Happy Liberation Day
Categories: uncategorized
Date: 09 May 2007 19:00:45
HAPPY LIBERATION DAY)
I was born and brought up on the little island of Guernsey and although I haven't lived there for over 10 years it seems though that as I get older I feel more and more like an islander and my ties with the place I was born seem to get stronger.
The Channel Islands were occupied by German forces and Guernsey was under German rule from 30 June 1940 until the Liberation on 9 May 2945 so today is the 62nd anniversary of that Liberation.
My maternal grandparents lived on the island throughout the occupation, and my paternal grandparents were evacuated (to the Leicester area I think) My maternal grandmother has lots of interesting stories about life during the occupation, especially as she lived on Sark for some time. I think one of the really sad things though is that very little local history gets taught in our schools. I never learnt about WWII whilst I was at school and my fascination with the island history over that time has happened since I left full-time education. As expected the islanders freedom was severely restricted during this period, and many of them died, both from starvation, but also from the bombings and brutality. However, conversations with my Gran have set out another story... she has always said that many of the German soldiers didn't want to be there either. They wanted to be home with their families and not stuck on a granite rock in the middle of the English channel.
I hope that we never forget the story of the Liberation. I hope we never forget the atrocities that happened on those little islands, or the strength, determination and sense of identity of the Guernsey people. When I go home there are visual reminders all over the island of the occupation of Guernsey and it seems to me that those bunkers and watch-towers all add something to the island's history. What was once a blight on the landscape are now a symbol of the strength on the people and i hope that the next generations to come will remember the story of the Occupation.
Personally, my identify as a Guern continues to grow and I am sure that one day I will return to live on my island home, until then I will remember Guernsey with my favorite Guernsey patios phrase which means 'until we meet again'.... a la perchoine
Ps) Here is one of my favorite cartoons from the time of the Occupation. It shows a Guernsey donkey (as the islanders are affectionately known) booting out the Germans :)
