CELEBRATING Liberation Day in Jersey should not mean forgetting about those experiencing conflict elsewhere in the world, a retiring politician has stated.
Addressing a special open-air sitting of the States Assembly to mark the Island’s national day, Trinity Constable Philip Le Sueur shared some of the experiences of his family from Jersey’s Occupation, highlighting the continued relevance of Liberation Day.
“When we leave here today to continue our celebrations marking 81 years of peace and freedom in our island,” he said. “I ask that you spare a thought for those across the world who still live under occupation or amid conflict – not as a distant concern, but as a shared human experience that we as Islanders know only too well.”
Mr Le Sueur, who will shortly step down from the Assembly after 12 years as Constable of Trinity, said Jersey’s experience of Occupation, and being – with the other Channel Islands – the only part of the British Isles to receive humanitarian aid during the Second World War had left “a lasting mark on our collective memory”.
“It reminds us not only of our vulnerability, but of the power of compassion, solidarity and international cooperation,” he added.
Referencing the work of the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission in helping those facing conflict, hunger and hardship, Mr Le Sueur reflected on the arrival of the Red Cross ship, SS Vega, on the penultimate day of 1944, helping starving Islanders through the final winter of the Occupation.
“Had it not been for this humanitarian aid, many – including my own parents – may not have survived to see the end of the Occupation, and subsequent generations would have not existed,” he said.
The retiring Constable recalled conversations about the War between his father, Philip, and great-uncle, Leslie Sinel, who worked at the Jersey Evening Post throughout the Occupation. The printer maintained, at considerable personal risk, a record of the events between June 1940 and May 1945, with the manuscript for his book hidden under the mattress of a child’s pram.
Mr Le Sueur also described the experience of his maternal grandfather, Clifford Quérée, who had been accused of receiving stolen bread and – in spite of his protests of innocence – was deported to France and ended up in Naumburg Prison, near Leipzig.
Conditions in the German jail were so dreadful, Mr Le Sueur said, that his gravely-ill grandfather survived less than two weeks after the prison was liberated by American troops on 13 April 1945. Mr Quérée is one of 21 Islanders featuring on the memorial at New North Quay, where wreaths are laid every January to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
In addition to Mr Le Sueur, it was the final States sitting for seven other States Members prior to leaving the Assembly next month having chosen not to seek re-election: Constables Simon Crowcroft and Deidre Mezbourian and Deputies Sir Philip Bailhache, Kristina Moore, Philip Ozouf, Moz Scott and Geoff Southern. Deputy Southern was one of two politicians not present, being declared “en défaut” along with Constable Marcus Troy.
