Jean McLaughlin, chairwoman of the Jersey Evacuees Association and event organiser, gave a welcome speech and addressed the crowd.
Jersey’s Lieutenant-Governor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, the Bailiff Sir William Bailhache, Chief Minister Ian Gorst and the Constable of St Helier Simon Crowcroft all laid wreaths at the ceremony in front of the RNLI Lifeboat Station.
The service was led by the Acting Dean of Jersey, the Rev Paul Brooks, John Le Marquand from the Methodist Church, Nick Le Cornu from the Catholic Church, and Melanie Scoulding, of the Salvation Army St Helier Corps.
Welcome home flags were flown from the ramparts of Fort Regent while the service took place.
During a speech, guest speaker Rod McLoughlin, Jersey’s cultural development officer, said: ‘This is a poignant place of departure and return and holds a special significance.
‘We can imagine the apprehension Islanders queueing for the boats felt at this place where we now stand, as they prepared to cross the sea passage where some would have been at sea for two days.
‘They did not want to leave the Island but wanted to do the best for their families.’
The ceremony was brought to a close by the Constable of St Saviour, Sadie Le Sueur-Rennard, who sang Beautiful Jersey, and bugler Andy Thompson, from the Band of the Island of Jersey, performed The Last Post.
