Occupation trail created in Alderney

Tuesday, 22 April 2025 06:45

A trail taking in 80 different points of interest has been mapped out by Visit Alderney with assistance from an island historian.

Alderney is covered in German forifications and other evidence of the occupation years.

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands from Nazi rule, a trail taking in many of these sites has been created.

In fact, British troops did not land in Alderney until nearly a week after they did in Guernsey and Jersey and islanders did not return until 15 December 1945, after Alderney had been cleared of munitions and mines and partly tidied up. This is known as Homecoming Day.

Caroline Gauvain from Visit Alderney put the trail together with input from historian Colin Partridge, who was an adviser to the Pickles Review:

“This trail not only commemorates the past but helps future generations understand Alderney’s place in the wider story of World War II. Eighty years on, the scars and stories of the occupation remain deeply ingrained in our landscape and our identity.”

Image, courtesy of Visit Alderney

Among the sites picked out are the three labour camps, SS Lager Sylt, Norderney which is now the island camp site, and Helgoland, now a housing estate, where only the gate pillars are obvious.