Evacuation exhibition showcases Joe Gingell’s old photos to put more names to faces

Joe Gingell’s long-running effort to put names to the faces in photographs dating from the Evacuation continues with an exhibition at the John Mackintosh Hall. 

400 photographs, selected from nearly 1,000 that have been donated towards Mr Gingell’s project, will be on display, the result of the past 25 years of his research. 

The exhibition will be officially opened by the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, tomorrow at 6.30pm. 

Mr Gingell said that, “without the cooperation of all these families, who very kindly offered to help in sharing their evacuation memorabilia, it would have been impossible to acquire so many photos and publish my books to raise funds for cancer and mental health charities.” 

All the photographs, and most of the names appearing in their captions, have been provided by families in the years since he started, with many being identified through a campaign launched in conjunction with the Gibraltar Chronicle. 

“The success of the campaign has been due to the magnificent response from many members of different social media groups, from families and the public,” Mr Gingell said. 

The photographs all date to years around World War Two, with most taken by the evacuees themselves using box cameras and processed with primitive equipment. 

Some were taken in unsuitable environments, with poor lighting or under difficult circumstances, particularly those taken in London and Northern Ireland. 

The main purpose of the exhibition is to showcase the photographs in the hope of putting more names to faces, Mr Gingell said. 

It is also intended to raise awareness and encourage further involvement in research into the Evacuation, particularly among schools. 

Mr Gingell said another purpose of the exhibition was to offer a window into the experiences of the Evacuation generation and “depict their expressions of hopes, disappointments and their impressions of their life changing experiences” and “to portray the heartbreaking conditions in which the evacuees lived in the camps of Northern Ireland.” 

“And that, notwithstanding their very trying experiences, most of them are putting on brave faces,” he concluded. 

The exhibition opens to the public from Thursday, September 24, and will run until Friday, October 2, between 10am and 8pm. 

Admission is free.