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
A ship’s captain broke the law… or did he?
- When a ship's captain ended up in court for carrying too many passengers he argued that although he set off from Jersey, French law applied.
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Jersey court fines man three months’ pay for swearing
- The Jersey court fined a man almost three months' pay for uttering a single swear word at his boss in 1891.
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Superman is born in Jersey
- Actor Henry Cavill, who went on to play Superman in various film adaptations, was born in Jersey on 5 May 1983.
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Father commits suicide by slashing his own throat
- John Moignard was determined to kill himself. He drank a bottle of ammonia before slashing his throat with a razor blade.
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