Piper Operation Cobra

On 4^th August, a delegation from Jersey and Guernsey travelled to Granville to witness the largest display of Piper L4 and Cubs aircrafts in Europe since the Second World War. This event took place to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the Liberation of Europe, with Granville and Jullouville being liberated on 31^st July 1944.

The delegation comprising Guernsey’s President of Policy & Resources, Gavin St Pier, Jersey’s Assistant Chief Minister, Connétable Christopher Taylor, and Deputy of St Martin Steve Luce, attended a gathering with the President of La Manche, Marc Lefèvre, the Mayor of Jullouville, Alain Brière, and the President of Piper Operation Cobra, Philippe Renaudet. This was followed by an air display and exhibition of around 350 vehicles at Jullouville beach.

Granville and Jullouville were selected as locations for this event as the former was home to the main headquarters of the French Forces and the latter was where General Dwight D. Eisenhower (who launched the D-Day operations in June 1944) based his Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in the Castle De La Mare. There, Eisenhower oversaw as many as 30,000 soldiers involved in the Battle of Normandy and the Battle of France and the airbase was dedicated to the Pipers L4-H.

The delegation was honoured to have taken part in the commemorations remembering the sacrifice of all who fought in the Second World War and those who contributed to the Liberation of Europe in 1944.