Maritime re-enactment planned for 80th Liberation Day
THE 80th anniversary of Guernsey’s liberation will be marked by a re-enactment of the first contingent who came ashore in 1945.
Russell Doherty, founder of the Guernsey Military History Company, is organising the re-enactment and is hoping that he will have a group of between 20 and 30 people taking part.
‘This year for Liberation Day we are hoping to have a group of 12-14 locals, some from Jersey, and then some guest re-enactors from the UK,’ he said.
‘The two officers will be real military officers, one of them has retired and one is close to retirement, and then a lot of the people are ex-military or ex-cadet trainers, so we will have a lot of service personnel.’
Two military ‘little ships’, including the HMS Medusa, will also be used in the re-enactment. Medusa was the first Allied warship positioned off Omaha beach in Normandy for the D-Day landings, and is the last of her class, a Harbour Defence Motor Launch, still in seafaring condition. She visited the island last in 2022.
‘It is entirely weather-dependent,’ said Mr Doherty.
‘If the sea is rough in the build up, we won’t get them across the channel, so we have got to hope for good weather.’
The re-enactment will be in reverse, with the group taking part in the cavalcade first before the landing takes place later on in the day.
‘Because of tides, we will do the re-enactment of the landing later on in the day, at about 5pm when crowds will likely be at their biggest in the Victoria Marina, and will be a part of the cavalcade earlier in the day,’ said Mr Doherty.
‘This way people will get a chance to see us at different points throughout the day.’
