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This year's four day Coronation and Liberation Day bank holiday weekend will see a Navy ship, captained by a Guernsey man, sail into St Peter Port Harbour before a handover ceremony in which he will bid his crew farewell and disembark.
Lieutenant William De La Mare is Commanding Officer of HMS Puncher, a small Royal Navy patrol vessel based out of Portsmouth.
Pictured: Lt De La Mare aboard HMS Puncher wearing his Guernsey.
Lt De La Mare has been Commanding Officer of HMS Puncher since October, 2021. It is usually an 18 month posting but he has secured an additional two months in the role which means he can bring her in to Guernsey waters as his final duty before handing her over to her new Commanding Officer.
Recently, HMS Puncher has been helping with migrant operations in the English Channel. Lt De La Mare said his crew are patrolling areas and providing assistance to the Border Force where needed. Now that duty has come to an end, the crew will briefly visit Jersey and Alderney before sailing into St Peter Port Harbour on Friday 5 May.
"I've wanted to take the ship to Guernsey the whole time I've been Commanding Officer," he said, "but for one reason or another we couldn't make it.
"My timetable freed up and I asked if we could take her to Guernsey and do the Coronation and Liberation Day weekend there and we are."
Pictured: HMS Puncher is a 20.8m long patrol vessel.
Lt De La Mare is looking forward to the visit which will mark a significant milestone in his career as HMS Puncher will return to the UK without him.
"I spoke to my old school teacher who is head of the CCF and I made a few contacts with other people at the Lieutenant Governor's office and the Harbour. We're going to nip over to Jersey first for the boat show, then up to Alderney for the night before arriving in Guernsey on the 5th and leaving on the 13th.
"I'll tap off and the new Captain will come on - we'll do a handover and I'll step off and the boat will depart.
"In theory I could have come back with the boat but I don't want to. It's not easy to the new guy when the previous guy is still there," he said.
Before taking on his new role in command of a Type 23 Frigate - HMS Somerset - Lt De La Mare plans to spend a few days seeing family and friends in Guernsey before travelling back to the UK.
Pictured: HMS Somerset is a 133m long Type 23 Frigate.
While in Guernsey, HMS Puncher is expected to be moored in Victoria Marina, with some time set aside for members of the public to go aboard to view the Royal Navy Patrol Vessel. Lt De La Mare said there isn't any disabled access so anyone planning to go aboard will need to be quite able bodied and have suitable footwear on.
There will be three sessions where the boat will be open to the public for tours, while some private appointments may be booked by the local cadets and other groups.
"It will be really good for the younger generation of islanders and also older generations to come aboard as well," said Lt De La Mare. "Even if they're not interested in my career path as a warfare officer, I've got logistics guys and girls, engineers...the navy is quite good for taking a broad spectrum of people depending what your interests are.
"It will be good to have some of the youngsters down to show them the opportunities they can have both on and off the island. Many people in Guernsey will have an affinity with the ocean and the sea and you can continue that by taking in into your career."
Pictured: King Charles III coronation is on Saturday 6 May and Liberation Day is on 9 May with an additional Coronation Bank Holiday on Monday 8 May.
Lt De La Mare and his five crew members will be taking part in parades on both Saturday 6 May for the King's Coronation, and on 9 May to mark the 78th anniversary of Guernsey's Liberation at the end of the Second World War.
"I've got five crew members, a mix of male and female of various ages from 50, down to 18.
"It's the smallest ship that the Navy has, it's a boat really."
Pictured: Lt De La Mare is Commanding Officer of HMS Puncher, a role he will hand over to someone else in Guernsey in May.
The 28-year-old is the son of a former Navy man, Richard De La Mare, who spent 30 years in the service before returning to Guernsey to work as HM Sheriff.
Now retired, Mr De La Mare senior is living in the UK, but Lt De La Mare said he has family and friends in Guernsey who he is looking forward to seeing during his official visit to the island next month.
"My family are from Guernsey, my dad was born and grew up in Guernsey and did 30 years in the Navy. He was then HM Sheriff before he retired.
"He left the Navy in 2006 and we moved back to Guernsey then and I went to Castel Primary and then Elizabeth College between 2007 and '13.
"I was in the CCF and I always planned on joining the Navy anyway and in the CCF I was able to do a lot of shooting and outdoor expeditions and get lots of different experiences. When I left school, I went to the University of Plymouth before I joined the Navy in 2017. I've had various jobs since then."
Pictured: Lt De La Mare and his father.
His next Navy role will see him take on the command of a Type 23 Frigate - HMS Somerset.
Tha navigator is larger than the current vessel he captains and will see Lt de la Mare take the next step in his naval career.
"I'm forwarding my career, progressing with the navy - it's onwards and upwards - and the natural next stepping stone," he explained.
"You have to be selected for this (his current role), as it's a unique role within the navy itself. You go before a selection board and have to be chosen based on merit.
"I've had some amazing experiences. Recently, from February to March we took the ship up to Norway to the Arctic circle. It's the first time it's ever gone that far. We took part in some multi-national exercises with NATO partners.
"We saw some amazing views and had some amazing experiences."
Looking to the future, Lt De La Mare said he has aspirations of being captain of an even bigger ship or an aircraft carrier.
Before taking on his new role aboard HMS Somerset, Lt De La Mare said he will spend a few days seeing family and friends in Guernsey before travelling back to the UK and taking up his new role.
See below for pictures provided by Lt De La Mare of his time aboard HMS Puncher and other images of HMS Puncher and HMS Somerset.
"It's the best job I've ever had!"
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