The Guernsey Evacuee Return Forms capture the heartbreak of families torn apart by war. How did your ancestor respond in the face of evacuation from their home? In the summer of 1940, as German forces advanced, parents made an agonising choice—stay under occupation or send their children to safety in Britain. The forms were completed by individuals who had left Guernsey and wanted to return at the end of occupation.
The Guernsey Evacuee Return Forms capture the heartbreak of families torn apart by war. How did your ancestor respond in the face of evacuation from their home? In the summer of 1940, as German forces advanced, parents made an agonising choice—stay under occupation or send their children to safety in Britain. The forms were completed by individuals who had left Guernsey and wanted to return at the end of occupation.
This unique collection of evacuees return forms will provide invaluable insight into your ancestor’s life both in Guernsey before the occupation and their time spent in the UK. Findmypast has digitised the original forms and then created transcripts of the vital details. Each transcript may contain the following facts:
You will discover that the same name may appear multiple times. Children were named in their parents’ forms and we have also provided those names for searching.
The original image will provide even more details such as:
In June 1940, as German forces advanced through France, around 30,000 residents of Guernsey—primarily women, children, and men of military age—were evacuated to Britain. Shortly after, on 30 June 1940, German troops occupied the island, marking the start of a five-year occupation that lasted until 9 May 1945. During this period, Guernsey was heavily fortified as part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, and life on the island was marked by severe restrictions, food shortages, forced labor, and curfews. Communication with the outside world was limited, and by 1944, conditions had worsened significantly due to the Allied blockade.
As liberation neared, the British government sought to determine which evacuees should return first, particularly those needed for essential roles in rebuilding and maintaining key services. The Evacuee Return forms played a crucial role in organizing this process.
The forms, or rather the census as it was described at the time, was organised by the Channel Islands Refugee Committee. The committee put out a call for information in the Channel Islands Monthly Review in October 1943. All forms were to be completed and returned to 20 Upper Grosvenor Street, London W1. Most date from 1944, though some are from 1943 and 1945. The forms were used to assist in prioritising who would return to the island first after the end of the German occupation. Completion of the forms was voluntary, and this collection does not include the names of every individual evacuated from Guernsey in 1940.
In partnership with the Bailiwick of Guernsey Digitisation Partnership (familyhistory.gg), this landmark digitisation project brings millions of searchable records online, only at Findmypast.