VE Day Remembered

To mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we are reprinting below an article from The Bridge of May 2020 which includes some memories from those who were around in 1945 (and happily in most cases are still with us).

The historian David Kynaston in his book A World to

Build: Austerity Britain 1945-48 describes life in this

country at the end of the Second World War and the

absence of many of the things we now take for granted.

No supermarkets, motorways, teabags, sliced bread, lager,

dishwashers, duvets, trainers, hoodies. Central heating

was rare, chilblains were common. No automatic washing

machines, clothes washed on Mondays by being boiled in

a tub, scrubbed on the draining board, rinsed in the sink,

put through a mangle and hung out to dry. Rationing for

meat, butter, lard, margarine, sugar, tea, cheese, jam, eggs,

sweets, soap and clothes. The whole list goes on for a

page.

Crowds gathered in the centre of large cities, especially

in London where Winston Churchill and members of the

royal family appeared on the balcony of Buckingham

Palace. There was singing and shouting and Hitler was

burnt in effigy in many places. In others there was less

activity. Adeline Vaughan Williams was struck by how

“very sedate” Dorking was while Cecil Beaton found

Kensington “as quiet as a Sunday”. While some were

ecstatic, others were simply relieved that the war was

finally over or even depressed or sad, especially if they

had lost loved ones. Meanwhile the fighting against Japan

was still raging in the Far East and was expected to

continue until the following year or 1947. Kynaston

concludes that most people “took the two days [of public

holiday] in their stride, reflected on them to a greater or

lesser extent, and above all tried to have a good time”.

There are relatively few around now who can recall

those events and we felt it was a good opportunity to mark

this anniversary in The Bridge. We had planned this

before the lockdown but recent events, leading to

comparisons between the pandemic and the war, have

added an extra dimension to the event. This was

underlined in the Queen’s broadcast to the nation on 5

April. The memoir by Kath Wain vividly describes life in

Burford during the war and Raymond Moody puts this in a

wider context. We also took the opportunity to ask a few

readers of, shall we say, more mature years to tell us what

they could remember.

I was at home listening it all on radio. And very cross as l

wasn’t allowed to go up to London and join the fun outside

Buckingham a palace !!! - Mardi Way

My recollections of August and September 1939, are

intense but I do not remember VE Day at all. We had seen

it coming… outside the cities no one bothered much -

Raymond Moody

We were lucky in some respects. At the end of our road

there was an enormous PX (the American equivalent of the

NAAFI) and they catered for an enormous party lit by a

humongous bonfire of all the tarred blackout blinds we had

used during the war to stop the lights from our windows

guiding the German bombers to our haven - John White

I still have a vivid memory of VE day. In the morning when

I was cycling to School I saw some other boys cycling in

the opposite direction. When I arrived I discovered that the

Headmaster had declared a Day’s Holiday. We hastily

organised a game of cricket. I made a few runs and even

took a couple of wickets. The game went on until dusk.

Our side won. I went home very happy and to the best

supper rationing would allow. A truly memorable day! -

Philip Otton

I remember the day, which was slightly muted, as we were

reminded there was still a war in the Far East. I remember

sitting in church at 11am when war was declared, the

Sunday Germany invaded Russia, the Battle of the River

Plate, the capture of the Altmark in the South Atlantic with

all the crews of the ships sunk by the Graf Spee. The first

success after numerous set backs in 1939 including the loss

of HMS Hood with the whole crew, including a family

friend. I also have vivid memories of the Abdication Crisis

in 1936. I was at school on Wednesday 8th May and have

no recollection whether a holiday was declared - Jim

Pringle

I was at school in Yorkshire. We were given a half-holiday,

and a friend and I bicycled up to the moors and cooked a

haggis to celebrate. It tasted DISGUSTING. - Hugh Ellis-

Rees