Islanders mark return to devastated homes after WW2

Residents of Alderney are marking a 78th homecoming, the anniversary of the first families arriving back to the devastated island after being evacuated from there during World War Two.

Alderney was occupied by German forces during the war and, since 2005, the day has been marked with a bank holiday.

The occupying forces heavily fortified the island and built three forced worker camps and the only concentration camp on British soil.

A service took place at St Anne's Church along with a laying of a wreath at the courthouse.

Peter Gaudion, 88, a returner to Alderney in 1945 at the age of 10, said the island had been a picture of "devastation", an "utter mess".

"We, as youngsters, didn't have a clue really," he told BBC Radio Guernsey.

"Our parents had to come back and start from scratch."

He remembered his family being welcomed off the boat in Alderney by the Army and Salvation Army before the family were put up in a hotel.

For him and his twin brother, life on the island was a "big adventure because there were guns on the cliffs that were working, there were trenches and bunkers to be explored".

He was speaking clutching a photograph of himself and his brother, which was framed by a German prisoner of war after their return.

"There was a lot of work because the houses were such a mess, there was no glass in the windows and no front door," he said.

"For me, it was a big adventure, but when you see the other side of what our parents had lost and what they had to do to get back up, I don't think that should ever be forgotten."

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