It was one of more than 1,300 lit simultaneously at 7 pm to remember the millions who died between 1914 and 1918, those who survived and the men and women who served on the home front. The beacons symbolised ‘the light of hope’ that emerged from the darkness of war on 11 November 1918.
More than 700 Islanders gathered at the race course in the north-west of Jersey in near-perfect weather conditions to see the Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, light the seven-metre-high beacon from a flame carried from the Royal Square – via each of the parishes’ war memorials – by members of the Royal British Legion Riders Jersey, escorted by police motorcyclists.
Burning white in the centre and with flames licking up into the sky, on such a clear night it would have been visible from the other islands and the French coast.
‘What we can never forget in Jersey is that we may be small but we are part of the wider world,’ Sir William told the JEP.
‘This was an opportunity for us to do our bit and be part of that wider world. We may be small but we have learned from what has happened in history and we have got to ensure that the next generation learns this. In a small way we raise our voice, and while it may be a little one we have to try to make it heard.’
The organisers of the Battle’s Over – the nationwide commemoration of the Armistice that also included thousands of pipers and
buglers playing at dawn and church bells later ringing out across the home countries – had hoped that 1,000 Beacons of Light would be lit.
On the night there were hundreds more stretching from Unst, the most northerly of the British Isles, to Jersey’s beacon.
They came in many forms: gas-fuelled metal beacons specially designed for the event, torches on wooden poles and bonfires. They were lit in public parks, on high points and headlands, in city and town centres, on village greens and sports fields, in back gardens and outside Westminster Abbey following the National Service of Remembrance.
Jersey’s beacon had been built the previous weekend by a team of volunteers from Royal British Legion Riders from pallet boards.
On their way to Les Landes the bikers stopped at each parish war memorial to light a candle to shine brightly among the millions that yesterday burned throughout the UK – most strikingly in the moat of the Tower of London – across the Commonwealth countries, in Ireland, America, Canada and Europe to mark the centenary of the Armistice.
Small crowds had gathered in the parishes. St Martin’s lantern was lit by Constable Karen Shenton-Stone’s daughter, Anastasia, who had collated an exhibition about the Great War for the parish church.
‘It is a huge honour to have my daughter light the flame and to remember the fallen and all those who fought for our futures 100 years ago,’ Mrs Shenton-Stone said.
