Alderney marks liberation for the first time

Alderney has marked the anniversary of the island's liberation from German troops for the first time since World War Two.

The island annually celebrates Homecoming on 15 December - seven months on from the island's liberation when the first families who were evacuated in 1940 arrived home.

Alderney, the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands, were occupied by the Germans in 1940 as part of their advance across Europe. The liberation of Alderney came on 16 May 1945 - one week after Guernsey and Jersey.

A series of events took place to mark the 80th anniversary.

A service of commemoration took place at the RNLI station at Braye Harbour, followed by a parade and a ceremony at the Island Hall.

Jurat Colin Partridge, Alderney-based historian and founder of The Henry Euler Memorial Trust, believed now was the time to "look at liberation with different eyes".

By the time the Germans invaded Alderney, most of the island's 1,500 residents had been evacuated - but not all.

Mr Partridge said there were 16 civilians left in the island by July 1944.

"They don't think of it as liberation today simply because there were only a handful of islanders here," he said.

"They were scattered the length and breadth of the British Isles in their exile.

"Certainly they wouldn't have been able to come together on that day themselves, and therefore, when they returned seven months later, Homecoming meant a lot more to them."

Alfred Gaudion was on the first boat back to the island in December 1940 with his parents and two brothers and he believed celebrating the liberation of Alderney was "long overdue".

He said: "It's celebrated on the other islands so why not Alderney"Scenic rural landscape with green fields, scattered trees, and several houses in the background. Two horses graze in a field on the right, while the foreground is framed by leafy branches. The sky is blue with scattered clouds. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/>