Alderney to mark its post-war homecoming

The island marks Homecoming Day each 15 December to mark the day that the first islanders returned in 1945, after five years away.

Alderney was largely evacuated during the war. The island was used by the occupying forces for a number of camps. When islanders returned, the island was in disarray, with homes ransacked.

Tomorrow’s events will start with a service at St Anne’s Church.

Alderney president William Tate will then lay a wreath under a brass plaque at the courthouse, which remembers the call for islanders to evacuate in June 1940.

‘That is always a poignant moment,’ he said.

There will then be a vin d’honneur at the Island Hall, with food and music.

It is estimated there are about 100 homecomers still alive across the world, but Mr Tate said even those who returned as children would now be in their 80s.

‘We might have 20 or 30,’ he said, talking about tomorrow’s events.

‘But we also have their families, as well. And we are passing the baton on to the families of homecomers. We want to recognise the importance. It is important that flame never dies.’

Most of the 1,500 residents left on official evacuation boats sent from mainland Britain in 1940. While Alderney was liberated only days after the other islands – on 16 May 1945 – islanders were not allowed to return until months later.

When they arrived, they found four camps had been built, as well as extensive military emplacements.

Many of the island’s buildings were completely derelict due to the fact that anything wooden, including front doors and roof beams, had been burned for fuel during the desperate times.

• Homecoming is a bank holiday in Alderney, but as this year falls on a Sunday, the holiday was moved to last Monday.