2nd August 1975
Two parachute deaths in two days
Members of a parachute display team called the Black Knights, put on a display in Jersey in honour of two colleagues who had been killed in jumps in the island on consecutive days. Lance-Corporal Edward Brennan was being towed along the beach while fixed to his parachute but came down in the sea and drowned.
The following day, unperturbed by the death of his colleague, 24-year-old Bombardier David Binns was aiming for the beach at Bel Royal during his jump but, like Brennan, parachuted into the sea and drowned.
Surviving members of the Black Knights team later made a ceremonial jump in memory of the two men in the presence of dignitaries.
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Other events that occured in August
Jersey’s military government is dissolved
- The Channel Islands’ political recovery from the Occupation of the Second World War was swift, even if the physical scars remain.
- Read more…
The first Battle of Flowers takes place
- Jersey staged its first ever Battle of Flowers in 1902, to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria.
- Read more…
ITV broadcasts final episode of Island at War
- Island at War was a tale of life in the occupied Channel Islands. Taking inspiration from real-life events, it was set on a fictional island.
- Read more…
St Helier burned by a huge fire
- Dense clouds of smoke billowed above Fort Regent when commercial buildings caught fire in St Helier in August 1891.
- Read more…
