On 7 April 1943, Walter’s father, Walter Gallichan senior, was tried by the German Court and given a one-year sentence for failing to surrender a wireless set. Given the financial impact on the family as a result of Walter senior’s imprisonment and ill-health, it is perhaps no coincidence that Walter Gallichan junior volunteered – or perhaps was sent – to work in Alderney as a civilian labourer for the Organisation Todt, the paramilitary engineering organisation of Nazi Germany. Walter went to Alderney with another young Jerseyman, Gordon Prigent.

At the end of 1943, Walter and Gordon were sent to work at the Organisation Todt farm, Mignot Farm, Alderney. They were then sent to work at the Soldier’s Home where they scrubbed floors and worked in the kitchens. The pair were caught listening to the BBC news in an office by a German nurse. They then refused an order to return to Mignot farm. Consequently, they were sent to Alderney’s Norderney concentration camp as a punishment. On one occasion, because the cabbages he planted were not deemed to be evenly spaced, Walter was beaten so hard across his back with a spade that the handle broke.

After D-Day on 6 June 1944, they were transported to Cherbourg for evacuation to Germany. However, as the American forces had cut off the French peninsula, they were fortunately moved back to Alderney for a few more weeks. They were then packed tightly into the hold of a small vessel sailing to Guernsey, and then on to Jersey. It was now August 1944, and too late to send the prisoners on to St Malo as planned. Gordon and Walter were then released and allowed to go back to their homes, as long as they reported back in every day.

After the liberation, Walter was sent to St Saviour’s Mental Institution. He was there for 30 years before Gordon found out what had happened to him. Gordon visited him monthly and discovered that Gallichan said he could hear voices. He sometimes talked to Gordon in German or cried. Once, when Gordon took him into town, he stood to attention as if he was back in the camp and being given instructions.