Service at St Anne’s Church honours evacuees
EVACUEES who returned after the war were honoured 72 years after the first Homecoming.
The 15th of December is a bank holiday in Alderney to mark the day that the Autocarrier brought the first of those returning to the island in 1945.
The surviving evacuees were recently feted with a service at St Anne’s Church, led by the Dean of Guernsey the Very Rev. Tim Barker. Readings from St Anne’s School pupils at the commemorative plaques at the harbour and the courthouse, where the people of Alderney were given the news that they were to evacuate, were given.
In the afternoon the States President, Stuart Trought, led a vin d’honneur at the Island Hall and performances by the Island Band and the Alderney Voices community choir followed.
‘We honour the homecomers because through hard work they rebuilt the Alderney we have today. We owe those families an enormous debt of gratitude and we must never forget them,’ he said.
Full story in today's Guernsey Press
