Liberation Day: St Martins schoolchildren re-enact evacuation
Children at a Guernsey school have taken part in an re-enactment of the World War Two evacuation ahead of Liberation Day celebrations.Year Five pupils from St Martins Primary School arrived to class, filled out their ID cards, before walking over to the government office, the Douzaine, to get their papers checked.It comes as the island gears up to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Guernsey's liberation from German occupation during World War Two, on Friday 9 May.About 17,000 people left in 1940 aead of the German occupation of the island, which lasted until 1945.
'A living memory'
About 5,000 children were evacuated with their schools, mothers left the island with their families and thousands were sent to the north of England.Sandra De Sousa, a Year Five teacher at St Martins, said the day had given the children "a flavour" of what occupation could have been like.She said: "We have a unique experience here on Guernsey where we actually get to learn about and study something that happened within our living memory."It gives the children a flavour of what it could have been like at that time, and the whole idea of of dressing up becomes a bit of a core memory."When asked whether the occasion would still be marked in the decades to come as the memory became more distant, Mrs De Sousa said the story should never be forgotten.She said: "It's really, really important because it's a part of our local history. The bunkers are still here and there is still imagery around to do with the German occupation."I think, where possible, we need to encourage our children to speak those who have experienced this, or have memories of parents experiencing it, so that this story is never forgotten."
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