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Four local historians will bring the Liberation of the Channel Islands to life this weekend by ‘reporting’ the news in ‘real-time’ as it would have unfolded 75 years ago.
Using eyewitness accounts, diaries, documents, interviews, films and photographs, the aim is to ‘recreate the tension, excitement, elation and confusion’ as people might have experienced it, had there been social media.
The ‘Liberation 1945 – As It Happened’ project will take place on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram over the bank holiday weekend.
There'll be posts from the troops of Force 135 who came to Liberate the Islands; the reaction of the Germans; and the relief felt by those living in Guernsey and Jersey.
— Liberation - As It Happened (@Lib1945) May 5, 2020
There'll also be photos and film to capture 'two days in May' that will never be forgotten. pic.twitter.com/DSxkdNGs5G
Islanders can follow the key moments of the Liberation in regular ‘news’ updates consisting of more than 200 posts, which will be published between the early hours of Friday and Sunday.
The project, which is coordinated by Express journalist Eric Blakeley, combines the expertise and resources of three local historians: author Mark Lamerton, and collectors Damien Horn and Simon Hamon.
Pictured: Eric Blakeley produced many programmes about the occupation whilst working as a journalist and television reporter.
According to Eric Blakeley, one of their biggest challenges was chronology. “Mark’s research is second to none, but it still had to be edited so events unfolded in the right order, and the words needed to be married up with Damien and Simon’s photographs,” he explained.
“Sometimes, we had to make informed approximations as to when something happened.
“For instance, we know when Jersey’s Bailiff, Alexander Coutanche, went out to HMS Beagle in St Aubin’s Bay, and came back, and what happened whilst he was aboard. But we don’t know the exact time he sent his messages to the King and Churchill, or when he heard back from them.”
Pictured: The Royal Square on 8 May 1945 (Credit: Damien Horn)
Time zones were another consideration: “When the islands were on German time during the occupation, the mornings were always very dark, the evenings very bright.
“We decided we wanted to create the same atmosphere and also avoid any potentially bizarre situations where people are describing being able to see things late at night when we today are actually experiencing darkness.
“So, everything we publish may seem to an hour too early. But, it is right!”
Pictured: "Tommies stand guard" at Fort Regent on 9 May 1945 (Credit: Damien Horn)
The team hope to bring the Liberation ‘alive’ in a way that has never happened before, and give islanders a ‘shared liberation experience’ despite having to stay at home.
Commenting on how the project resonates with the current time, Simon Hamon said: “In a small way, lockdown has made people realise what it is like to lose your freedom. And soon, we will experience what it is like to get it back again.
“That, in essence, is the story of the occupation and the liberation.”
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