4th May 2016
The Occupation Tapestry is completed
The Occupation Tapestry celebrates the 50th anniversary of Jersey’s liberation at the end of the Second World War. Featuring 12 panels and more than 7.5m stitches, it depicts events that occurred both locally under the German administration, and in the wider world.
The first panel depicts Neville Chamberlain declaring peace in our time as he holds aloft the piece of paper he’d brought back to Britain after his meeting with Hitler, surrounded by images of Jersey’s evacuation and the approach of German forces.
The tapestry, which took 950 locals from each of Jersey’s 12 parishes 30,000 hours to stitch, is housed in the Maritime Museum at St Helier harbour. The last stitch was made by the Lieutenant Governor’s wife, Lady Gene McColl.
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Other events that occured in May
The Queen gives Jersey ownership of its beaches
- It took until 2015 for the queen to hand over Jersey’s beaches and the 12 miles of seabed stretching away from them.
- Read more…
A jilted lover shoots his bride to be (or was she his wife?)
- Francis Caillot, a town crier and boot maker, was convicted of murder and was transported to Tasmania as punishment.
- Read more…
Jersey prisoners’ liberation revealed by the Foreign Office
- Channel Islanders who had been sent to prisons in mainland Europe during the Occupation were liberated in April 1945.
- Read more…
A new type of aircraft debuts on Jersey route
- The Handley Page Dart Herald was a short-range regional airline for developing countries, but it was also used on the Jersey route.
- Read more…