Two rare WW II football programmes for matches played on Guernsey, June 1943, occupation by German forces programme for match held at Beau Sejour on 8th June 1943 between VOBA (Les Vauxbelets Old Boys Association) and a Continental XI and another for the game between VOBA and an Island XI, annotated to top THIS MATCH WAS IN PLACE OF CONTINENTAL GAME, each printed on single sheet paper, minor wear and punch holes The Continental XI was a team of slave labourers drawn from Europe and brought by the Nazis to Guernsey where they were forced to work on engineering projects including the notorious Underground Hospital. The planned match never took place as the Nazis refused permission for the Continental team to play. An Island XI was therefore drafted in at the last minute and surprisingly beat the Guernsey champions, including Len Duquemin later of Tottenham Hotspur fame, 4-2. This real match would later become the fictional game in the famous football film Escape to Victory, in which the Nazis fielded a team to play the Allied Prisoners of War. There exists only one other known copy of the Continental programme, but the programme for the substitute match featuring the Island XI was probably printed on the day and is the only known copy. The match was played in aid of The Star Help the Children Fund.
£600 - £800
Two rare WW II football programmes for matches played on Guernsey, June 1943, occupation by German forces programme for match held at Beau Sejour on 8th June 1943 between VOBA (Les Vauxbelets Old Boys Association) and a Continental XI and another for the game between VOBA and an Island XI, annotated to top THIS MATCH WAS IN PLACE OF CONTINENTAL GAME, each printed on single sheet paper, minor wear and punch holes The Continental XI was a team of slave labourers drawn from Europe and brought by the Nazis to Guernsey where they were forced to work on engineering projects including the notorious Underground Hospital. The planned match never took place as the Nazis refused permission for the Continental team to play. An Island XI was therefore drafted in at the last minute and surprisingly beat the Guernsey champions, including Len Duquemin later of Tottenham Hotspur fame, 4-2. This real match would later become the fictional game in the famous football film Escape to Victory, in which the Nazis fielded a team to play the Allied Prisoners of War. There exists only one other known copy of the Continental programme, but the programme for the substitute match featuring the Island XI was probably printed on the day and is the only known copy. The match was played in aid of The Star Help the Children Fund.