ESCAPE FROM GUERNSEY

BASIL NOYON – Escape from Guernsey

This little piece of history was related to me by an elderly lady as part of her incredible life memories: She was very excited when I last visited, knowing that again, she had remembered a truly memorable fact. Whilst stories often get enhanced with the telling, this after a little research, I think is probably true.

“During the war we had some guests; Basil Noyon, his wife and two children.”

“Basil was a resident of Guernsey, a Fruit Grower. During the the German occupation he stole a boat and sailed with his wife and two children to England, landing on the South Coast. He was immediately sent to the Admiralty for de-briefing and then transferred to work with my husband in Birkenhead as a Lieutenant. My husband always thought he was either very brave or very foolhardy to make such a voyage. The family stayed with us until accommodation was found for them and after the war they returned to Guernsey. We visited them in the early 1950's.”

NEW INFORMATION: "The family had a boat, it would have been a sailing boat (yacht) and they all had use of it.  Basil was part of a large and important island family.  Apparently a family member was shot by the Nazi's and Basil could no longer bear the burden of living on the island.  I am sure it was 1944, when they stayed with us. One of their children was called Bruce.

WHO WAS BASIL NOYON?

I have searched the internet for reports of Basil Noyon escaping Guernsey with his family but only one person of that names appeared, a Captain Fredrick William Noyon.

Frederick William Noyon, a mercantile captain working in 1944 as a fisherman,

escaped from the island. He managed to fool the Germans who always accompanied the fishing boats and and sailed to England, landing at Weymouth. This was in
response to the extreme hardship being faced by the Islanders as food and medical supplies had diminished to a dangerous level and his representations in England resulted in supplies being sent.

Source: Policing During the Occupation, 1940-1945 – Albert Peter Lamy MBE BEM QPM

There is also reference to a Fred William Noyon escaping to England in the Channel Islands Educational Broadcast Series, “Memories of the Occupation”

Was Frederick William Noyon the same person as Basil Noyon? Further research about Captain Frederick William Noyon highlights that in 1932 he was awarded a gallantry award for rescuing men from a vessel in the mouth of Thames. In the 1911 census, I located Frederick Noyon born 1879 in Guernsey, occupation Pilot. Considering his age, it can presumed that he is not the Noyon we are searching for.

LOCATING BASIL NOYON

My next task was to prove the existence of Basil Noyon. This was exasperated by a transcription error but persistence proved very fruitful. On the 1911 census I found a Basil Noyon son of John Noyon, a Fruit Grower born St Sampsons, Vale, Guernsey. Furthermore, from an announcement in the Telegraph, May 2008, it is noted that Captain John David Noyon MN, born 23 April 1936, St Sampsons, Guernsey – died 11 May 2008 was the son of the late Basil and Marion Noyon. John David Noyon would have been one of the children, who accompanied his parents and sibling on their dangerous adventure to escape Guernsey.

It is well known that life was unbearable for many Islanders on Guernsey during the occupation. Basil Noyon, brave or foolhardy, decided to escape with his family, facing the threat of minefields, U-boats, dangerous seas and the knowledge that they would be shot if caught. I can only presume that he had knowledge of seamanship as he was later seconded to the Royal Navy as a junior officer.

The final question is why is there no documentation readily available.

Whilst Frederick William Noyon left the Island in agreement with the Island Police Force on a mission to get food and medical aid, it is likely, that Basil Noyon and family absconded by stealing a boat without anyone knowing, with the exception of perhaps his close family. Escapes were not reported in the national press for fear of reprisal to relatives remaining behind.

If anyone reading this has information, please leave a comment – thank you.

THE  ELDERLY, FAMILY HISTORY, DEMENTIA

                           a few tips to help your Relative by compiling a Family Tree.

Without memory we do not learn.

Working with the elderly has its' own unique challenges but provides the wonderful benefit of developing a relationship through the shared knowledge of life, love and strife. Start your family tree as soon as you can, but definitely as soon as you realise that your relatives memory is failing. Dementia steals millions of precious memories. You may find that by compiling your family tree that your relative feels less depressed and that their memory and cognitive abilities improve. The following points are a guide to compiling a family tree with and for your relative.

• Try to always use a voice recorder. You will soon find that memories either flow like a river in full spate or completely dry out. Stopping your relative to write down the facts will result in them forgetting what they were relating.
• Take note when replaying the recorded conversation – it is easy to become frustrated and you will soon note that perhaps you should have breathed deeper and remained totally calm.
• When researching expect some or even much of the information to be incorrect – the elderly do get very muddled with names so be prepared to double check.
• Keep interview sessions to one hour to stop tiredness. Your relative will also really look forward to seeing you next time if it is an enjoyable experience. Always report back with your research results at the start of each new session. You will most likely find that your findings prompt new memories.
• Remember to let them guide you in what they want researched. They are giving you their time and probably want questions answered. Great Uncle Denis may be of little interest to you, but your Great Aunt may have cherished memories about him.
• Empower your relative by submitting in draft your record of their life. Ask them to check and make amendments.
• Use the internet with them, show them census results on line, interesting web pages, as an example, a site with photographs of were they used to live – they will be so fascinated especially, if like so many elderly, they have no experience with technology. Again this will prompt the recall of memories.
• Be prepared to repeat explanations many times and acknowledge that you will be told the same story many times.
• Most important, let your relative acknowledge that they were conceived prior to marriage, just give them the dates. Monitor really bad news – if it is likely to cause upset – do not tell them. You may find it intriguing to have a murderer in the family – but it could cause a lot of distress to an elderly relative.
• You may find a long lost relative, or even one completely unknown. Before arranging any meetings or communication check both with your relative, and if it is not your parent, their immediate family that it is acceptable to make contact.
• Keep it simple, do not issue extended family trees, it will probably confuse your relative, just keep to the direct maternal and paternal line then:
• Issue family group sheets for parents, grandparents, great grandparents noting children and their spouses. Your elderly relative will find this much easier to understand.
• Allocate as much time as possible to recording your relatives life story. As a written document it will help not only them, but their carer, should they succumb to dementia.
• Prepare a full family folder for them with family tree, family life stories, photographs plus the usual census results, copy certificates etc.

Treasure the time you have had together, you have been privileged to enter into the life of someone special and remember to keep visiting your relative regularly to talk about the family.