Thousands of people were in St Helier to witness a moving series of Liberation Day events, with many more watching an online broadcast.
In perfect sunny weather, the events of Wednesday 9 May 1945 were faithfully re-enacted, including liberating forces “invading” the square and a trio of Union flags being unfurled in the former harbourmaster’s office, on the balcony of the Pomme d’Or hotel and atop Fort Regent.
The final flag coincided with a RAF Poseidon P8 swooping low overhead, after which God Save the King was sung by attendees, the prelude to a motor cavalcade featuring blaring horns and 800 kilograms of confetti.
A message from King Charles III was read by the Lieutenant-Governor, Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd, in which HRH described his “particularly fond memories” of Liberation Square, in spite of “the most astonishing downpour” that accompanied his visit with Queen Camilla last July.
During a special sitting of the States Assembly, Constable Karen Stone spoke of her roots in both Jersey and Canada, where she was born, and her pride at Canada “wearing tolerance and diversity on its sleeve, and standing up to an increasingly hostile United States that now seeks to endanger it”.
Mrs Stone added: “Our best tribute to the past is to live up to the lessons it taught us.”
The Dean of Jersey, the Very Rev Mike Keirle, said: “Our freedoms come with a responsibility to ensure our actions are not dictated by a love of power, but by the power of love.”
In his final Liberation Day address before retiring as Bailiff later this year, Sir Timothy Le Cocq echoed these sentiments, praising the leadership of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for “his leadership in a world where information is increasingly available, yet dangerously manipulated”.
The younger generation, whose importance in maintaining Liberation traditions was highlighted by the Bailiff, played their part as the Liberation Memories of Islander Enid de Gruchy were read by in Jèrriais by JCG student Jemima Horn and in English by Tama Coxshall, a pupil at Hautlieu.
Jèrriais featured again as Man Bieau P’tit Jèrri (Beautiful Jersey) was sung by soloist Omara Nicholls and the Musical Originals, the first time the song had featured on Liberation Day since being declared the island’s official anthem in a States Assembly vote.
Among the guests were Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, and Lord Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Britain’s wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Later in the day, descendants of slave workers who were brought to Jersey under Nazi rule gathered at Westmount for a moving ceremony to honour the memory of those who suffered or lost their lives during the Occupation.
The memorial service, which has been held every Liberation Day since the 1960s, remembers the thousands of prisoners of war and civilian labourers from across Europe and North Africa who were forced to build German fortifications on the Island as part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.
A total of 101 died in Jersey and are buried in what was once known as the Strangers’ Cemetery.
The event took place in the grounds of the Crematorium and was attended by dignitaries, politicians, and representatives of community groups.
Organiser Gary Font, son of Spanish Republican forced worker Francisco Font, said: “Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, as Ukraine continues to fight for its sovereign rights and conflicts bring death and destruction around the world, it has never been more important to gather on Liberation Day and remember those who suffered – and continue to.
“The families of forced workers will never forget why Jersey is their home.”