Channel Islanders who found home in Glasgow during WW2 return for civic reception

THE war tore them apart from their families and threw their very identities into turmoil.

• Evacuees from Guernsey who stayed in Glasgow during WW2 celebrate 70 anniversary of liberation at a civic reception in the city

Yet seven decades on, the memories that are strongest are of the trivial things: the vast double decker buses lined up at Central Station; the strange streets of towering masonry coated in soot; even the jeely pieces.

Yesterday, Glasgow renewed its welcome to the children of Guernsey who sought refuge during World War II.

At a civic reception to commemorate the 70th anniversary of their evacuation, scores of islanders gathered to recall frightening sea journeys made under the cover of the night, and the shock of adapting to a new life in Scotland's largest city.

For many, the visit was the first time they had returned since the 1940s, sparking memories both fond and sad.

• The Channel Islands: A propaganda coup for the Nazis

Brenda Bisson was among 1,300 Guernsey youngsters spirited north to escape the invading German forces. Now a sprightly 77-year-old, the images and smells of her sudden departure remain vivid.

She said: "I was eight when we left Guernsey. My mother was told one day that the next morning we would have to leave. By 4am I was at the docks with a few clothes in a pillowcase.

"We were all put on a coal boat and told we had to stay below the deck. Everyone was crying."

The trauma of the experience, Ms Bisson remembered, did not ease overnight. Yet her surrogate family made her welcome, and she grew fond of life in Glasgow: "Of course, there was a lot of bombing going on, but I wasn't in the least bit scared. I felt cared for."

Indeed, her five years in the city, during such a formative time in her life, made an indelible impression on her.

"I was a very shy little girl when I left Guernsey who wouldn't say boo to a goose, but Glasgow brought me out of my shell. The city is my second home."

Also evacuated were Edward and Mina Nicolle. Mr Nicolle, who was ten at the time, said the journey was an "adventure," and that the people in Scotland were "lovely."

The couple said that while the evacuees were accepted by local people, some Glaswegians seemed to have little understanding of where Guernsey was – Mrs Nicolle recalled being asked if she wore "grass skirts" at home as she came from an island.

For those Scots who tended to the displaced children of Guernsey, yesterday's reception at Glasgow's City Chambers was no less poignant.

Isa Dale, a children's nurse who looked after youngsters in Coatbridge, recalled how many evacuees suffered not only physical, but emotional suffering.

"It wasn't an easy time," said Ms Dale, 91. "It was very, very hard, with everything the children had gone through. But we got on very well."

The event was the idea of Ann Morris, a native of Edinburgh who moved to Guernsey in the early 1970s. On hearing elderly islanders speak of their experiences, she decided they would relish a return visit to Glasgow.

"The people had a real need to tell their story, and by reuniting them in Glasgow, it allows them to share what they went through," she said.

Bob Winter, Lord Provost of Glasgow, who hosted the reception, said it was a "great pleasure" to have the evacuees return to Glasgow.