Putting names to faces

LET’S NOT FORGET THEM

By taking just a moment to have a close look at the photos of the evacuees to help to put names to faces, readers can also help to trace our loved ones in the photos.

As is generally known, in 1940, 16,000 of our loved ones were physically uprooted from their homes in their beloved Rock to be sent away to face the dangers of the war and separation from their families.

It is very important that this part of our history is not lost with the passing of generations. It is for this purpose that readers are requested to help in putting names to faces to ensure that with the passage of time, the evacuation photos do not become meaningless for not having the names of the evacuees, the place where the photos were taken and for their very important historical meaning.

Perhaps this could be the last opportunity to look at these evacuation photos and record for posterity the name(s) of our loved ones who experienced a very defining moment in the history of Gibraltar.

Below is this week’s set of photos of evacuees in Jamaica, London, Madeira and Northern Ireland. Please have a very close look at the photos in case there are any of your loved ones that you may wish to have their name(s) recorded for posterity in an Evacuation Data Bank.

Since the project was launched about two months ago, more than 40 photos have been published with a very good response for names. The project has also served to exchange personal stories, memories. anecdotes and general information about the evacuation that will also be recorded for posterity.

Readers are also asked to please share the photos with families and friends who might be able to help in providing the missing names of our loved ones. The photos can also be accessed in the Facebook groups, Speak Freely, Gibraltar Evacuation WW2 and Gibraltar Old Photos 3.

The photos reference numbers for this week are Jamaica Ref. J.11, London Ref. L.11, Madeira Ref. M.11 and Northern Ireland Ref.N.I.11. If you recognise any of the evacuees in the photos with question marks, please contacting Joe Gingell by posting the name(s) in the Facebook group (s) or by sending an email to: - joegingell@gibtelecom.net, quoting the reference number of the photos and the corresponding number allocated to the evacuee(s) that you have identified with a question mark.