Piers Secunda, Alderney: The Holocaust On British Soil

Working in the studio, on a mould of a section of a . (Photos 2 & 3: renderings of the full size cast of the execution wall).

Piers Secunda has recreated a 4.5 metre long execution wall from the island of Alderney which will go on display from the 15th of March, as a small part of the exhibition Alderney: The Holocaust On British Soil.

The wall in question, which is inside a Victorian fort on the beach of Platte Saline on Alderney, has been analysed at great length by two of the United Sates’ most respected forensic scientists Nicholas Petraco and Peter Diaczuk, who are professors at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, in New York City. They are specialists in crimes related to gunfire and have decades of knowledge on crime scene recreation, bullet impact marks, bullet analysis, riccochet, gunshot residue etc.

Between them Nicholas and Peter have over 550 legal and courtroom expert forensic testimonies to their names. Their knowledge has contributed to many convictions for violent crimes.

Eight months after examining the wall on Alderney, they completed their research and analysis. Nicholas and Peter wrote the following conclusion at the end of their report:

“In the opinion of the undersigned, the questioned interior concrete wall designated SW1 (shot wall 1) contains a Firing Squad Execution Pattern discussed and revealed during this study. Thus SW1 possesses the necessary physical evidence to be designated a Firing Squad Execution site”.