took over 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:04.040 Sark with a new vision for the island. She assured 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:07.520 her five hundred or so subjects that she would maintain 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.080 the traditions of the past, and then proceeded to lead 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.960 a whole slew of changes, from a new harbor to 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:20.239 renovations on the family's manor to reinstating tithes of wheat 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:24.800 and chickens to help fund all the projects. Her intention 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:28.640 was partly to make the island more suitable for tourists, 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:34.600 largely English tourists. Some of the culturally French Islanders feared 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:39.400 becoming Anglicized. Even while the new Dame of Sark was 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:43.199 busy reinventing the island, she found time to travel and 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:47.880 schmooze with the wealthy and well connected. Before embarking on 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.319 a holiday to the United States, a friend in London 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:56.599 insisted that she dine with an American businessman named Bob Hathaway. 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.240 Bob was not an aristocrat, but he did come from 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:04.440 an elite, distinguished American family. His father was a Wall 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.360 Street banker, and his family had made it big in 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:11.480 the publishing industry. He had graduated from Yale in nineteen 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.360 thirteen and then with friends, had enlisted in the United 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.760 Kingdom's Royal Flying Corps to support the Allies in the 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:24.600 First World War. Bob was an avid golfer and tennis player, 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.679 but if there was one thing he loved more than sports, 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:31.240 it was gin. He joked with Sybil that he left 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:35.400 the US for the UK because of prohibition In fact, 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.160 he had actually moved to London to work with the 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:42.280 sporting goods company Spoulding, Yes, the same one famous for 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.840 their basketballs. But Bob insisted that he only took the 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:49.200 job because of the free golf balls. If there's one 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:52.240 thing that shines about Bob through the fragments that we 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:55.559 have of him, it's his sense of humor, which was 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.560 no doubt a plus for Sibyl throughout their whirlwind courtship. 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.920 The day after they got to know each other over lunch, 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:08.200 Sybil boarded her ship for her vacation in America, and 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:12.120 she found her cabin full of flowers sent by Bob. 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.440 When she reached New York, Bob's older brother, Stuart and 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:21.480 his wife Helen warmly welcomed and hosted Sibyl. When Sybil 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:24.560 boarded the boat for her return of voyage, she was 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:28.560 greeted with even more flowers from Bob and a message 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.760 inviting her to dinner when she arrived back in London. 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:36.160 Sybil recollects quote, it had become clear that this tall, 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:41.040 lean Yankee was not only an entertaining companion, but a 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:45.160 very determined man. I am a strong minded woman, but 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.480 this time I had met my match. It took no 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:51.000 longer than three weeks for the two of them to 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:55.880 decide to get married in nineteen twenty nine. The tabloids 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:59.719 pounced on their wedding as another curio streaming from the 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:04.600 all already curious Channel Islands. Headlines on London papers read 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:09.640 woman Ruler to wed and woman Ruler's romance. One paper 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:14.120 even described Bob as Sibyl's consort. He did, after all, 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.400 willingly give up his job to go live with her 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:21.600 on the island. When the newly wedded couple reached Sark, 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:25.960 they were greeted by a whole procession of islanders carrying 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:30.439 flags and flowers. Upon seeing the small island that would 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.040 be home for the rest of his life, Bob jokingly 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:37.680 complained that there was nowhere to install his own golf course. 