The People of Gibraltar
2015 - The 75th Anniversary - The Evacuation


On the 22nd of May 2015, Gibraltar commemorated the 75th anniversary of its enforced civilian evacuation. The Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation carried a running commentary of the event and publicised it on its internet web site.


Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation website


The event included an exhibition of photographs some of which were included in the GBC website. There were no captions. A few were probably taken in London or elsewhere in the UK. Some are almost certainly from Northern Ireland where the unfortunate refugees held the unenviable record of being the very last to be repatriated - and that by a very large margin. 

The majority of the photos, however, were taken on one memorable day when some of the evacuees returned to Gibraltar. One only needs to look at their faces to realise that "be it ever so humble there is no place like home". Unfortunately it would take a long time for quite a few of them to get back to anything that was remotely like a proper home - but just the fact that they were back on the Rock would more than make up for any lack of proper housing. Here are the photos in no particular order.


















Young Gibraltarians being led safely through Hyde Park in London 


Gibraltar families happy to be home for the first time in years ( With thanks to Henry Coelho )
The last two photos did not form part of the exhibition - but they really should have 

With acknowledgements to Kevin Ruiz and Pus Whitwell who pointed me in the right direction.