Abstract
The experience in the Second World War of the Channel Islands was very similar to that of the rest of Western Europe; yet their war narrative is unmistakenly British, despite the gulf that exists between their experiences and those of the mainland. How and why did this come about? This chapter analyses the longevity and stability of the British war narrative in the collective memory of the Channel Islands through successive and palimpsestic commemorative master narratives. It also shows how official memory, imposed from above and with the direct help of the British government, has dominated public memory and narratives since 1945. Even where popular memory has been given a voice, especially since the 1970s onwards with the passing away of the older generation, it has rarely sought to challenge, nor has it acquired the commemorative density to challenge, the dominance of narratives which continue to focus on themes of patriotism and pride in military might and victory. This is in direct contrast to elsewhere in Europe, where paradigm shifts in memory were observed between the late 1960s and mid-1980s. Instead, new or marginalised narratives have been expressed either within the confines of the pre-existing framework of Liberation Day or else have mounted a separate, alternative commemorative space, providing an effective counter-memory which attracted those outside the establishment until the twenty-first century.
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- 1.
The Guernsey Evening Press and The Star newspapers merged on 1 November 1965. The paper was renamed as the Guernsey Press and Star in September 1999.
- 2.
Letter from Bob Le Sueur to author, 23 May 2011.
- 3.
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.
- 4.
The States of Guernsey and the States of Jersey are the local governments and parliaments of the islands.
- 5.
Mark Lamerton, personal communication, June 2011.
- 6.
Jersey Evening Post, 2 April 1946.
- 7.
Guernsey Archives reference BF/19–28/11, Liberation and Victory celebrations, 1945–1948.
- 8.
Jersey Evening Post, 10 May 1946.
- 9.
Guernsey Evening Press, 7 May 1946: 2.
- 10.
Guernsey Evening Press, 10 May 1946: 1.
- 11.
Jersey Evening Post, 10 May 1950.
- 12.
Guernsey Star, 11 May 1950: 1.
- 13.
Guernsey Evening Press, 11 May 1951.
- 14.
Jersey Evening Post, 11 May 1950: 1.
- 15.
Guernsey Evening Press, 10 May 1946: 1.
- 16.
Letter from Bob Le Sueur to author, 23 May 2011.
- 17.
Guernsey Evening Press, 13 May 1954.
- 18.
Guernsey Evening Press, 8 May 1957: 2.
- 19.
Jersey Evening Post, 10 May 1956.
- 20.
Jersey Evening Post, 10 May 1958: 4.
- 21.
Guernsey Evening Press, 10 May 1960: 1.
- 22.
Interview with Gary Font, 10 May 2011.
- 23.
Traditional inter-island rivalry dictates that those from Jersey call those from Guernsey, ‘donkeys’, while Jersey people are called ‘crapauds’ (toads) in return. In addition to recognising it as a term of abuse, Guernsey people also proudly refer to themselves as ‘donkeys’. A ‘Guernsey donkey’ connotes either someone with long Guernsey ancestry or else someone who is incredibly stubborn (and often both). Stubbornness is held to be a typically ‘donkey-ish’ (i.e. Guernsey) trait.
- 24.
Jersey Evening Post, 11 May 1981:9.
- 25.
Jersey Evening Post, 10 May 1985.
- 26.
Speech by Gary Font at the annual ceremony at Westmount memorial, 9 May 2009.
- 27.
Jersey Evening Post, 10 May 1985.
- 28.
This memorial is actually in the wrong place. While the advance party of liberating forces actually arrived at St Julian’s Pier on 9 May, other units of the force arrived at the Connaught Landing on 12 May.
- 29.
Jersey Evening Post, 11 October 1988.
- 30.
Guernsey Evening Press, 10 May 1990: 1.
- 31.
Jersey Evening Post, 8 May 1996:8.
- 32.
Ibid.
- 33.
Email of 8 November 2010, to author from Sir Philip Bailhache.
- 34.
While the JEP records that a group of Moroccans showed themselves at the window, later interviews conducted with those present at the time, coupled with photographic evidence and a signature recorded in the Naval Officer’s pay book, suggests that the a solitary Russian POW named Alexander Galub was the person at the window (Lamerton personal communication, 20 June 2011; my thanks to Nikolai Ssorin-Chaikov for translating the signature).
- 35.
Jersey Evening Post, 9 May 1945.
- 36.
At the Liberation Day 2010 celebrations, the author saw a small exhibition mounted by local school children in the Tourist Information offices. It focused entirely on the arrival of the Red Cross ship, the Vega, bringing parcels to starving Islanders, helping them to endure the last few months of Occupation. This was a good example of the younger generation being taught about the Occupation along traditional lines.
- 37.
Albert Bedane, Ivy Forster, Louisa Gould and Harold Le Druillenec.
- 38.
The author is currently fighting for these to be released.
- 39.
Among this group we might include British Jews caught on the continent at the outbreak of war, SOE agents sent to occupied Europe from London, and Channel Islanders deported to prisons and concentration camps for acts of resistance.
- 40.
Sir Geoffrey Rowland personal communication, 17 June 2011.
- 41.
Email of 24 June 2011, to author from PF from the Department of Culture and Leisure.
- 42.
My thanks to PF from the Department of Culture and Leisure for making this document available to me.
- 43.
Email of 28 June 2011, to author from PF from the Department of Culture and Leisure.
- 44.
In the 2010 cavalcade, the theme of one float was ‘Guernsey’s sporting heroes’. I heard those around me in the crowd mutter, ‘What’s that got to do with liberation or Occupation?’
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Carr, G. (2014). The Politics of Memory on Liberation Day. In: Legacies of Occupation. Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology, vol 40. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03407-2_5
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