Alderney holds 69th Homecoming Day

Yesterday was the 69th anniversary of Homecoming Day, the day when the first boat took residents back to their island.

It was a bittersweet day for many as the homes they returned to were very different to how than those they had been left behind on 23 June 23rd, 1940.

The day began with a service at the harbour, introduced by President Stuart Trought and where St Anne's schoolchildren read out poems evoking the homecomers' experiences.

Charlie Greenslade played No Place Like Home on the cornet. The same song that Salvation Army officer John McCarthy played the same song as the first 100 homecomers rounded the breakwater in a returning boat.

Next came the traditional ecumenical Homecoming Service at the Salvation Army Hall. The emotion-packed ceremony featured a poignant rendition of the Alderney anthem, penned by the Rev. Arthur Mignot – himself an Alderney evacuee.

He read: 'None of us knew how long exile would last. We felt sadness, home-sickness but at last when the end of the war was in sight, it was a terrifying prospect but they looked forward to their homecoming. The island was at last in British hands and we felt free at last, free to return.'

'It took from May until December to make that return possible,' Mr Mignot told the packed room.

On their return, he said, despite the 'welcome home' banner stretched across the jetty, the island seemed 'unforgiving'.

'Some said no birds sang when they returned because so much evil had gone on in the intervening years,' said Mr Mignot.

'Joy turned to tears as they saw the state of our homeland.'