Jersey / Monument
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Liberation Square in St Helier was officially opened as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations. The principal building beside the Square, which was constructed in 1901 to be part of the St Helier railway station, was the German Harbour Office during the Occupation years. It was from a first floor window of this building that a Union Flag was lowered by the first two Allied troops to arrive in Jersey, Surgeon-Lieutenant Ronald McDonald and Sub-Lieutenant David Milln. Shortly afterwards the flag was taken over to the adjacent Pomme D’Or Hotel by Jersey Harbourmaster, Captain Harry Richmond, and hoisted from its flagpole on the balcony by Colonel Robinson with his assistance.
“It was an enormous relief”, recalls Bob Le Sueur, “there was a feeling quite suddenly of freedom. We no longer had to worry about whether or not anyone knew that we were hearing the BBC on one of our secret little radios. We no longer had to watch carefully what one said, even to a close friend in case that person might be too talkative and gossipy. We could begin living all over again. We no longer had in front of us huge swastika flags flying outside our public buildings.”
Marking the significance of these events required a poignant and powerful memorial sculpture. Unveiled by the Prince of Wales on the 50th anniversary of the Liberation, Monument to Freedom, otherwise known as the Liberation Sculpture, is the design of sculptor Philip Jackson FRSS. It depicts joyous Islanders waving a Union Flag at the moment of the Liberation of Jersey, after five long years of German Occupation.
Liberation Square, Jersey JE1 3UF