Page 1 of 7

Friday 8th May 2020 – VE Day 75th Anniversary

VE Day Memories

We have collected some memories of people who celebrated VE Day back on 8th May 1945.

Anne, grandmother of Alice 6C

My memories of going to Hamstel Road School between September

1944 and V.E. Day 8th May 1945.

I walked to and from school, morning, lunchtime and afternoon

with my friends , carrying my gas mask in its brown canvas case .

Very important to always have your gas mask with you in case of

enemy gas attacks, which fortunately did not happen. However we

still had to routinely practise putting them on which was not very

nice. They were very close fitting and smelt very rubbery.

The roads were very quiet as very few people had cars, just the trolley buses that ran past

the school, the milk was delivered by hand cart and other supplies e.g. coal by horse and

cart.

We had to listen out for the Air Raid Siren which warned you that enemy bombers were

approaching. So you can realise how wonderful it was when V.E day on May 8th was

announced.

As I was only just six years old I cannot remember what we did at school to celebrate, l am

sure there would have been some announcement. However I can vividly remember

Seaforth Avenue where I lived having a Street Party. Bearing in mind rationing was still very

strictly controlled it was lovely seeing jellies, sandwiches and cakes.

We all took a chair, cup and plate to the middle of the road. After the tea party there were

games and singing: The Conga all round the road, Knees up Mother Brown , The Hokey

Cokey. After five years of black out and quiet roads it was memorable.

However please remember my daddy and lots more daddies, brothers and sons were still

away fighting, in Prisoner of War Camps or killed. It was not until 8th June 1946 that the

whole country could really celebrate the end of the war.

I hope this tells you a little bit about what I can remember.

Page 2 of 7

Arthur Hall (Miss A Hall’s dad)

I remember going down to the Anderson shelter in our

garden each night during the Blitz. I hated it. It was so

cold and uncomfortable and the sirens always went off

when I was cosy and asleep.

Our next door neighbours had a beautiful garden,

which they didn’t want to ruin, so they used the public

shelter instead. One night, the public shelter took a

direct hit from a bomb and the whole family died. It

really upset me – I never forgot that night.

When the war was over, my first thought was, ‘’Great!

At least I will get a good night’s sleep in my own bed

tonight!’

The picture shows Arthur on the right and his brother Chas on the left.

James (Mrs Dunn’s Father)

VE Day interview with James, aged 86 years.

Do you remember VE day?

Yes I remember it very well. I was 10 years old and I was

living in London.

Were you evacuated during the war?

I remember going to a very busy train station with my

parents and siblings. We waited around in the crowds for

ages. Eventually we were sent away. I think there was no

room left on the train.

So, you weren’t evacuated at all?

No. After that happened, my parents bought a house in

Potters Bar as it was safer there but by VE day we had moved

back to Islington.

What can you remember about VE day itself?

I know that Winston Churchill made a radio broadcast. The radio was on in our house but I

can’t remember what he actually said.

Page 3 of 7

What else can you remember about the actual day?

I mostly remember that everyone was happy. We also had a street party. Everyone brought

their tables and chairs out of their houses and put them in the middle of the road. There

was bunting that people had made and there was also music and dancing.

Where did the music come from for the dancing?

One of the neighbours wheeled their piano outside but there was also music from a

gramophone.

What did you eat at the party?

Well, rationing was still on so there wasn’t a lot of food. However, everyone was really kind

and shared what they had. I particularly remember eating jam sandwiches (there wasn’t

much else to put in them) and cakes.

How did life change for you after VE day?

In many ways, not very much changed for a while.

However, we didn’t have to keep rushing off to the air raid shelter and nor did we have to

have our lessons in the shelter either. Rationing still continued so there still wasn’t a lot of

food and there weren’t many sweets or ice-cream.

For lots of children, their daddies came home. My dad wasn’t able to go to war, he was an

air raid warden so I saw more of him.

Is there anything you would like to tell us?

I think it’s really important to remember that the war hadn’t ended completely. The war in

the Far East didn’t end until August 1945, three months later. The happiness of VE day

wasn’t shared by all the families as there were still about 100,000 British troops still fighting

or in prisoner of war camps. Lots of children didn’t get their daddies home for a long time if

at all.

Page 4 of 7

Mrs P Campbell (Ms Campbell’s mum).

She is 82 ½ years old now but she was only 7 ½ years old on VE day.

This photo of her taken was in 1944.

I can remember Winston Churchill announcing this over the radio. No televisions in those days! We ran out into the street. It was a dark night and we had no street lamps to light us up. We had street lamps but were not allowed to use them in case the German planes flew over and bombed us. The standard phrase at night was “PUT THAT LIGHT OUT”. However, everybody was cheering, clapping, singing the war time songs and dancing up and down the street. In those days policemen used to cycle around at night and one of them would stand at the corner of our street. My sister suddenly decided to run and let the policeman know what wonderful news had been announced. He too cheered and jumped up and down. We had great respect for our policemen in those days and did not expect such a response. Eventually I was told to go to bed which I did. I could not sleep because some people stayed

out in the street all night making a lot of happy noises.

