Qualla: Fort George, Guernsey

Fort George, Guernsey: Introduction

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Man vyi, Public domain. On 27 March 1783, 500 mostly Irish soldiers of the newly raised 104th Regiment of Foot decided they had had enough of being locked inside their barracks. They demanded the gates of Fort George be left open. Their officers agreed. A few days later the same soldiers opened fire on those officers and drove them out. It took the 18th Regiment - the Royal Irish - plus the Guernsey Militia and six pieces of artillery to surround the rebels and force their surrender. Thirty-six ringleaders were arrested, the regiment was shipped to Southampton, and the 104th was quietly disbanded that May. This is what Fort George looked like before it was even finished.

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Image: Man vyi | Public domain

Fort George, Guernsey: A Star Built for a War That Did Not Come

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Manxruler, CC BY-SA 4.0. Planned in 1779 during the Anglo-French War, construction began in 1780 and would not finish until 1812 - 32 years on a single fort. The British were afraid of a French landing on Guernsey, especially after the French had pulled off the unsuccessful Battle of Jersey in January 17...

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Image: Manxruler | CC BY-SA 4.0

Fort George, Guernsey: Doyle, Duels, and a Rumored Bastard

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:Man vyi, Public domain. Major-General Sir John Doyle arrived as Lieutenant Governor in 1803, declared a state of emergency in 1804, and pushed Fort George toward completion with the kind of urgency the previous twenty years had lacked. His Commander of Royal Engineers from 1803 was Lt. Col. John Mackelc...

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Image: User:Man vyi | Public domain

Fort George, Guernsey: Adlerschloss

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Man vyi, Public domain. When German forces occupied Guernsey in 1940, Fort George was renamed Stützpunkt Georgefest. The Luftwaffe built a major radar station inside the fortifications - codenamed Adlerschloss, 'Eagle Castle' - with two Freya early-warning sets, two giant Würzburg-Riese radars, and a mi...

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Image: Man vyi | Public domain

Fort George, Guernsey: Demolished for a View

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Man vyi, Public domain. After liberation in 1945, Fort George had no obvious military future. The States of Guernsey bought the land from the Crown in 1958. In 1967 it was sold on to Fort George Developments, a company with a plan to build 120 luxury houses among the most defensible of the old buildings...

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Image: Man vyi | Public domain