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.920 But Bob was in for an even greater surprise than 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:46.800 no golf on the island. As Sybil remembered it, Bob 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:49.680 turned to her and said, I never knew the Dame 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.000 of Sark was such an important person. Why they treated 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:57.640 you like royalty? Sybil gave him a smug look, my 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.080 poor Bob, You've got a shock coming to you. The 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:05.400 signor of Sark is a more important person than Ladame. 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:10.280 Under our old feudal laws, a husband owns everything that 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.480 his wife possesses, and this applies to the lordship of 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:20.480 the land. Bob sat there, dumbfounded. At first, he was resistant. 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.520 The both of them left Sark after a week for 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.640 the Isle of Guernsey, where Sybil called upon an expert 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:32.520 of feudal law who confirmed Bob's worst fears. To make 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:36.800 matters even more complicated to the new Yankee royal divorce 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:42.120 was not legal according to Sark's ancient custom. Lawfully, Bob 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:46.200 of America had become a feudal lord of Europe, and 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:53.160 there wasn't anything he could do about it. Make no mistake, 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:57.559 Just because Bob Hathaway legally ruled over Sark doesn't mean 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:01.240 he did so in practice. Like the king he was, 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:05.000 Bob was happy to relinquish any real power vested in 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:09.600 him to Sibyl, who carried on her administration of the island. 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:14.440 Bob would officially preside over council meetings, but he needed 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:19.520 Sibyl's help translating the French petois the locals spoke. He 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:23.040 never voiced an opinion unless one was asked of him. 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:27.079 American journalists who visited the island and had heard about 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:31.520 the American Lord were surprised to find that Bob wore 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:36.719 ordinary clothes, and when visitors stopped to ask him questions, 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:39.760 he would just respond that he was a visitor too. 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:44.760 As Sybil remembered it, Bob fit right in. He grew 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:47.920 to love the fishing and farming that living on the 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:52.320 island entailed. In times of difficulty, he supported Sibil with 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:57.360 a compassion and a partnership that starkly contrasted with her 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:03.000 childhood experiences of her parents. Many settling into sark also 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:08.120 didn't mean relinquishing their holidays. The newly wedded couple traveled 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:12.400 with Bob's mother to Germany and France in the nineteen thirties. 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:17.280 Sybil voyaged to the British colony of Burma. In nineteen 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:21.240 thirty six. They returned to the United States, taking trains 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.800 from New York to Washington, d c. To San Francisco, 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:31.720 whining and dining with politicians, Hollywood stars, and famed industrialists 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:35.880 abroad in America, Sibyl took the opportunity to spread the 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:40.040 word about her tiny home island. In nineteen thirty two, 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.920 she penned an article about Sark for the National Geographic 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.840 that intrigued the editors so much that she was later 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:52.280 invited in nineteen thirty eight to deliver a lecture in Washington. 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.760 That was just the start of a whole lecture tour 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.920 that heaped more and more intrigue upon the exotic island 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:06.520 void of cars, income tax, unemployment, unions, or real politicians. 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.680 But when Sybil and Bob returned to Sark, it was 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:15.480 to face an unpleasant reality. War was beginning to brew 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:20.920 in Europe. On September one, nineteen thirty nine, Nazi Germany 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:25.640 invaded Poland. The United Kingdom declared war on Germany two 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:30.720 days later. The following months were unnerving for an isolated 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:35.600 island nation. At first, the only thing that really changed 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.600 for the people of Sark were the BBC radio reports, 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:45.200 which documented the first stages of the German campaign. The 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:49.600 war became just a little more real when news broke 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:54.960 that Germany invaded Belgium, and then that it had invaded France. 