A University researcher has worked on a project documenting the stories of evacuees who never returned to the island.

Now, ahead of liberation day, she is in Guernsey showing the film to islanders.

"All My Worldly Possessions" tells the story of three people affected by the Channel Islands evacuation, and their experiences in the North of England.

It was put together by a researcher at the University of Manchester, Gillian Mawson, who wanted to tell the story of the evacuees and a man who helped them.

The history of Guernsey's occupation and the evacuation of the island has been well documented. Many people who returned here after the war have had the chance to tell their stories - and those who could not return have been remembered. But what has perhaps been forgotten is the fate of those evacuees who stayed in the UK. And that is a hole that this research is hoping to help fill.

Gillian said: "We found two evacuees who had been helped by a gentleman called Mr Fletcher from Bury; he collected money for the children during the war. So it just seemed to come together somehow, the story of the two evacuees and Mr Fletcher, and then we found his grandson was still alive, so we got lots of information about Mr Fletcher then and it was just as if it was fate that these people contacted us and we found them.

"I'm hoping that people really like it that because it's the story of people who came from the islands to Bury and never went back so it's another angle that I think Guernsey people might be interested in watching."

As part of her project Gillian has been sharing her knowledge with Guernsey schoolchildren. Here at St Andrews the children had to decide what they would have taken in their small suitcase - and write a Red Cross letter home. It made them think about what the evacuees experienced.


There is a free showing of the film in the Reading Room at Les Cotils at 2pm on Saturday 7th May. Entry is free and tea, coffee and biscuits are available to purchase.

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