9th April 2015, 14:22
75th Anniversary of WWII Evacuation to be commemorated next month
Published by GBC News
The 75th Anniversary of the evacuation of the Gibraltarians during the Second World War will be commemorated next month. The Government has organised a number of commemorative events that will start on the exact day the first evacuees sailed for French Morocco 75 years ago.
From the 22nd May to the 24th June 1940, 13,495 evacuees were sent from Gibraltar to camps and other accommodation in French Morocco. They were then re-evacuated after the fall of France and were then sent to Madeira, Jamaica, London and Northern Ireland.
Already over 400, themselves evacuated have registered on the website, which is being run by the Government Archives. They will be invited to participate in the events.
On Friday 22nd May, a short film to commemorate the evacuation will be shown at a reception for evacuees. The following day there will be a memorial service at the evacuation roundabout by Waterport Terraces.
There will be an exhibition of photographs at the John Macintosh Hall and the Government has commissioned a commemorative booklet.
The Deputy Chief Minister says the Government wants to honour the sacrifice made by those evacuees who are still alive and honour the memory of those no longer with us. Dr Joseph Garcia adds the evacuation was of monumental importance and a landmark in our development as a people, which shaped the future of Gibraltar after the Second World War.
