Liberation Statue
Monument to Freedom
Liberation Square, St Helier (opposite the Pomme D'Or Hotel)
Known as the Liberation Sculpture, this very fine monument to freedom caused huge controversy in the island. The original design of the sculptor, Philip Jackson FRSS – seven islanders waving a UK flag - was altered by the Occupation and Liberation Committee of the States of Jersey to show a group of doves being released as a symbol of peace. This drew the cynical observation that far from releasing the doves, islanders suffering wartime deprivations would have had them for dinner.
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When unveiled by the Prince of Wales on 9 May 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands, the sculpture had had its flag reinstated, and one of figures had become a British soldier. But are the Islanders joyously unfurling the flag, or clinging onto it, or throwing it away? |
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The Pomme D’Or Hotel stands along the north side of Liberation Square. One of Jersey’s best-known hotels, when the Germans occupied the island in July 1940 it was commandeered and used from then on as the German Naval Headquarters in the Channel Islands.
One of the best-known series of wartime photographs, on display inside the hotel, shows the scenes at the Pomme D’Or on 9 May 1945. A huge crowd packed the square in front of the hotel to hear speeches from local dignitaries and British officers gathered on the balcony, and to see the German swastika flag pulled down and replaced by a Union Jack.
Statue plaque reads:
At this place on 9th May, 1945, advance parties from the Royal Navy and the British Army liberated Jersey from nearly five years of occupation by German forces. They and the return of the British flag were greeted by thousands of Islanders with intense relief, joy and gratitude.
On the 50th Anniversary of that day,the States and people of Jersey dedicate this new Liberation square to commemorate that historic event and all those whose efforts and sacrifices made it possible.
This Sculpture by Philip Jackson F.R.S.S. was commissioned by the Jersey Public Sculpture Trust and unveiled by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales on 9th May 1995.
