All Journal stories The German Occupation of Sark
The Sark JournalThe Sark woman who married a German soldier
A friendship formed during the occupation and a marriage that began after the war
Phyllis Baker met Werner Rang on Sark in 1943.
He was serving in the German army as a medical orderly. She was a 19-year-old Sark resident living under German occupation.
They parted as friends. Their first kiss came four years later, after the occupation had ended.
They met through medical work
Phyllis and Werner properly met when he attended her while she had tonsillitis. Phyllis had learnt German in 1941 and became a translator between Sark residents and German medical staff.
Werner left Sark. After he later became a prisoner of war in Britain, he and Phyllis corresponded for two years. Werner sent 160 letters and Phyllis sent 100 in return.
They met again in 1947
While Werner was a prisoner of war, he came to know Lady Vera Leveson-Gower. She helped bring Werner and Phyllis together again.
In 1947, Lady Vera invited Phyllis to stay. The visit lasted two and a half weeks.
During that visit, Phyllis and Werner shared their first kiss.
They married in May 1948
By May 1948, Werner was facing repatriation to Germany. He proposed to Phyllis.
They married on 13 May 1948, the day before he was due to be repatriated.
After the marriage, Werner received a certificate of civilianisation and permission to remain in the British Isles.
Phyllis鈥檚 father initially objected to the marriage and later accepted it.
Werner settled on Sark
Werner settled on Sark with Phyllis and later ran the island鈥檚 volunteer ambulance service for many years.
The Guernsey Press interviewed the couple in 2008 as they celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary, sixty years after their marriage.
For the wider wartime context, read Sark in the Second World War. For the social history of contact during the occupation, read Love Across the Divide. If you want to spend longer on the island, see retreats on Sark.
