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Memorial details

Memorial type
Composite
District
Jersey
Town
St Helier
County
Channel Islands
Country
Channel Islands
Commemoration
Second World War (1939-1945)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: 9th May 1995
    Attended by: HRH Prince of Wales KG
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
10145

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Current location

Liberation Monument
Liberation Square
St Helier
Jersey
Channel Islands
JE2 3QA
Channel Islands

OS Grid Ref: Undefined
Denomination: Undefined

View location on Google Maps
Description
A sculptured group of Channel Islanders, and a liberator dressed in fatigues, holding aloft a flag. Together the group creates a victory arch for people to walk through. The sculpture is set in the middle of a three-stepped circular base of polished stone, which in turn is surrounded by a circular pool representing the island, whilst 12 fountains represent the 12 parishes. The memorial is explained in further detail on a plaque mounted to a plinth, with a further plaque and tablet mounted on a nearby building wall, scene of the formal liberation. (See separate entries for both Liberation Square itself and the minor plaque and tablet.)
Inscription
Plaque: AT THIS PLACE ON 9TH MAY 1945, ADVANCED PARTIES FROM THE ROYAL NAVY AND/ THE BRITISH ARMY LIBERATED JERSEY FROM NEARLY FIVE YEARS OF OCCUPATION/ BY THE GERMAN FORCES. THEY AND THE RETURN OF THE BRITISH FLAG WERE/ GREETED BY THOUSANDS OF ISLANDERS WITH RELIEF, JOY AND GRATITUDE./ ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT DAY, THE STATES AND PEOPLE OF JERSEY/ DEDICATE THIS LIBERATION SQUARE TO COMMEMORATE THAT HISTORIC EVENT/ AND ALL THOSE WHOSE EFFORTS AND SACRIFICES MADE THIS POSSIBLE./ THE SCULPTURE BY PHILIP JACKSON F.R.B.S. WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE JERSEY/ PUBLIC SCULPTURE TRUST AND UNVEILED BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS/ THE PRINCE OF WALES ON 9TH MAY 1995./ THE DESIGN OF THE SQUARE INCLUDES A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE OF SYMBOLISM/ WHICH CAN BE EXPLAINED AS FOLLOWS-/ EACH CIRCLE HAS A FUNCTION RELATING TO THE SCULPTURE,/ THE FOUNTAIN, THE COMPASS, THE FLAGPOLES AND THE/ TIME CAPSULE./ THE CIRCULAR AND CURVELINEAR FORMS REPRESENT/ FREE THOUGHT AND LIBERATION./ THE PLINTH OF THE SCULPTURE REPRESENTS THE ISLAND,/ THE SCULPTURE REPRESENTS THE PEOPLE, THE MOAT/ REPRESENTS THE SEA AND THE TWELVE FOUNTAINS/ REPRESENT THE PARISHES OF THE ISLAND./ THE COMPASS ROSE SIGNIFIES THAT JERSEY IS PART OF/ A LARGER GLOBAL COMMUNITY. WHILST REJOICING IN ITS/ OWN LIBERATION IN 1945 AND PEACE DURING THE/ SUBSEQUENT 50 YEARS, JERSEY LOOKS OUTWARD IN THE/ HOPE THAT THE PEACE AND FREEDOM THAT IT ENJOYS/ WILL ONE DAY EXTEND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Undefined
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Sculpture
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
  • Plaque
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Metal
  • Base
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
  • Plinth
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
  • Flagpole
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Undefined
  • Fountain
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Undefined
  • Other structure
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Undefined
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Sponsorship
Public
Details: Jersey Public Sculpture Trust
Responsibility
STATES OF JERSEY
Reference
  • Heroes of Our Time website: heroesofourtime.co.uk/liberation-square-memorial.html (Accessed 15 January 2023)
  • Anonymous. "The Prince of Wales will unveil this sculpture today...". The Times. 9 May 1995: p. 18.
  • Anonymous. "Creating A Gallery Without Walls: a campaign to enrich St Helier's public spaces with open-air sculpture is gathering increasing momentum". Jersey Evening Post. 6 March 1991: p. 12.
  • Anonymous. "Lasting Reminders of Liberation". Jersey Evening Post. 12 May 1995: 8.
  • Shipley, Rob. "Out of the Furore and Into the Furnace: after all the controversy, the Liberation sculpture is now cast in bronze". Jersey Evening Post. 6 March 1995: 20-21.
  • Art UK: artuk.org/discover/artworks/monument-to-freedom-274646 (Accessed 4 April 2022)

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

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© WMR-10145

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