And now, 70 years on, a number of the charity’s volunteers are planning to recreate the ship’s voyage – but this time they will be swapping their sea legs for pedal power.
- The SS Vega arrived in the Channel Islands on 2December 1944, first docking in Guernsey
- It came to Jersey for the first time on New Years Eve and returned a further five times
- During its first trip the vessel brought 119,792 food parcels, 4,200 diet food parcels for the ill, 5.2 tons of salt, four tons of soap and 96,000 cigarettes
- It last visited Jersey on 31 May 1945[/breakout]
British Red Cross volunteer Deputy Murray Norton has announced he is organising a 1,000-mile charity road cycle from the ship’s original sailing port of Lisbon, through Portugal, Spain and France to St Malo, before sailing to the Jersey finish line.
It will be the second major bicycle journey that the former radio presenter has helped organise for the charity, following a 1,400-mile return trip to Bad Wurzach in southern Germany – the town where more than 600 Islanders were kept as prisoners of war during the Second World War.
The St Brelade Deputy said: ‘It seems a very appropriate place to cycle from. Not only did the Red Cross ships set sail from Lisbon, but historically we have had a lot of people who have migrated from there.
‘After the Bad Wurzach trip I was speaking with Nick Chandler from the Red Cross about planning another trip.
‘When the model ship of the Vega was on display in the Island it reminded us that the ship set sail from Lisbon, and we started to think about looking at different routes we could cycle as a way to trace the path of the ship.
‘We are at the very early stages at the moment, but we have had quite a few people who have expressed interest about either cycling or helping as part of the support team.’
‘The ship set sail from Lisbon, so we started to think about looking at different routes we could cycle as a way to trace the path of the ship’
Deputy Murray Norton
Deputy Norton added that he was looking into a number of possible dates for the trip, with one option to arrive on Liberation Day next year.
‘We have a lot to plan and we have nothing confirmed as yet, but something in connection with next year’s Liberation Day is a possibility,’ he said.
On the previous journey, the cyclists raised more than £20,000 to help fund an emergency vehicle for the charity.
This time, Deputy Norton says the funds are likely to be used for the vehicle’s and maintenance costs.
This is what each of the Red Cross parcels contained:
- One ¼lb packet of tea
- Tin of cocoa powder
- Bar of chocolate
- Tinned pudding
- Tin of meat roll
- Tin of processed cheese
- Tin of condensed milk
- Tin of dried eggs
- Tin of sardines or herrings
- Tin of preserve
- Tin of margarine
- Tin of sugar
- Tin of vegetables
- Tin of biscuits
- Bar of soap
- 50 cigarettes or tobacco