0:15:55.800 --> 0:16:00.280 On June ninth, nineteen forty the residents of Sark could 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.920 see off toward the coast of France, a dark plume 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:08.760 of smoke drifting upwards. The French were blowing up oil 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:14.640 storage tanks before making their retreat. Refugees from the continent 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:19.760 passed through Guernsey and Jersey, delivering news of the invasion. 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.800 The British army reasoned that they could not protect the 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:28.040 Channel island, which were so far from British shores, so 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:32.120 they called back their entire military presence and took in 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:36.960 any islander who wanted to flee. Sybil reassured her neighbors 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:41.320 that she would stay put. Occupation would be difficult, and 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.600 they might go hungry, but they had their land and 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:49.400 they had their farms. In the end, no sarkborne person 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:53.680 decided to leave. All they could do was sit and 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:59.720 wait for the enemy to come. Sybil anticipated German officers 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.640 would want to speak to her to discuss the terms 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:07.199 of their occupation. She was eager to project confidence and 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:13.280 strength against the invaders. She worked with Bob to rearrange 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:17.600 their manner such that the couple would appear imperious to visitors. 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:21.480 For example, she rearranged the drawing room in her house 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.399 so that their visitors would have to walk a long 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:28.880 distance before settling down at the table. She instructed their 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.840 maid to announce the officers as though they were any 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:36.439 other guest. As the German officers approached the manner, Sybil 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:40.000 noted that they wiped their shoes before coming in. She 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.959 took that to be at least a small good sign 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:47.040 the Germans intended to deal with the locals with at 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:52.919 least some hospitality. Two Nazi officers visited her and Bob 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.240 on that day, and they produced a document with new 0:17:56.400 --> 0:18:01.439 orders for the island, a curfew, confiscation of all firearms, 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:05.480 the banning of alcohol, no assembly of more than five persons, 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:09.760 and no one was to leave the island without express permission. 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:13.680 The rulers of Sark had no choice but to accept 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:16.919 the demands, though it's notable that they were the only 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.399 leaders of any of the Channel islands who never once 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:25.720 signed any German orders. The Nazi army officially took control 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:30.640 over Sark with ten soldiers on July fourth. Bob our 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.200 American remarked that it was quote a hell of a 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:39.560 day on which to be occupied. Sark's people found small 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:43.880 ways of rebelling right from the get go. Sybil prominently 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:48.440 displayed banned anti fascist books in her home. She and 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:52.640 Bob never turned over their banned radio set, which would 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.879 prove to be a lifesaver over the next five years. 0:18:56.640 --> 0:19:00.920 The soldiers were especially concerned that sarks Fi fishermen could 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.240 use their boats to escape to England, despite the fact 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:06.880 that no fishing boat could ever make it that far. 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:11.480 The Germans set up a fixed time of day for fishing, 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:16.000 an absurd proposition to the island, who knew that fishing 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:20.880 depended on the tide, which was often unpredictable. The Germans 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:25.160 relented and allowed the fishermen on their tiny boats throughout 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.919 the day, but only if accompanied by a soldier. The 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:33.560 Sark fishermen reportedly had loads of fun steering their boats 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:38.560 into big waves and watching the soldiers get sick. The 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:42.280 people of Sark had virtually no contact with the outside world, 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:46.040 and so relied almost entirely on the Germans for their news. 