大象传媒

I lived with my parents and my brother on Louisville Road in the Upper Tooting area of London and, my father being a transport engineer, I was sixteen years of age on 8th May 1945. I had been evacuated to Devon in 1940 for several months but was then removed from the farm at which I had been placed and spent the next few years living in various parts of the country with my family before we returned to Upper Tooting. Having determined to leave school, I became a filing clerk for some insurance brokers on Gracechurch Street.

The night the end of the war in Europe was announced, while we did not have anything like bunting lining the streets, all along the middle of our road bonfires were lit, on which were thrown old chairs and odds and ends. People were dancing and there was general merriment, as we knew that such restrictions as the blackout would no longer constrain us. The next morning, we found there were dips and craters down the middle of the road where the heat of the bonfires had melted the tarmac and made it subside!

For some time I had been able to sense that the German surrender was imminent and so their capitulation was not a total surprise. However, as well as the obvious happiness we felt in the knowledge that the slaughter was over, I think that after the deprivations and the burdens of war, we all felt a general sense of release and freedom.

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War website by Toby Farmiloe, of Heathfield Community College, on behalf of Grace Richardson, and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs. Richardson fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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