May 9: Jersey Island: Liberation day

Previous: May 8

Photos added on the May 7th page. Check tomorrow's page for more photo links!

Today was "liberation day", a celebration of the return of British troops to the Channel Islands at the end of World War II after 5 years of increasingly nasty occupation by Nazi troops, culminating in widespread hunger and shortages of fuel for heating and other essentials such as clothing and shoes. This celebration began with the initial liberation in 1945, so 2026 is the 81st anniversary. Celebrations go on all over the island, most notably with national flags being flown everywhere. It's a red X that connects opposite corners of a white background with a coat of arms featuring a crown and three leopards above the crossing point of the X. The people are clearly proud of their history, at least at this time of year.

We wanted to spend the day learning about the day, so we started with the opening ceremonies. We walked down the hill to Liberation Square about half an hour before formal stuff began in the hope of getting a decent viewing location, but most of the good spots were long-since taken. I overheard one of the organizers checking tourists for tickets for seats directly below the announcer's stand, where all the VIPs would gather, and that reminded me of something I'd read about locals getting first dibs on the spots just below the broadcast booth. I did find us a decent spot by figuring out which roads were closed (thus, would not have marchers) and then thinking laterally by picking an unpopular spot (amongst the handlebars of bikes in a roadside bike lockup spot). That gave us a narrow but unobstructed glimpse of the road, not to mention a clear view of a balcony where the island's flag would subsequently be unveiled.

There was a decent choir present who sang to keep the crowd entertained while we awaited the arrival of the VIPs. Even located as we were, relatively close to the "tannoys" (speakers), people were chatting so loud that we didn't catch much more than one of three words for most of the speeches, but what we caught seemed typical of such events: reminders of history and looking forward to a better future, reconciliation with the Germans (which goes back quite a while and isn't just a recent thing), and so on.

When the formal ceremony began, senior politicians, church figures, and leaders of the armed forces filed into the square and took their seats. They were followed by marching bands from one or two branches of the military. Marching bands are always fun and inspirational. Not much in the way of photos, as there were hat-wearing obstacles between us and the marchers. Shoshanna pointed out, with some justice, that I shouldn't be cursing them out when bunches of people behind me were probably cursing me for exactly the same reason.

The ceremony began with a recitation of the beatitudes part of Christ's sermon on the mount ("blessed are the meek" etc.) by a church leader, followed by a re-enactment of the entry of the triumphant British troops who arrived to accept the Nazi surrender and disarm the soldiers, followed by singing of the British national anthem (God Save the King), and ceremonial raising of the Union Jack to replace what would have been a Nazi flag had it been politic to fly such a thing. This was echoed by raising of the Union Jack above Regent Castle, which sits high atop a giant block of bedrock in the central part of the city. You can see the tower and flag from the street outside our hotel.

Raising the Union Jack:

Once the formal celebrations were done, the ceremonies concluded with departing processions of the Royal Militia of the Island of Jersey (army and navy) past the reviewing stand that had the senior church and government representatives present. They were followed cadets of the various military services, the marching bands, shouting sergeants (left, right, left right etc.), followed by antique vehicles (old Rolls Royce limos, including at least one that seemed to have been repurposed as a German staff car; armored cars and ancient motorcycles).

Marchers and marching bands:

VIPs at the reviewing stand:

I'd say there were closer to 1000 people present than to the 10,000 the tourist information guy had predicted. (He might have been referring to the 80th anniversary, which would have attracted more celebrants.) Still a good and enthusiastic turnout. We went in search of ice cream (black cherry), and thus far, the Jersey ice cream is nothing extraordinary. Of course, being a scientist by training, there will need to be much replication to reach a conclusion supported by the evidence.

Next stop was the Jersey Museum, which is located in a mansion formerly owned by a major French shipping family into which a French doctor married. He was apparently quite the samaritan, advocating for the poor and offering free homeopathic treatments while also getting involved in left-leaning politics. Unfortunately, he was a much better doctor and samaritan than businessman, and lost the shipping company. He ended by losing so much money that he became irredeemably indebted to local creditors, forcing the family to hold a bankruptcy sale to pay off their debts. Unfortunately, the banks objected to the sale, fearing they wouldn't recover their loans, so they prevented the sale. This forced the family to flee by night (what the exhibits called a "midnight flit") to escape their creditors, and in the end, they seem to have settled into a comfortable if not wealthy life in France.

The museum is relatively small (four floors including the ground floor), but has well-designed exhibits, including archival and reconstructed film footage, that describe the history of Jersey from Neandertal times through the liberation of the Channel Islands in 1945. It's a complicated history, so I won't try to summarize it here. Well worth a visit, particularly since there's no entrance fee. One interesting new addition is a history of slavery of Black Africans, added in honor of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery and aimed to describe the role played by the Channel Islands—which was, unsurprisingly, to profit from it. Although there were many groups, both religious and secular (particularly women), in favor of abolishing slavery, it was clear that the abolition was only possible in 1833 because the British government paid all the slave-owners to compenstate them for the loss of their "property". It's also clear from what was left unsaid that nobody fought to compensate the former slaves. Still, a good gesture to air out the truth, even if some of the gorier details were omitted.

We took a refreshment break in "the Yard", a café outside the museum. Really nice open space, with a metal sculpture fountain that featured a crow on hinges so that when it filled with water, it tipped to release the water. Shoshanna has acquired a taste for Stinky Bay beer, and enjoyed a half-pint of their session IPA; I had a small and overpriced (but very tasty) American coffee. Then we hiked back to the hotel to relax, shower, and prepare for dinner.

Dinner was at JAC Café again. Shoshanna had the same salmon bowl we'd shared yesterday. I opted for their Australian burger, which features a fried egg under the bun, plus fried onions and bacon and cheese. I enjoyed it with a pint of Camden ale. I don't think the egg offers anything much to the overall burger experience, and the resulting burger is too thick to fit in even as large a mouth as mine; I had to remove the top half of the bun and cut the rest into bite-size pieces. Yummy, but in the end too much of a good thing. The staff were amused but happy at seeing us come three nights in a row.

We had talked with Elena at breakfast over other dining options. She suggested Rafiki, which is a Kenyan restaurant run by her daugher and her daughter's husband. We haven't had Kenyan food before, but have really enjoyed Senegalese and Ethiopian food, so we're looking forward to seeing how Kenyan differs. Shoshanna hasn't had seafood yet, so when we asked about options, Elena recommended Mano's Bistro, a Portuguese restaurant. Not a cuisine we've tried before, so we're looking forward to trying it. Given that we still have almost a week to stay in St. Helier, I suspect we'll end up back at JAC at some point before we leave.