When is Liberation Day?
Liberation Day is a public holiday in the Channel Islands on May 9th.
It commemorates the liberation of the islands from Nazi occupation at the end of the Second World War.
History of Liberation Day
The Channel Islands in the English Channel, lie 20 miles off the coast of Normandy, France.
The islands include two Crown dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consisting of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and some smaller islands. Although they are not part of the United Kingdom, the UK is responsible for the defence and international relations of the islands.
The German occupation of the Channel Islands began on June 30th 1940. Given their close proximity to German-occupied France, it would have been almost impossible for the UK to defend them, so the British made the decision to demilitarise the islands and evacuated about one-third of the population before the German troops arrived.
The occupiers installed a garrison, putting the locals to work as slave labour and resistance fighters were deported to German prisons, some never to return home.
The islands were liberated on May 9th 1945 with the surrender of the German occupying forces and arrival of British troops. With the islands on the brink of starvation, the liberation didn't come a day too soon.
Though Guernsey and Jersey were liberated on May 9th, Sark was liberated on May 10th, and Alderney, not until May 16th.
The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by German Armed Forces during the war.
