Thursday 9 May 2013

Happy Liberation Day

It's 9th May, it's sunny, we have a day off work and there are flags everywhere, so it must be Liberation Day.

We are constantly surrounded by reminders left behind by the occupying forces from the years they took over Jersey. We have the cement walls along some of the beaches, many bunkers (some opened up for visitors, which is always a sobering experience), The War Tunnels (cold, atmospheric and always makes me feel sad), as well as stories about evacuation from parents (my dad), and retold experiences of those who were stranded here throughout the Occupation, so we never really forget that it happened.

Today, though the island celebrates the end of the Occupation. We all stop work, put out the flags and pay thanks albeit through church services, parties, or simply in our thoughts that the island was liberated by the British troops on 9th May 1945. The alternative is something I doubt many of us wish to dwell upon.