Colonel H.R. Power, Chief Civil Affairs Officer, walking across the gangplank from German Harbour Protection Vessel FK04, about to shake the hand of Attorney-General J.E.L. Martel on the White Rock. The St. Peter Port seafront can be seen in the background. Approx. 7:50am, 9th May 1945

Landings at White Rock

Colonel H.R. Power, Chief Civil Affairs Officer, being greeted by Attorney-General J.E.L. Martel, Guernsey Police Inspector Lamy and a Sergeant of the Guernsey Police Force on the White Rock, St. Peter Port Harbour. Approx. 7.50am, 9th May 1945

On 9 May, the formal surrender of the German occupying forces by the German second in command, Major General Siegfried Heine, took place on naval ship HMS Bulldog. The ship was moored in the Little Russell off the coast of St Peter Port. The initial Allied force, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Stoneman and consisting of four officers and 21 men, including several Guernsey men, all from liberating task force, Force 135, landed at the White Rock at 07:50 on 9 May.They were greeted by a town decorated in red, white and blue and thousands of cheering Islanders singing. Amongst other patriotic songs, they sand Sarnia-Cherie. Stoneman set up his Head Quarters in the Royal Hotel (now the site of the RBS Bank).On 12 May, the White Rock was also one of the main landing points during Operation Prophet, when the Allied troops landed to secure the German defences of St Peter Port harbour.

The White Rock

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