The 80th anniversary of Homecoming Day will be marked with the creation of a new woodland being planted today.
People are invited to “plant a tree to create a living tribute to the resilient Homecomers whose return shaped the island we cherish today”.
Homecoming Day – on 15 December 1945 – saw the first evacuees returning following the end of the Second World War.
The first group included around 100 people, including children.
They’d had to wait several months after VE Day so they could return, as the initial shock of what had happened in Alderney was addressed.
Some German soldiers – held in the island as prisoners of war – helped others from the British military and Guernsey’s civilian population to clear Alderney of the labour camps that had been built there, as well as military equipment, thousands of landmines, and other dangers.
When the first evacuees returned to Alderney, they were welcomed by the newly appointed Lieutenant Governor and a British Guard of Honour.
Among the first sights to greet the returning evacuees were badly damaged properties at Braye Harbour.
They also found the island had been stripped of trees and anything else that could have been used as fuel.
Homecoming Day is a Public Holiday in Alderney and the 80th anniversary will feature some of the traditional events that have been held over the past eight decades including a church service, a wreath laying to honour those who died and suffered in Alderney during the Occupation, and a Vin d’Honneur.
This year’s events will also include the Royal Visit of the Duchess of Edinburgh on Monday.