VE DAY. Do you remember?

I remember VE day. I was eight years old. We had huge trestle tables set up in a nearby small park and everyone provided food, there was more than enough for us all. I remember being allowed to take some home.
A couple of days later there was a photo of our park party in the local newspaper. I kept a copy of it for many years, but somehow lost it eventually. I wish I could find it again.

I was only three so don’t remember the day but my mother told the story of me washing my Union Jack in a nearby stream and weeping because the colours ran.

I was born after WWII but I am well aware of the significance of VE day. My parents told me about the relief they felt after six years of war. They lived through the uncertainty and blackouts. We lived in London so they had experienced the blitz first hand.

I am old enough to remember post war rationing and the devastation left behind in the numerous bomb sites.

The thing that depresses me is that the world is still war torn. Will we never learn?

No, even My Mum wouldn’t remember it as she would have been young at the time.
80 years ago🤔 what a long time.Am very interested to read the posts from those who do remember.

henetha

I remember VE day. I was eight years old. We had huge trestle tables set up in a nearby small park and everyone provided food, there was more than enough for us all. I remember being allowed to take some home.
A couple of days later there was a photo of our park party in the local newspaper. I kept a copy of it for many years, but somehow lost it eventually. I wish I could find it again.

That day with a party and lots of food would have seemed marvellous I bet😃

I was very young, don't remember VE Day celebrations.

I feel commemoration is important for our children, GC, GGC.

Born in 1937 I was also coming up to 8 on that day.
We had a party in a local farmer’ field shortly after.
I remember VJ night more vividly as I was staying with an aunt and Uncle and they woke me up and someone lit a fire on waste land behind the houses and we all went.
Why it was nighttime I have no idea.

It was marvellous, Oreo, after years of food rationing, which then continued for years after the war ended. Looking back, I wonder how the local housewives managed to produce so much food for our party. But it's amazing what we can do when needed.

I was four-and-a-half and I remember my dad coming in from work and lifting me right up to the ceiling. He was so excited and kept saying we had won the war. The Victory Party that followed was held in the grounds of a local school. Lots of food and wonderful things like jam tarts. I had one of these on my plate when an older, local boy snatched it away. I never forgave him. Goodness was that really 80 years ago? Years of rationing followed and my father devoted a lot of time to our kitchen garden which yielded both fruit and vegetables. Chickens were kept for eggs. In the shops people formed queues and when you got to the front you gave the assistant your list and your coupon book. Growing up I had known no different. For me it was just normal life.

I was almost 8 years old and living in the north. We went out into the fields and gathered old dead wood for a bonfire. The older children had axes, us youngsters were not trusted with axes and had to carry the dead branches instead. There were some old railway sleepers in one field, covered in tar or something similar. The local men came, dug them out, stood them on end, which made as sort of wigwam shape. All the dead wood, newspapers etc went into the middle of the wigwam. It was set alight that evening and we danced around this huge bonfire. We also roasted potatoes in it. I still remember the taste of half-cooked potato! Yukky describes it quite well. I was unable to wait long enough. I was so excited and of course being 7 in a food-rationed era I was also quite hungry. The embers remained glowing for several days as I recall. Those railway sleepers were truly solid! That was VE Day.
For VJ day later on we had a street party with a long line of tables covered in cloths and a variety of food on plates, but I have forgotten what I ate.

I was nearly 8 and remember I won a prize for a painting of soldiers , I never got the prize , no one believed me and wouldn’t go to the prize giving
There was a party in the grounds of the Big House , we were To to bring a cup for a cup of tea , mine was hung round my neck by a ribbon, of course it got broken , not sure if it was the ribbon or the cup handle gave way
I was an awkward child !

I don't remember VE day, but I do recall reading Jilly Cooper's recollections of the day. She described a party and her father coming home from the war as a complete stranger to her as he'd been away so long. That must have been the case for many children.

Churchview

I don't remember VE day, but I do recall reading Jilly Cooper's recollections of the day. She described a party and her father coming home from the war as a complete stranger to her as he'd been away so long. That must have been the case for many children.

I did not meet my Dad until late 1945 as he was in Burma and I was 4 years old by then.

For some reason we were staying with relatives in Sheffield on VE day. I remember street parties, theatres open for impromtu shows and bonfires after dark.

All observed form a seat on my cousin's boyfriend's shoulders.

Why should something be meaningless to a younger generation, just because they were not alive then?

There are many events in history that are celebrated where no one remembers them - November 5th - Guy Fawkes, In France Bastille Day. Why not VE day. The second world war is part of the history curriculum.

I was 1 year 9 months on VE day, I do not remember it. I will celebrate it.

What a lovely memory xx

Thank you * blossom14*. Your memories really brought the celebration and the sacrifices so many people made to life for me.

I wasn't born until a few weeks later but I do remember seeing a photograph of me not long ago, in the local newspaper, I was held by a teenage neighbour whom I remember.
The article was about remembering VE Day celebrations many years on.

Obviously it was a VE Day celebration in 1946.

I wasn't born till 1946 and my parents were both still in the forces so they didn't have many memories of it. I think from now on it will just recede and become another of the dates we learn at school.

VE day and VJ day are very important to ur family. I’m 57 and we always observe these days. The rest of the family is exactly the same. It is far from meaningless to us. I think if you bring your children up to understand what these days meant then they too will understand why these dates should never be forgotten.

I don't remember it, I'd only just arrived, but a couple of weeks ago I picked up a local paper with some old V.E. street party photo's in it and there was my Mum and Dad, Dad wearing his Fedora and Mum with a bonnet, oh they looked wonderful.

Annodomini

If we don't have remembrances like this then the events will be forgotten even sooner. Be glad of them. And support them.
My sons (20's) are very interested and go to memorials - but my Father was a very young Royal Marine Commando on Omaha Beach on D-Day and has shared memories.

They also did school trips to both the WW1 and WW2 battlefields when they were (c) 13 and 15 years of age and their School covered these historical events in depth (Private School - I don't know if State schools share the same amount of interest, as certainly those attended by friends kids didn't. Basic NC and that was it).
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You have some wonderful memories and it's good to read them. For our family, VJ was the thing, as Dad served with the Forgotten Fourteenth in Burma.
Yes, it is worth remembering and celebrating, and a much needed 'prompt', when you think of what is happening in the world just now.

Too young to remember, but one school friend’s Mum was named Victoria Joy for VJ Day so we looked it up. (In a book at the library!!!).
I don’t mind the celebrations, but it won’t go down well with anyone who is feeling under financial pressure because of this government’s actions.
Many of those who are more likely to remember would possibly rather have had the WFA than money spent on celebrations they are to old to get to, to young to remember or can’t watch on TV because they can’t afford the license fee.
Or maybe it’s the government’s way of reminding us about the need to increase the military spending.

I remember candle lanterns on sticks and we walked in a procession up to the top of a wooded hill. There was a bonfire and jacket potatoes. In my memory is no trace of the fact that it was VE day, but with hindsight it must have been - till then we had blackout curtains and no one would show a light at night.