The liberation of the Channel Islands

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2020

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The only part of the British Isles to be occupied during World War Two was liberated when the German army surrendered in May 1945. The Channel Islands are situated just off the coast of France, and yet even after the Allies had invaded the French coast, they remained under German occupation. Barbara Frost was 17 years old when liberation came. She has been telling Robbie Wojciechowski about life under occupation.

Photo: Barbara a year after the war ended. Courtesy of Barbara Frost.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:36.0	Now on the BBC World Service, it's Witness History, first-hand accounts of moments that changed our world.
0:46.0	I'm Robbie Voych Hoski and today we're going back to May 1945,
0:50.0	when the only part of the British Isles occupied by Nazi forces during World War II, the Channel Islands were liberated.
0:57.0	On Tuesday morning, H.M. Bulldog with H.M. Beagle in company sailed from Plymouth to receive the unconditional surrender of the German occupation forces. This small collection of islands just off the coast of France had been occupied for five years.
1:17.0	Barbara Frost was 17 years old
1:25.1	when liberation came to Jersey. I'm immediately taken back to that day, that feeling of being free I think the most wonderful feeling in the world
1:38.8	and I'm 92 now and I shall never ever forget it.
1:45.0	Thousands watched as British soldiers sailed into St Heliers.
1:51.0	Thousands watched as British soldiers sailed into St Heliers Harbour.
1:55.0	We just saw these soldiers coming up at the harbour.
2:00.0	It was the most wonderful, wonderful site and they walked to this Pomdoor Hotel and went up onto the balcony and they just took down the German flag and raised the British Union Jack. And then I think the biggest
2:17.5	chair of all was when one of the soldiers came out and he had a picture of Hitler and he threw it down.
2:26.0	Oh my God, it was like the biggest party you've ever known.
2:30.0	When the Second World War first broke out, it didn't really affect the Channel Islands.
2:37.0	People from the British mainland even carried on visiting from morale- boosting holidays.
2:41.0	But in June 1940, after the British Army had retreated from France,
	...

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