The island of Sark forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey which with the Bailiwick of Jersey form the Channel Islands. Offered the opportunity to evacuate the island in June 1940, most locally born islanders decided to stay. The 470 civilians who remained on the island would be subject to German rule for the next five years, until Sark was liberated on 10 May 1945. The main contact between the Sark residents and the German authorities in 1940 was 56-year old Sibyl Hathaway, the Dame of Sark, who was Seigneur of Sark (feudal lord) from 1927 until her death in 1974.