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:50.800 They didn't know the Nazis failed to invade Britain, they 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:56.040 could only hope for Allied victories. Bob Sibil and almost 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.840 every other person on Sark were simply concerned with sur 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:04.760 Over the first year of the occupation, the island ran 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:08.960 out of sugar, tea, coffee, and tobacco. They couldn't count 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:12.640 on food imports, so they made do with lobsters from 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:17.480 their coast and rabbits from their fields. As American newspaper 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:21.520 readers were soon to find out, the King and Queen 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:25.080 of the island were forced to grow their own cabbages. 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:29.600 These difficult conditions took a turn for the worse in 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:34.680 nineteen forty two, when five British commandos conducted a secret 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:39.679 operation on Sark to gather intelligence and capture prisoners. The 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.520 commandos broke into the home of a woman named Missus Prittert, 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:46.840 who helped them locate some of the German soldiers on 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:51.040 the island, but the tiny British invading force was able 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:56.399 to capture only one German soldier before sailing away. The 0:20:56.480 --> 0:21:01.440 Germans used the invasion to justify clamp down on the locals. 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:07.480 Even more soldiers unspooled miles of barbed wire around the 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:13.479 island's perimeter. They also placed thirteen thousand land mines around 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:17.560 the island's cliffs. Sibil wrote that the mines were sometimes 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:21.760 put on top of the island's best agricultural land. The 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:27.320 Germans had already deported thirteen Sark residents early in nineteen 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:32.600 forty two. By February nineteen forty three, they called for 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:37.919 another sixty three people. Bob was among them. Bob and 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:41.880 Sibil were well aware of the horrors of German camps 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:46.480 thanks to their illegal radio. They also knew that fighting 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:51.560 back would be pointless. In Sibyl's recollections, Bob was the 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:55.600 rock that had gotten her through the occupation. He continued 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:59.240 to help oversee the island's finances and policies, of course, 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:02.719 but more in poor certainly, his companionship had offered a 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:08.240 space to resist and laugh amidst their absurd and horrific conditions. 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:12.240 We don't have any written reflections of this time from Bob, 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.760 but we can expect that he thought similarly of Sibyl. 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:21.000 The day of Bob's departure was cold and wet. Rain 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:25.200 pelted down from a gray sky and showered all the parents' 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:30.000 children and partners, who were bidding farewell to their loved ones, 0:22:30.640 --> 0:22:36.280 unsure how long they'd be apart. Bob joined prisoners from 0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:40.639 other Channel islands at Laffen, a small medieval town in 0:22:40.720 --> 0:22:44.520 Bavaria with a castle that the Nazis converted into a 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:48.639 prisoner of war camp. As one might expect, the living 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:52.600 conditions in the camp were horrid. Plenty of prisoners were 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:56.520 kept at the brink of starvation. Sybil was able to 0:22:56.640 --> 0:23:00.480 mail letters to Laufen, and Bob was able to send 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:05.000 messages to friends in England who could pass censored notes 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:09.760 to Sybil. Eventually, Sybil tried sending her husband more than 0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:13.760 just letters. She would give over onions which might at 0:23:13.840 --> 0:23:17.439 least provide some flavor to his soups. In addition to 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:22.080 small doses of illegal whiskey and brandy that she sent 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:27.440 in inconspicuous medicine bottles, she sent what she could, even 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:31.880 as the Germans cut the island's rations again in nineteen 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:36.080 forty three. Sybil wasn't too worried about the adults on 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:39.960 the island, but she feared greatly for the island's children, 0:23:40.320 --> 0:23:45.120 who never had a steady supply of milk. Germany's victories 0:23:45.119 --> 0:23:49.920 were being reversed throughout early nineteen forty four, but nothing 0:23:50.000 --> 0:23:53.880 boosted the morale of the Sark inhabitants as much as 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:58.280 news of D Day. A German doctor whispered news of 0:23:58.359 --> 0:24:02.600 the Allied landing on the beaches of Normandy, mere miles 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:07.159 from the Channel Islands. Secret news passed by way of pamphlet, 0:24:07.440 --> 0:24:10.800 illegal radio, or word of mouth, and it all helped 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:15.480 counteract the German propaganda that painted Britain as a sea 0:24:15.520 --> 0:24:19.280 of flames and the rest of the Allies as totally inept. 