大象传媒

[Myrtle Tabel was four years old at the start of the German Occupation]

My most vivid memories and certainly the most happy are of when the British Soldiers landed in Guernsey on 9 May 1945. We had of course never seen khaki uniforms and did not really understand what all the fuss was about. It was a simply wonderful day the sun was shining and everyone was so happy. The adults were behaving in a very strange way crying and laughing and hugging each other. We spent the whole day along the front watching the soldiers marching along. The German soldiers looked very dejected. We were given twenty bars of chocolate by the British soldiers that day which my mother promptly rationed or we would have been very ill. At one time during the day my two sisters and I were standing at the side of the road watching one group of soldiers marching along when they stopped and gave my sister an orange. She bounced it because she thought it was a ball. We had no idea what oranges were of course. My mother had to show us how to peel it and eat it. Many of the children were taken out in rowing boats to a large troop ship which was moored in the old harbour the sailors threw toffees and sweets down to us we had never had it so good!!! The very best thing about Liberation Day was that on the way home my mother said we could have as much bread for tea as we wanted I have never forgotten that.

Myrtle Tabel

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