War survivor to have name removed from Jersey POW memorial

Walter Dauny was 14 when German forces arrived in Jersey

The name of a man who was thought to have died in a German prisoner-of-war camp is to be removed from a memorial after it emerged he lived until 1988.

Walter Dauny was sent to a camp in St Lô, Normandy during the German occupation of Jersey in World War II.

His name is one of 22 on the island's Lighthouse Memorial, which pays tribute to those who died in the camps.

However, his nephew revealed he had survived after seeing his name on the memorial during a visit to the island.

Historians are checking the memorial to make sure no other survivors' names have been mistakenly included.

The Channel Islands were occupied by German forces between 1940 and 1945 and many islanders were sent to camps in occupied European territories during that time.

'Terribly afflicted'

Mr Dauny, who was born in St Peter in 1926, was 14 when the occupation began and working as a shop assistant.

He was one of those deported during the ensuing five years but when France was liberated, he was "repatriated" to the UK, where he was later joined by his father and stepmother.

He died in London in 1988.

Information about the mistake came to light after the son of Mr Dauny's half-brother visited Jersey in March and noticed the error.

Until Paul Dauny's visit, the family did not know their relative had been included on the memorial at New North Quay.

Mr Dauny said that "out of respect to those who did die in the camps, it would not be right to keep Wally's name on the memorial".

He added that while his uncle "did not die at the Germans' hands, he was terribly afflicted all his life as a result of his experiences in the camp and he deserves to be remembered".

Mr Dauny's name will be temporarily obscured, so it will not be visible for the 2014 Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony on 27 January.

The monument was dedicated in 1996, originally to 20 islanders.

Once Jersey Heritage and the Holocaust Memorial Day Committee have established there are no more names to be added or removed, Mr Dauny's name will be taken off and those of John (Jack) Soyer and Peter Muels will be added.

Their names were added to the memorial on a plaque in 2003 following information brought to light by occupation historian Joe Mière.

The memorial has recently been renovated by Jersey Harbours on whose property it stands, as part of a rolling maintenance programme of occupation sites.