Rally Report

What is it?

It is a report , dated June 1943, of a rally held at Belle Vue in 1943. The rally was attended by 6,000 evacuees who fled Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and Sark, to England in June 1940. A few days later their islands were occupied by Germany. The report was printed in a monthly magazine, produced by the evacuees in Stockport.

When did you get it?

In 2011

Where did you get it from, and how?

I was given all the magazines that the evacuees produced during the war by an evacuee who now lives in Guernsey.  They had been found in the basement of her home.

What does it mean to you?

The report describes an event that was very important to the Channel Island evacuees. It was one of the few times during the war that they were able to gather together, in their thousands. Many had travelled a great distance to reach Belle Vue. Adults and children attended and saw relatives and friends that they had not seen since June 1940 in Guernsey. It must have been a very emotional event.