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Annual Navy commemoration service in Guernsey

The HMS Charybdis and Limbourne service honours both the Royal Navy and islanders who defied German orders.

In October 1943 two Royal Navy vessels were hit by German torpedo boats off Brittany.

Both HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne sank, with massive loss of life.

Some of the bodies washed up in the Channel islands, notably on Guernsey, where 21 Navy personnel were recovered by occupying German forces.

A military funeral was held at Le Foulon cemetery by the Germans, but islanders were forbidden to attend.

But thousands, estimated to be as many as five thousand, defied this order and went to the cemetery to pay their respects and honour the Allied war effort.

Every year, since just after the war, the lives of the fallen crew and bravery of islanders is remembered at Le Foulon, at the site where the bodies are interred.

Members of the Royal Navy are in Guernsey over the weekend and the on a lighter note, play Guernsey for football's Malaya Cup.

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