A CEREMONY held yesterday at 10 Downing Street reminded not only Islanders but also the world at large that, although far from the front lines, the German Occupation of Jersey produced acts of inspiring heroism.

For many years the national press – and certain historians with axes to grind or deeply ingrained preconceived notions – have focused on rare examples of alleged collaboration in the occupied Channel Islands. Yesterday’s ceremony, however, drew attention to the indisputable heroism of four Islanders who, with utter disregard for their own safety, helped victims and potential victims of the Nazi occupiers to find sanctuary.

The four now-deceased Islanders whose names were remembered and honoured were Louisa Gould, Ivy Forster, Harold Le Druillenec and Albert Bédane. Their wartime acts led Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who presented medals dedicated to 29 British heroes of the Holocaust, to say: ‘They were shining beacons of hope in the midst of terrible evil.’

Louisa Gould tragically felt the full force of that evil. Her humanitarian efforts to assist fugitives from the occupiers led to her arrest and, in the closing phase of the Second World War, her death in the gas chamber at Ravensbreck concentration camp.

Her brother Harold and her sister Ivy were also arrested, the former becoming the only British survivor at Belsen concentration camp and the latter escaping deportation only by feigning an infectious disease.

The fourth Islander to be honoured at Downing Street, physiotherapist Albert Bédane, sheltered a Jewish woman, Mary Richardson, an escaped French prisoner of war and Russian escapees in his home even while treating German soldiers in his adjacent clinic. For these deeds he has already been named ‘Righteous Among Nations’, Israel’s highest Holocaust accolade.

Phyllis Le Druillenec, Harold’s widow, who is now 100, made the journey to accept the medal on her late husband’s behalf. She was joined by Ivy Forster’s grandsons, William and Chris, and relatives of Mr Bédane who now live in Canada. They generously said that Mr Bédane’s medal should be conveyed to and kept in this Island, the site of the selfless activities it marks.

As Senator Freddie Cohen, who also attended the ceremony, has said, it is truly remarkable that out of the 29 awards, four recognised the exceptional courage of four Jersey people. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that they were not alone in their courageousness. Many other, largely unsung, heroes of the Occupation can also claim a share of these new honours, in which Jersey can take a deep and enduring pride.