IT may be one of the less-heralded annual commemorations of the Second World War, but the ceremony to acknowledge those who were evacuated from their Island home for five long years lacks nothing in poignancy and charm.
The event took place at St Helier’s Albert Pier at the weekend, on the closest Sunday to 26 June 1945, an anniversary that is almost as significant as 9 May for those affected.
Seven weeks after Liberation Day, 26 June was the date the Royal Navy re-established the mailboat service to Jersey, with the first service bringing an initial cluster of Islanders who had been evacuated five years previously, just before Occupation by German forces began on 1 July 1940.
As historian Ian Ronayne pointed out in his address to around 100 people attending the service, the “stay or go” choice offered to Islanders in early summer 1940 was the hardest possible dilemma – with only two days to make it
Emotions ran high at the time, Mr Ronanyne said, with disdain in some quarters for the 6,500 who left, labelled “rabbits” or “mice” by some who chose to stay.
The story of the evacuees took a long time to be heard, with the annual service first being held 20 years ago.
“It’s a way of restoring the balance, and a reminder that what Jersey experienced during the Second World War wasn’t a single homogenous story, but a jigsaw,”Mr Ronayne added. “The evacuees’ story was one of the most important and memorable pieces of the jigsaw, so it is fitting that it is no longer overlooked.”
A series of wreaths were laid during the 40-minute service, led by the Lieutenant-Governor, Vice-Admiral Sir Jerry Kyd, and the Bailiff, Robert MacRae. Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham and the Constable of St Helier, Inna Gardiner, were next in line, followed by Malcolm Ray of the Jersey Evacuees Association, Paul Bradley of the Royal British Legion, Captain Richard Nunn of the Salvation Army and Peter Barnard of the Red Cross.
The event was compèred by co-founder Jean McLaughlin, who admitted she had no memory of being evacuated as a two-year-old. It had taken 16 hours to get to Weymouth, weaving between mines, she was later told.
Mrs McLaughlin said she was particularly pleased to have standard bearers from all 12 parishes at the event, for the first time in 20 years. She also invited the Lieutenant-Governor up to receive a copy of the book produced on the subject, Jersey Evacuees Remember.
With Jersey flags waving, there were renditions of We’ll Meet Again and Man Bieau P’tit Jèrri, the latter led by a recording of the late, great Sadie Le Sueur-Rennard, the event was an evocative reminder of an important chapter in the Island’s history.
