Liberator Gordon sets foot on Guernsey soil at last
Wednesday 15th July 2009, 2:29PM BST.
Gordon Moss with HMS Bulldog memorabilia at Castle Cornet. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0806550)
Gordon Moss with HMS Bulldog memorabilia at Castle Cornet. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0806550)
A SAILOR who was serving on HMS Bulldog when the occupying forces signed the surrender, yesterday set foot on Guernsey for the first time.
Able Seaman Gordon Moss, who was 19 at the time, was treated to a surprise visit to mark his 84th birthday.
‘I have never had a birthday like it,’ said Mr Moss, from West Yorkshire.
‘I’m pleased I had such a part to play in the Liberation as it’s the only real milestone in my naval history.’
Mr Moss, who was in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1946, was involved in the D-Day landings and in protecting Russian convoys.
He joined HMS Bulldog in Plymouth before it sailed for Guernsey with 90 members of the Royal Pioneer Corps who were travelling to the island to carry out civil engineering work.
‘Most were seasick and we ended up having to help them off,’ he said.
Mr Moss’s daughter, Linda Price, said her father had spoken often of the occasion and she decided to bring him to Guernsey, where he had not disembarked.
‘I mailed the Information Centre and asked if anyone would be interested in his story and they put me in touch with the Channel Islands Occupation Society,’ she said.
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