VE Day - War Is Over!

Victory finally came and the War ended.

On this page and in VJ Day and the slow return to peace, you can explore local memories of the return of the men, street lights and beaches.

You can download VE Day - War is Over! and its accompanying pages by clicking here (PDF format).

In spite of the war we occasionally went by train to spend a day in London. By chance we happened to be there on the day Winston Churchill announced Victory in Europe - 8th May 1945. We were near Oxford Circus and all the people came running out of their offices hugging and kissing everyone in sight. They also let streams of paper out of office windows and the traffic came to a stand still. We joined in the celebrations and one song I clearly remember us all singing was 'Tipperary'. Milly and I started to get concerned as we were jammed in tight along the streets. We began to worry about how we were going to get back to Victoria Station, let alone Brighton. I seem to recall that we shoved and pushed our way through the excited crowds of people and eventually reached Victoria Station.

On arriv­ing at Brighton Station, for the first time since they'd been intro­duced, no one wanted to see our identity cards. We arranged to meet later and both rushed home. That evening we met up with Milly's family and my mother at the bottom of West Street. A bonfire was lit with the tarred wooden road blocks which the roads in those days were made off. Everyone began singing and dancing around it and I recall the bonfire getting out of control. The fire brigade arrived telling us all to move and to stop piling up the wood-blocks onto the fire. No one took any notice until the fireman turned their hoses onto us. We were drenched with water. Even so we were all very elated and did not go home until very late that night.
Barbara Chapman - Boxing Day Baby

Then the day everyone had been looking forward to for so many years suddenly arrived. It was May 8th 1945 - VE Day; Victory in Europe. How jubilant we all were. There was so much celebrating. All one could think of was no more bombs, and a little prematurely I'm afraid, a lot more freedom. We were still at war in the Far East with Japan, but for this moment, we pushed that thought to the back of our minds. Uppermost was victory over Germany.

There was so much happiness and relief - people suddenly seemed to be laughing at nothing. A weight had been lifted from everyone's shoulders. I begged Molly Mitchell's permission to decorate our provisions window out with red, white and blue crepe paper and it was graciously given. Street parties sprang up everywhere. Food was willingly given for these special celebrations. It was a miracle where it all came from - people must have had food stored up for this very occasion. However, if anyone was misguided enough to think food rationing was going to cease now, they were sadly disappointed. It went on for years after hostilities ended.
Kathleen Wilson - International Service