War exhibition explores bombardment of Alderney

The exhibition aims to explore the "full story" of why the Royal Navy fired on British territory during World War Two

A war exhibition has opened in Alderney to commemorate the 80th anniversary of a World War Two bombing.

The Henry Euler Memorial Trust said the Target Alderney! exhibition at the newly opened hospital bunker on Longis Road aimed to tell "the full story" of the British bombing on 12 August 1944.

The trust said it was "the only occasion when the Royal Navy was ordered to fire on British territory", firing 75 rounds at the German coastal artillery battery which had been attacking American forces.

Alderney was occupied by the Germans during the war.

The trust said an air show commemorated the "vital role" spitfires had during the bombardment of Alderney

The trust said the battleship HMS Rodney was "out of sight" to the German defenders, with 12 spitfires acting as spotters to ensure shots were being fired accurately.

The exhibition includes newsreel footage, eyewitness accounts and a scale model of the battleship.

An aerobatic show took place on Monday to commemorate the "vital role" spitfires had during the bombardment.

Hundreds of islanders watched the show accompanied by music and "informative commentary", the trust said.

An inquiry in May found it likely 641-1,027 people died under the "brutality, sadism and murder" of Nazi rule in the island.