0:24:20.000 --> 0:24:24.680 As retaliation, after d Day, the Germans once again severely 0:24:24.760 --> 0:24:29.199 cut the rations of the Channel Islanders. The people of 0:24:29.359 --> 0:24:34.959 Sark celebrated their annual harvest festival with mere symbolic gestures 0:24:35.320 --> 0:24:40.560 because no one could exchange the typical gifts of soap, bread, tobacco, 0:24:40.720 --> 0:24:45.000 butter or eggs. The days dragged on and the people 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:49.280 of Sark had less and less. When the Allies cut 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:52.440 off the German army stationed in the Channel Islands from 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:58.080 the continent, Sark's occupiers began cutting their own rations. Some 0:24:58.200 --> 0:25:02.400 began sealing the local cows, pigs, and chickens to eat. 0:25:03.000 --> 0:25:06.800 Others were so desperate that they stole cats and dogs. 0:25:07.560 --> 0:25:11.560 The German officers scrambled to preserve some authority in the 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:15.359 final months of the occupation, but they could do little 0:25:15.400 --> 0:25:20.360 in the face of an inevitable counter attack. On May seventh, 0:25:20.680 --> 0:25:25.719 nineteen forty five, all the inhabitants of Sark gathered around 0:25:25.800 --> 0:25:30.480 Sibyl's radio to hear Winston Churchill addressed the Channel Islands 0:25:30.800 --> 0:25:35.200 and declared that they were free. The Dame of Sark 0:25:35.400 --> 0:25:39.080 was granted full authority over the island by the incoming 0:25:39.119 --> 0:25:43.679 British army. Her first orders were for the German soldiers 0:25:43.720 --> 0:25:47.360 to install a telephone line at her house, to remove 0:25:47.480 --> 0:25:50.160 all of the land mines that they had laid around, 0:25:50.480 --> 0:25:55.399 and to hand back everyone's radios. Seemingly overnight, it was 0:25:55.520 --> 0:26:01.920 German officers coming to Sibyl for their orders. Survived the occupation, 0:26:02.720 --> 0:26:09.440 Weary but resilient, Bob and Sybil had a bitter sweet reunion. 0:26:10.000 --> 0:26:13.160 She wrote of him, quote the moment I caught sight 0:26:13.200 --> 0:26:15.520 of him at the harbor, I realized that he must 0:26:15.600 --> 0:26:19.359 not guess for my expression how his appearance shook me. 0:26:20.040 --> 0:26:22.879 He had always been a lean man. Now he was 0:26:22.920 --> 0:26:26.919 nothing more than a bag of bones. Getting back to 0:26:27.040 --> 0:26:31.399 a normal routine took time, but Sark and its people 0:26:31.480 --> 0:26:35.760 grew vigorous once more. Experts from the Ministry of Health 0:26:35.840 --> 0:26:40.200 came to examine the island children. New doctors and school 0:26:40.240 --> 0:26:44.200 teachers were hired for the island. Sybil and Bob worked 0:26:44.280 --> 0:26:48.639 tirelessly to fund a new Harbor. The Hathaways left to 0:26:48.760 --> 0:26:52.880 visit Bob's family in America in nineteen forty six, and 0:26:52.920 --> 0:26:56.320 Sybil embarked on a North American lecture tour once again. 0:26:57.040 --> 0:27:00.639 There was one occasion in Toronto where she and speak. 0:27:00.760 --> 0:27:05.080 Due to losing her voice, Bob took over, but disregarded 0:27:05.200 --> 0:27:09.399 all of her notes. He delivered a handful of funny remarks, 0:27:09.720 --> 0:27:13.600 and the Toronto papers heralded him as quote a new 0:27:13.720 --> 0:27:18.159 star with a wit as dry as paper. The high 0:27:18.240 --> 0:27:22.639 point of this post war era for Sark was probably 0:27:22.680 --> 0:27:27.080 a royal visit in nineteen forty nine, which coincided with 0:27:27.160 --> 0:27:31.600 the completion of the new Harbor. Nearly the whole island 0:27:31.760 --> 0:27:36.040 gathered at the harbor to welcome then Princess Elizabeth and 0:27:36.200 --> 0:27:40.000 Prince Philip, and it was Bob who began the official 0:27:40.080 --> 0:27:44.440 ceremony with an address to the royal couple that recounted 0:27:44.600 --> 0:27:48.639 Sark's history since the days of Elizabeth the First. A 0:27:48.760 --> 0:27:52.000 video of his speech can actually be found on YouTube, 0:27:52.320 --> 0:27:54.320 and you'll notice that in the middle of it, a 0:27:54.480 --> 0:27:57.720 stray dog wanders through the crowd and goes up to 0:27:57.840 --> 0:28:01.359 the future Queen Elizabeth the Second for a pet It 0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:04.600 appears that all of the subjects of Sark wanted to 0:28:04.640 --> 0:28:08.880 pay their respects to the Crown. Sark had more than 0:28:09.040 --> 0:28:14.360 just recovered from the five years of perilous occupation. Sybil's 0:28:14.440 --> 0:28:19.080 dream of converting the island into a tourist attraction succeeded 0:28:19.600 --> 0:28:24.000 thanks both to her extensive lecture series and the New Harbor, 0:28:24.520 --> 0:28:28.280 a royal visit publicized on the BBC. No doubt helped 0:28:28.280 --> 0:28:33.240 as well. Her autobiography speaks to her bold personality and 0:28:33.440 --> 0:28:37.720 fighting spirit. Sybil never backed down from her father, from 0:28:37.840 --> 0:28:42.880 family crises, or from the German occupation. What of Bob, 0:28:43.240 --> 0:28:46.400 What sort of impact did he have on Sark, and 0:28:46.520 --> 0:28:50.400 what sort of imprint did Sark leave on him? Only 0:28:50.520 --> 0:28:54.280 five weeks before Bob's death, he and Sibil through an 0:28:54.360 --> 0:28:58.760 island wide party in nineteen fifty four to celebrate their 0:28:58.800 --> 0:29:03.240 twenty fifth wedding anniversary, replete with barrels of wine and 0:29:03.520 --> 0:29:08.000 wedding cake. He raised his glass and delivered these lines 0:29:08.080 --> 0:29:13.040 to the people of Sark, his unexpected fiefdom quote. I 0:29:13.080 --> 0:29:17.000 shall not call you ladies and gentlemen, but just my friends, 0:29:17.440 --> 0:29:20.120 for you have given me your friendship, which I have 0:29:20.280 --> 0:29:31.080 valued for twenty five years. That's the strange story of 0:29:31.200 --> 0:29:34.960 the Dame and Lord of Sark during the occupation. But 0:29:35.160 --> 0:29:38.760