ISLANDERS imprisoned in Germany during the Occupation left Jersey today to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their liberation.

The spa town of Bad Wurzach, where 618 Jersey men, women and children were imprisoned for 2 1/2 years, has invited survivors back to celebrate their freedom.

Eighteen Islanders, most of whom were young children when they were wrenched from their homes, will be guests of honour as the town acknowledges its past with a programme of commemorations and acts of remembrance centred on the 18th-century baroque castle that was their prison.

Four live in the UK and will join the party at Gatwick.

For Pat Holt, who was a teenager when French troops threw open the castle gates on 28 April 1945, it is a trip she could not miss.

‘How could I not go back?’ she said.

‘I am amazed at how long it has been.

When I left there at the age of 15 I never thought I would live to celebrate the 60th anniversary.

I could not have missed this trip – I may never go back again.’ The mayor of Bad Wurzach, Roland Bürkle, who in July 2002 made a public apology on behalf of the town to the Island, when it was officially twinned with St Helier, will lead the celebrations.

He said that inviting the ex-internees back was meant as a special gesture between Jersey and the people of Bad Wurzach.