大象传媒

This story was gathered, written and submitted to the 大象传媒 Peoples War project by June Martin

10 VE and VJ DAY
I was almost 7 years old when VE Day in May 1945 was announced. Belfast celebrated with a huge firework display at Balmoral Show Grounds. I had never been out so late in my life before. Any amount of buses and trams were deployed to bring the thousands of people to the show. It was the first time I had seen men drinking bottles of beer on public transport and for months afterwards I would play being a drunk man on a bus! I couldn鈥檛 comprehend why there was yet another 鈥淰鈥� day in August. This of course was VJ Day. We were on holiday near Cloughey, Co. Down, and that night my family and a neighbouring holiday family celebrated round an enormous bonfire on the beach. The War was finally over, but it would be years before rationing of food and clothes was completely phased out and seemingly light years before the days of hardship gave way to the affluent consumer society of the later part of the twentieth century.

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