What an absolute pleasure it was to welcome Sue Perkins and the BBC's "Who Do You Think You Are" to the Visitors Centre to film the first episode of the new series, broadcast as Episode 1 of the 2022 season of Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC1.
It had all started, as so many of our enquiries do, with an email seeking help about the possibility of a German born father, noted on the 1911 census, being interned in WW1. We were delighted to be able to help and eventually be able to welcome Sue as the descendant of a Knockaloe internee and show her, on our scale model, exactly where her Great Grandfather had been interned.
It was absolutely fascinating and humbling to chat to Sue about her family's story and how they coped with such incredibly hard experiences and thanks to Sue for sharing this image of her Great Grandparents with us. Little would the newlyweds have imagined that 14 years later he would be sent far from his family to live behind barbed wire on an Island in the middle of the Irish Sea.
We are looking forward to welcoming Sue and her family back in the future as we continue to collate so much information about the internees and their experiences.
It was also a pleasure to welcome Stefan Manz, Senior Lecturer and Director of German Studies at Aston University, back to the Centre.
As we say to all of our lovely descendants .... Sue and her family are now part of our story.
Image in the Centre by the Knockaloe Charitable Trust. Image of Sue in London courtesy of the BBC:
Share your family story with us by email info@knockaloe.im. To find out more about your family's internee ancestor, contact us in advance of your visit - Visitor Centre opening times can be found here.
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