For two generations the cliff-guarded, North Sea island of Helgoland led a strained double life as a famous European bird sanctuary and as a key naval base for Imperial and later Nazi Germany. World War II scared away the birds; at war's end, the British also sent away Helgoland's human population of 1,400, turned Germany's backyard Gibraltar into a target range for Royal Air Force and U.S. Air Force bombers. Every five days or so, bombers out on target practice pounded the island's remains to smithereens.
A lot of Germans brooded over this indignity....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
