Meet the author and learn about the Guernsey evacuees

Wartime memories will be stirred when author Gill Mawson unveils her new book about Bury and the Guernsey evacuees.

Gill, a researcher at Manchester University, will sign copies of her publication at this free event, which is held on Saturday 26 January at Bury Museum and Archives.

Some 17,000 Guernsey evacuees came to Northern England when the Channel Islands were occupied in June 1940. Hundreds of children and families stayed in Bury until the islands were liberated in May 1945. 

Gill, who will read passages from the book, said: “The book was compiled through researching documents held at Bury Archives and getting detailed first-hand accounts from former evacuees. I was also recently contacted by one Guernsey evacuee, Therese Riochet, who was cared for by Frank Wilkinson, the then managing director of the Bury Times, and his family.”

The museum event has been organised by Bury Local History and Archives Service, and runs from 11am to 12.30pm. It will feature objects and documents from the Second World War, and refreshments will be available.

For more information, contact Penney Farrell on 0161 253 5913 or information@bury.gov.uk

ENDS

Press release issued: 8 January 2013.

Picture attached: Guernsey evacuee Therese Riochet during her wartime stay with the Wilkinson family in Bury.