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Arthur was a boy when the war began, and played the drum in the Boys Brigade band. But the Germans banned uniformed organisations, and any organised gathering – so the band stopped playing.

But on Liberation Day, 9 May 1945, he saw a chance to get it playing again. As crowds cheered the soldiers waving from the balcony of the Pomme d'Or Hotel, Arthur climbed the drainpipe next to it, and was hauled inside. He spoke to the officer in charge, and persuaded him to hold a parade the next day.

Arthur spent the night running around the island finding his former band members and urging them to muster the next day. Sure enough, at half past seven in the morning they met at their former headquarters in St Helier. They had brought their instruments.

At the head of a column of three hundred soldiers, they marched through town, out as far as First Tower, then back to the Royal Square, with thousands of emotional islanders cheering them on.

Image: Arthur Shales’ ID card, courtesy of Jersey Archives

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