8th May 1947
Jersey hosts UK’s first post-war Grand Prix
British driver Reg Parnell won the 1947 Jersey International Road Race, considered to be the first Grand Prix race held in the United Kingdom following the Second World War. Like the second-placed driver, Frenchman Louis Chiron, he was driving a Maserati. There had been much speculation in the weeks leading up to the event that it would prove to be the fastest road race in Europe, with cars reaching 150mph on the straights – in particular the A2 running along St Aubin’s Bay.
The race, which covered 160 miles and had a £1000 prize fund, saw only 13 of the original 25 entrants cross the finish line. Prince Birabongse Bhanudej, better known as Prince Bira of Siam, had also entered, again in a Maserati, but dropped out at the halfway point.
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Other events that occured in May
Disco doorman is sentenced to death for murder
- The Royal Court sentenced a 23-year-old man to hang for the murder of Judith Harris, who had been found battered in an alley.
- Read more…
Traffic returns to the “right” side of the road
- Throughout the occupation, the Channel Islands moved to German time and traffic switched from the left-hand side of the road to the right.
- Read more…
Plane scrapes the runway at Jersey Airport
- A DC-8 flying into Jersey came in with its nose too high and its tail too low. The tail struck the runway and scraped along it.
- Read more…
The Channel Islands are liberated
- The Channel Islands were liberated on 9 May 1945 after several attempts at negotiating the German army's surrender.
- Read more…