After this (actual VE day) my mother and father arranged a party in our back garden. It was a very large garden and over the years my father had built up a huge bonfire at the bottom of it. This build up had happened because whilst the war was on we could not have fires alight in the garden in case the German airmen saw them and would have dropped bombs on us. We would, again, have been told to “PUT THAT LIGHT OUT”. It was the first bonfire I had ever seen. All of the Polish soldiers were invited to the party as well as our neighbours. The Polish soldiers surrounded a good deal of the bonfire and sang to us. They sang beautifully. As most of them only spoke Polish we did not know what they were singing about but it did not matter as they sang so well. Shortly after that they were posted back to Poland and we never heard from any of them again. One did remain and married a lady who lived in our road.

June and John’s memories of VE Day (Ms Vosper’s parents)

VE day was an incredibly important day and a huge occasion that marked the end of the

war. People were in a very joyous mood and there was a lot of celebrating. Every street

held a street party.

The streets were closed off, although there was not much traffic anyway and tables were

placed down the middle of the street starting in the middle and working out. There were all

Page 5 of 7

sorts of tables and chairs of all different styles and sizes; it was what anyone had but

everyone shared.

To prepare for the day, people had to save their ration tokens for food for the day as

rationing was still in place and you just couldn’t go down to the shops and buy what you

wanted. There were homemade sandwiches, cakes, jam tarts and jelly to share with

everyone.

One of the families in the street had a piano and this was brought out into the street so that

one of the men could play and everyone could sing along.

The children played games and the adults enjoyed the party atmosphere.

When it was getting dark, a big bonfire was lit. Some of the children slept out as it was such

an enjoyable night.

Jill’s Memories (Mrs Webster’s Mum)

I am Mrs Webster’s Mum, Jill, and I can remember the Second World War well. When I was

about your age my family had to move away because there was a danger of bombs being

dropped on the houses in Southend. We filled the car with boxes of clothes, some food and

some bedding. As I was only 8 I wanted to take lots of my toys and books. We had to find

space in the car for the dog too! After travelling for many hours we arrived at a beautiful

big house in lovely countryside. My life was going to be very different!

Luckily for us this new home was a farm. There were chickens so we were able to have

fresh eggs and meat. We had fresh milk which meant we could make butter and cheese.

My mum dug a vegetable patch so we had potatoes and carrots. There was also an orchard

to we could pick apples, pears and plums.

The most special part of the 4 and a half

years we were there was school. My mum

taught me and the other evacuees and

farmers children; about 12 children. She

converted a room in the house into a

classroom and we all had a slate and chalk

to write with. Everybody learnt to read,

even the little 3 years olds. We had

playtime and PE in the garden and went for

country walks learning about the trees and wild flowers.

Page 6 of 7

My mum was good at sewing and she made lots of toys using any bits of material she could

find.

After a very long time living in the country the war was over – VE Day. All my family filled up

the car, including the dog, and drove back to Southend. Then a new adventure started in a

very big school in the middle of a very busy town.

Paddy Lewis (family friend of Miss Miles)

My Father, Major Lewis, was in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He

was the first man in the REME to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. REMI as it

was a new section of the Forces.

My Mother went up to London to see the VE Day parade. I remember her telling me how

she came out of the Tube Station to see my Father’s battalion marching past. She shouted,

‘That’s my Jim’s regiment!’ The crowd opened up to let her through to the front. The crowd

began shouting, ‘Jim! Jim! Your wife’s here!’ He didn’t turn to look because he had to keep

his eyes straight ahead. My Mother said she thought he might give her a smile! He was in

charge of battalion so he was marching right on the edge, but this meant he had one foot on

the pavement and one in the road and he had to march up with one foot up and one foot

down!

I remember that we had a street party in Friars Street in Shoebury. Adults and children all

sat together, which was different to other parties where children used to sit at their own

table. There was lots of bunting hanging outside houses. I don’t remember much about the

food, but there were probably paste sandwiches!

We sang songs – my Grandma was a great pianist. I remember the piano being manhandled

out onto the street and she played for everyone. We sang songs like ‘Hang Out Your

Washing on the Siegfried Line’, ‘Roll me Over in the Clover’ and ‘Oh Salome’.

Page 7 of 7

Jo Johnson (friend of Paddy)

On the evening of VE Day, I remember walking from our home in Wimborne Road, down

Bournemouth Park Road past Porters Grange School towards the Seafront. The main thing

that struck me was that the street lights were actually on, my little brother was in the pram

and was excited because he had never seen street lights on and lights in the windows of

houses where the blackout curtains had been taken down.

There were lots of people who had come out from their houses, which seemed strange after

the total shutdown and many months of Blackout. The seafront was deserted as many of

the houses had been taken by the army so they were all empty.

Why not interview a friend

or family member and share

their stories by emailing

them to school?

We would love to hear their

memories.