Celebrating freedom for the past 73 years

Celebrating freedom for the past 73 years

AT 3 pm on the afternoon of Tuesday 8 May 1945, the large crowd that had gathered in the Royal Square heard Winston Churchill’s announcement to the British nation of the unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe.

His historic words, broadcast live by the BBC, were played through a hastily rigged-up Tannoy system and Islanders responded with an explosion of joy and emotion when they heard him say: ‘And our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today.’

After 1,773 days of enemy occupation, the bailiwicks were about to be liberated.

The Bailiff, Alexander Coutanche, gave a short but impassioned speech before leading the jubilant crowd in a highly emotional rendition of the National Anthem.

The following morning the surrender was formally signed by the German Command in the Channel Islands on board HMS Bulldog in St Peter Port harbour and at noon Mr Coutanche (he was not knighted until 1946) and Attorney General Durett-Aubin accompanied the German delegation to witness the separate surrender of Jersey on board HMS Beagle anchored in St Aubin’s Bay.

The official landing party, led by Colonel W P A Robinson, set up their liberation HQ in the Pomme d’Or Hotel and at 3.40 pm the Union Flag was hoisted to officially mark the end of the Occupation. Meanwhile, Captain Hugh Le Brocq, who had left the Island with the Royal Jersey Militia five years earlier, led a small party of men up to Fort Regent to hoist the Union Flag there as well.

Within the week, UK Home Secretary Herbert Morrison had visited the Island to assess the situation and on Thursday 7 June, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrived in the Island. By the end of June telephone links with the UK had been restored and the mail boats resumed their service as life gradually began to return to normal.

In May 1946 the States marked the first anniversary of the Liberation by issuing a medallion to all children who had been in the Island throughout the Occupation.

On 9 May crowds gathered in the People’s Park to watch as servicemen and recently demobbed Islanders marched past the new Lieutenant-Governor, General Sir Edward Grassett.

Over the next few years Islanders marked Liberation Day by attending a thanksgiving service in Howard Davis Park before letting their hair down on carousels and fairground attractions at West Park.

In 1949, 20,000 Islanders attended Liberation Day festivities and yet the day was not officially marked on the States calendar. Noting that celebrating the anniversary of Liberation had become a major feature of Island life, the States took the decision in 1951 to designate 9 May a public holiday – but only when it fell on a week day.

This first ‘official’ Liberation Day saw a large fairground set up in the People’s Park, with circus performers, highland dancers and firefighting displays and a celebrity guest in the form of Patricia Cutts, an aspiring film actress.

The Public Holidays and Bank Holidays (Jersey) Law 1952 was slightly amended in 2010 to include Saturdays as well. This designation as a public holiday, rather than a bank holiday, was important, as it meant that whenever Liberation Day fell on a Sunday, those who have to work do not get a day off in lieu.

Football became a feature of celebrating the Liberation in 1948, when Tottenham Hotspur came to Jersey and played an Island side at Springfield, winning 3-0.

The Liberation Day football match became something of a local tradition in the 1950s, with sides such as Southampton, Portsmouth and the British Army visiting to play. The Liberation Day match at Springfield in 1955 saw Bristol Rovers beat Portsmouth 3-1 – a game that also marked the 50th anniversary of the Jersey Football Association. The following year Bristol Rovers defeated Cardiff City 1-0.

The premier Channel Islands football trophy competition, the Muratti, was first played on Liberation Day in 1966 – the year that England won the World Cup. It was last played on 9 May in 1987.

By the 1970s the Occupation had become a more distant memory and Liberation Day became a more low-key affair. While it was a public holiday, the day wasn’t really celebrated – but nor was it totally ignored.

In May 1984, as the 40th anniversary approached, the States appointed a Liberation Day Celebrations Committee, under Senator John Rothwell and Deputy Don Filleul, to arrange events to mark the special anniversary and also to consider the question of how to celebrate Liberation Day in the future.

In the event, the morning service of thanksgiving was moved from the Howard Davis Park to the Royal Square and there was a large-scale public performance at Fort Regent. The only lasting memorials were the stone plaque in the Royal Square, unveiled by the Duchess of Kent marking Lord Coutanches’ – he was elevated to the Peerage in 1961 – announcement of the Liberation. Her Royal Highness also unveiled a frame to highlight the V for Victory that had surreptitiously been set into the paving of the Royal Square by stonemason Joseph Le Guyader 40 years earlier.

However, another committee was set up in 1988, led by Senator Peter Manton, and briefed to come up ‘with proposals for ways and means of ensuring that the Occupation and Liberation of the Island are not forgotten’. Its work led to the next landmark celebration in 1995, which firmly established the scale of celebrations held to this day.

Of the various lasting legacies from the 1990s is Liberation Square (opened in 1990) and its centrepiece, Philip Jackson’s Monument to Freedom statue, which was unveiled by Prince Charles for the the 50th anniversary on 9 May 1995. He also unveiled what is probably the largest piece of community art the Island has created, the Occupation Tapestry.

The 50th anniversary marked a subtle change in the way Liberation Day was seen. It moved away from being about living memories to focusing on history, heritage and identity as Jersey’s national holiday.

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